Cleaning baby toys SAFELY...

Clean Baby Toys safely - Not wanting to be super-precious and wipe and clean everything every minute, and finding that the 1 minute rule sometimes stretched to 5 minutes - it was important for me to research and find some safe alternatives to cleaning bubs toys.

Oh, so simple!

For wooden & plastic toys;
1 Cup Water, 1 Cup Distilled White Vinegar
Mix together and put in a spray bottle - either spray the toy directly then wipe with a cloth, or spray on the cloth and wipe. Vinegar is safe for little ones (it's edible!) and the smell goes away relatively quickly!
For hard to move stains and sticky bits on toys, use a few drops of eucalyptus oil mixed with water on a cloth - and hey presto - gooey bits are gone! use the vinegar solution afterwards...

Cleaning soft toys; Often these will have cleaning instructions on the tag, but if they don't, and if they're home made toys, this is a great (and gentle) cleaning option... Put the toys in the washing machine with vinegar & bicarbonate soda - this is great for smelly sneakers too! Always check the toys for holes or tears, as the machine will be a little rough on those "injured" treasures. For heavily stained toys sprinkle a little bicarb soda and wash, adding 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle. Most soft toys are fine in the dryer too, but i'm partial to a little outside sunshine and fresh air. Oh, and a great way to get rid of dust mites if the toys have been stored for a while, or if you've picked up some from a garage sale or op shop is to put them in a plastic bag and store them in the freezer for a week. For wool toys I recommend spot cleaning only, using a mild wool soap and a cloth and dry it in the sunshine. I would never put a wool toy in the machine or dryer - better to be safe than sorry!

Voila! clean, refreshed and germ free toys :-)