How to properly wash children's toys. How to process children's toys at home. Step by step description of each washing method

Children's toys are constant companions of kids not only during home games, they accompany children on walks and help them fall asleep. Sometimes a toy can become a child's closest friend.

Active games lead to the fact that toys accumulate dust, dirt and various microorganisms on their surface, which poses a potential danger to their owners. For this reason, you need to carefully monitor the cleanliness of all children's things and regularly wash and clean them.

For the procedure you will need: a washcloth, brush, baby, laundry soap or another type of safe detergent.

Such a regimen must be observed especially carefully during the illness of the child and after his recovery. The main accumulators of dust and dirt are soft toys. Even representatives of the highest quality brands need to be cleaned regularly.

Plush toys should be washed at least once a week, or more often as they get dirty.

For washing, you can use baby soap, shower gel or baby detergent. In order for the toy to remain soft, fluffy and not lose its appearance, you need to add a little conditioner during rinsing.

Soft toy labels contain all the necessary information on the care of these products. For some of them, restrictions on the water temperature are possible, because certain materials tend to shed, while others need to be washed only by hand or in a washing machine without a spin function.

1. Before washing plush toys, inside of which there are sound mechanisms, batteries and tweeters, it is necessary to open them along the seam and remove all parts that are subject to corrosion. After drying, they can be placed back and carefully sew up the hole.
2. Plastic mechanical toys should not be soaked in water; they should be wiped regularly with a damp or dry cloth. Sometimes you can spray them with an antiseptic solution and then wipe dry.
3. Plastic and rubber toys, as well as designer parts, can be soaked in a basin of washing powder, then rinsed thoroughly with cold running water and dried in fresh air.
4. Rubber hollow toys with squeakers intended for bathing require special attention. Water accumulates inside them, which is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. Therefore, after each bathing, they must be thoroughly washed and dried.

An effective method to clean the surface of a soft toy without losing its appearance is a steam steamer. With the help of hot steam, it is possible not only to disinfect the surface of toys, but also to keep their fibrous structure in good condition. In addition, the steamer does not need cleaning products, all the work is done by hot water vapor.

In winter, when the weather is sunny and frosty, an effective and simple way to combat germs is to air toys on the balcony or outside. To do this, they can be collected in a deep basin or box and exposed to air. The sun's rays and low air temperature will help get rid of pathogens and refresh the child's toys.

The variety of toys that we buy for our child gives modern mothers not only the opportunity to distract their child for a short time, but directly affects the formation of the baby’s inner world, helps in the process of his upbringing and enables the baby to actively learn and explore everything around. To get acquainted with the surrounding objects, the baby is ready to use his senses, that is, sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch. To deprive a child of this wonderful opportunity, in my opinion, is an unforgivable mistake on the part of parents. Therefore, it is better to carefully prepare for this period and provide the child with the highest possible hygienic purity. This also applies to the cleanliness of the floor on which these toys fall.

Modern toys are presented in a wide variety of materials and equipment. It is worth noting that toys up to a year old should be large, not collapsible, or in any case, such that a child cannot disassemble. When choosing toys in an online store, be sure to call a consultant to clarify whether this toy can be used by a small child, how it can be handled (especially when it comes to soft interactive toys), whether the batteries are covered with a plate that is screwed on with a screw. If you are looking for toys up to a year in Kyiv, then this online store will be able to provide you with the possibility of free home delivery, depending on the amount of the order.

Many people confuse the concepts of "hygiene" and "sterility". From toys we need to achieve purity, not sterility. There is no need to boil all children's toys or treat them with disinfectants. Wash them thoroughly with baby soap and dry them. Perhaps, only toys that have previously been used by other children (used heritage) should go through the boiling procedure.

It is enough to wash plastic and plastic baby toys with baby soap or powder and rinse very thoroughly. After that, dry it (it is not forbidden to use a hair dryer or just wipe it dry) and you can safely return the property to the baby.

Wooden objects, parts of toys are wiped with a soft cloth. If the burning desire to wash them also does not recede, wash with warm water, but pay attention to the paint or paintwork. Also keep in mind that wooden products lose their beauty with a long stay in the aquatic environment and the period of natural drying is much longer.

Feel free to wash rubber toys with a brush with baby soap or powder and do not forget to rinse thoroughly after.

We pay special attention to soft animals. First you need to familiarize yourself with the contents of the tag (label or sewn-in tape) - manufacturers indicate there, of course, in addition to information about the product, methods of care. Almost all soft toys can be safely washed in a regular washing machine with baby powder. I recommend not to forget to use conditioner for children's underwear, and then all children's property will definitely please the baby's eye with its brightness and design.

Toys with built-in mechanisms, of course, will be even more interesting to the growing researcher, but therefore they require more complex hygiene procedures. Naturally, they cannot be erased. It can be treated with carpet foam or fur cleaner, but such procedures can subsequently cause allergic reactions in the crumbs. The only safest, but at the same time, the most time-consuming option remains: we open the toy, take out the mechanism and safely erase it. After drying, we put the device back and carefully sew it up.

Electronic children's toys can simply be wiped with computer cleaning fluid or plain alcohol, and allowed to dry well.

And do not forget that all baby toys should be washed weekly if there are animals in the house. Also, after the illness of the child, the toys that he used should be processed so as not to re-infect the baby.

After an influx of new toys for Christmas and New Years, now is the perfect time to sort through your child's toy collection and wash and decorate old favorites.

Every cherished and beloved toy needs a good wash from time to time.

Stuffed Toys .
Once you convince your child to wash the plush toy, read the label to see if it can be washed in the washing machine.

If the toy has been very loved, check to see if it needs repairs first. You don't want the ear to get lost in the wash, and a few quick stitches can keep the baby from worrying. Put the toy in an old pillowcase or a mesh laundry bag, such as a delicates laundry bag, to protect it.

When washing, select the delicate mode and the minimum temperature. Warm washing won't get rid of germs, so add a laundry detergent like Dettol Anti-Bacterial Laundry Cleanser for more hygienic cleaning.

Alternatively, hand wash in warm water with a small amount of laundry detergent and rinse aid. To absorb, soak in a laundry detergent solution for 15 minutes. After washing, rinse the toy in plenty of water. Squeeze out as much moisture as you can, wring without twisting, then place between two clean towels and wring out well.

To dry the toy, hang it on a drying line with clothespins or leave it to dry in a ventilation closet. It is extremely important to make sure that it is completely dry.

plastic toys.

Plastic teething toys, they can temporarily relieve gum pain and itching. But because they come into frequent contact with small hands and mouths, they are also often dropped on the floor between bouts of frantic chewing - they need to be cleaned frequently. To do this, wash them in warm water and then place them in a Milton Sterilizing Fluid solution for 15 minutes to disinfect.

Bath toys.
Bath toys can be a magnet for mold. Wash them regularly in a solution of warm water and detergent, using a bottle brush to get into all the nooks and crannies. Rinse, then let dry naturally. Squeeze the soft ones after the bath until all the water has drained out and leave to dry completely.

Mold can quickly develop in rubber bath toys. If you see black water flakes coming out of the hole when you squeeze it, then it's time to replace it. Even with thorough cleaning, you cannot be sure that all traces of mold will be removed.

Lego.
You may have heard the myth about cleaning used Lego bricks in the washing machine, but the toy manufacturer discourages this. Instead, wash Lego - and its little brother, Duplo - by hand in warm water, not exceeding 40°C, to which you add detergent. Leave the bricks to soak and soak for 10 minutes and scrub any dirty parts with a toothbrush or pry dirt out of the crevices with a toothpick. Rinse with clean water and dry naturally.

Obviously, Lego pieces with stickers or electrical parts should not be immersed in water. Simply wipe them down with a damp microfiber cloth. This is a good way to clean wooden toys or any plastic toys that shouldn't be submerged in water.
If you're tempted to buy Lego online or by hand, beware. Scientists at the University of Plymouth have warned that Lego pieces made between the 1970s and 1980s may contain dangerous chemicals that could be harmful to health.

Storage of toys.
There comes a time in every toy's life when it's played less. If you can't part with your kids' old favorites, you might consider moving them to a mezzanine or attic. So that clean fabrics on the toy do not get dusty and are not attacked by moths and dust mites, choose an airtight plastic container for packaging to store each toy separately.

It is recommended to make it easier to find later, to mark each box so that you can find everything you need again. One option is to take a picture of the contents, then print the image and stick it on the inside of a clear plastic box with the picture facing out, or write an inventory and stick it on the box and put it inside. Toys may be needed if you have another child. When packing, you need to group the toys together so that your child will enjoy them at a certain age, and stick this information on the box.

So dirty toys, as a two-year-old toddler does, no adult will guess. Porridge, sand, liquid mud from a puddle, traces of a ballpoint pen - you won’t find anything on them!

Rinse a bear in the toilet bowl, pour cherry compote on it, and then pull it all into your mouth is a completely common thing among children.

The struggle for the purity of children's toys is the eternal concern of tortured mothers - in addition to cleanliness in the room, it is also necessary to maintain the purity of children's treasures.

Because the bacteria are not asleep, the bacteria are right there.

Plush toys that our apartment has grown with the advent of a small child (my husband and I did not buy any!) - these terrible dust collectors and dirt accumulators - where to find time to at least once a month to rewash each one?

What about bath toys? If they are not washed for a week, they become slimy, mold starts inside and they become covered with a nasty coating.

I remember that at first I scrubbed them by hand, armed with fairies, washing powder, domestos, alcohol, rags, abrasive sponges, and a syringe. I soaked it in a bucket of chemicals, then washed it for a long time and painfully. Wasted a hell of a lot of time on this. A week later, the procedure had to be repeated.

This did not suit me - too long and ineffective.

HOW I FIGHT FOR CLEAN TOYS NOW:

1. All soft and plush- Of course, I wash in an automatic washing machine.

I am not embarrassed by the presence of batteries and other electrical parts - if the design of the plush miracle does not provide for the painless removal of water-resistant parts, I do not regret it and rip it apart. I take out the squeaker-talker and put the toy in the washer.

I value my time and the cleanliness of the game objects more than their perfect appearance.

2. Plastic dolls, inflatable balls (due to static electricity, dust sticks to them!)- wholesale get enough sleep in the bath and wash indiscriminately in the shower. If you need to wipe off something dried up (we fed Lyalya porridge three days ago), then after a 10-minute soak, I arm myself with a sponge with fairies and rub. Then I quickly rinse with a shower and set to drain and dry.

3. Bath toys, durable plastic toys (such as Lego)- after some hesitation, I put them in the dishwasher for the most powerful program.

My fears that the paint will peel off the faces of the octopuses turned out to be groundless - apparently, toys made for playing in water imply some margin of safety.

This gave me several hours of free time per month!

In general, I realized that I would ruthlessly get rid of low-quality toys that could not withstand machine washing or washing in a dishwasher in favor of hygiene and my free time.

By the way, my husband watched with irony my first experience of loading bathroom toys into the dishwasher - he said that this would not help, she would not wash anything.

I continued to silently frantically throw one boat after another into the car, put an octopus mom, added children's dishes, a Lego man who fell under a hot hand also flew into processing, a red boat with a white coating that disgusted me from our tap water (it was not washed by anything), a crab, a starfish, a green island, on which it was clearly visible that the water from the tap was also rusty - I spared nothing.

After several washes in the dishwasher limescale white coating from the boat disappeared without a trace, moreover, even from those places in which it was physically impossible to crawl with a sponge.

Brownish-red shading on the green island was washed off after the first wash.

Glory to the creators of washing machines and dishwashers!

Cleanliness is the key to children's health. It is this statement that district pediatricians repeat to all mothers without exception. In principle, mothers themselves know this, but sometimes there is not enough free time for this cleanliness. So what am I doing this for? And besides, I want to tell you in an accessible way about how to disinfect toys without much difficulty.

Any toys become dirty over time, even if it is not visible on them, but believe me, a lot of various bacteria accumulate on their surface. According to the rules, disinfection of toys is recommended to be carried out weekly at home and daily in a kindergarten.

Performing global sorting

To be honest, the weekly disinfection of our toys caused me a quiet shock, since we have so many of them that I would not have enough time to process them. In this regard, I decided to sort the toys into certain groups, and only then wash them sequentially. I warn you right away: the sorting was done only on paper with the aim that when it comes to washing the toys, I will simply take the sheet with the list and take only a certain group of toys to the bath. With this approach, I managed not to leave a single toy unattended.

I got 10 groups:

1. Mosaic, Lego, small designer, toys from kinder surprises and all other small things.

2. Games and toys on batteries.

3. Plastic constructors.

4. Game sets: first aid kit, children's play utensils, hairdresser's, etc.

5. Children's railway and autotrack.

6. Soft toys, doll clothes.

7. Wooden puzzles and electronic games.

8. Plastic and rubber machines.

9. Dolls and baby dolls.

10. Rubber and plastic toys: animals, guns, balls, etc.

What and how to disinfect?

After thinking a little more about the mountains of toys and evaluating all 10 groups, I logically assumed that soft toys and doll clothes would be given to the washing machine to be torn to pieces. I know that this approach to soft toys surprises many, because there are also singing toys.

I remember this and already in practice I know that nothing will happen to any mechanism in a soft toy from washing in a washing machine. Tested by practice and secured by the assurances of one familiar electronics engineer. There is only one caveat: after the soft voice toy is washed in a typewriter, during the drying process, it can talk and sing by itself. After it dries, everything will be as before.

If everything was easy with the soft pets of my children, then I had to tinker with the rest of the toys. I disinfect all electronic toys, wooden puzzles, electronic games and cars with alcohol, since such toys cannot be washed under running water. In the store I buy a bottle of vodka (alcohol is sold only by prescription in a pharmacy), after which I moisten a cotton swab in it and wipe the toy. I recommend doing this for selected groups. For example, this week you disinfect the seventh group, and next week the second.

All other toys, in principle, can be washed, but again, you should pay attention to the components of the toys. So I soak the entire first group from my list in a basin with laundry soap dissolved in it. After an hour, I wash everything under running water and spread it on a diaper to dry.

I note that it is necessary to rinse very carefully otherwise a white coating will remain on the toys. This group is undergoing such a mass disinfection, since it is not possible to wash every little thing.

Plastic cars and rubber toys can be washed under the tap with baby or laundry soap, and also laid out on a diaper or sheet to dry. I understand that you still have to tinker with each typewriter and toy, but if you do this in groups every week, then it will not be so burdensome for you and after 2 months all the toys will be washed.

At first, I wrote that toys should be disinfected weekly, but I repeat once again in modern conditions this is impossible. But who knows, maybe there are mothers who can do it. And I'm giving up on this.

Please note that it is necessary to dry the toys until they are completely dry, because if there is water left in at least some nook and cranny of the toy, the toy may become rotten. You probably remove all the toys at once in special containers and baskets, and there the access of oxygen is limited, which is why the moisture has nowhere to evaporate and the toy will start to smell bad.

Do not forget about the cleanliness of the container or basket

Also, do not forget about the cleanliness of baskets, boxes and containers for toys. While you are disinfecting toys, take a regular disinfectant and dilute it as indicated on the bottle (to disinfect various surfaces) and treat the boxes and play containers with the resulting solution, but only let them dry well afterwards. In principle, such treatment is not harmful for a child, but if there is any reaction to chlorine, then it is better to simply wash everything with baby or laundry soap.

Personally, I carry out such a large-scale disinfection of toys every six months. The children are happy, and I, like a well-fed boa constrictor, look at my children who play with washed toys. I have been using all the methods described for a long time and I am very satisfied, maybe someone has other approaches, so you need to focus only on your child.