A Guide to Cleaning and Sanitizing Your Children’s Bath Toys

Just like your shower walls and tub, kids’ bath toys are always at risk for mold growth. They can also come in contact with various germs floating in the bathwater, which will spread illnesses to your children.

You can learn how to keep bath toys clean and mold-free by following the tips below properly.

How to Keep Mold Growth at Bay

After every bathtime, dry and squeeze as much water out of the toys as possible and set them somewhere else where they can fully dry. If possible, turn on your bathroom fan for about 20 minutes after bath time to draw humidity out of the room and help the toys dry faster.

One key place for mold to grow is unfortunately inside bath toys. To kids, it’s fun to squirt water from tiny holes in rubber toys, but as parents, you should know that moisture gets stuck inside and allows mold to grow in there.

This means that the next time you use that toy at bath time, traces of mold can enter the water and even spray onto your kid. If you’re like us and this thought grosses you out, you’ll probably want to seal all the holes in bath toys with a little bit of hot glue after they’ve been allowed to dry out.

How to Clean Bath Toys with Vinegar

You may think your kids’ bath toys get enough cleaning from the soapy water in the tub, but you’ll still want to remove all the toys from the bathroom and give them a good scrub about once every week.

Our best suggestion is to use vinegar, which is a great natural cleaning agent that works to dissolve soap scum and get rid of any stains, making it basically perfect for cleaning bath toys.

Here’s what to do:
✨ Start by filling a bucket with equal parts vinegar and warm water. You can add a few drops of tea tree oil or lemon oil if you like!
✨ Gather and submerge the bath toys and let them soak in the solution for an hour.
✨ After soaking, rinse each toy individually with warm tap water and allow them to fully air dry before bringing them in for bath time.

How to Sterilize Bath Toys with Heat

When you sterilize bath toys you’ll be using high heat to kill disease-causing germs and bacteria. The easiest way to do this in your home is to run the bath toys through your dishwasher.

Here are a few tips:
✨ To prevent any damage, load the toys on the top shelf so that the heat isn’t too intense.
✨ If you’re afraid of any smaller toys falling, you can place them in a mesh lingerie bag before placing them in the dishwasher.
✨ Use your regular dishwasher detergent and run a normal, but hot cycle with only the toys inside.

If you don’t have a dishwasher, you can still sterilize bath toys in your kitchen sink.

Here’s how to do it:
✨ Fill the sink basin with the hottest water possible and a few squirts of dish soap.
✨ Drop in and submerge the bath toys and leave them to soak for about 15 minutes.
✨ Next, wipe them all down with a clean sponge or cloth. Be sure to wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from hot water.
✨ Finally, rinse the remaining soap from the toys and let them air dry completely before using them again.

How to Sanitize Bath Toys with Bleach

For a deeper clean, you might want to consider using bleach. Our advice is to use a solution of bleach and water that’s strong enough to sanitize, but still weak enough that no dangerous chemicals linger on toys that your child might touch during bath time.

Here’s what to do:
✨ We recommend using about 1 tablespoon of bleach per each gallon of water you use.
✨ Leave them to soak for about 10 to 15 minutes and make sure they are fully covered in the solution.
✨ After soaking, rinse the toys very thoroughly with warm tap water and allow them to air dry completely before bath time.

For more tips and tricks or advice from our Boston cleaning company, check out our blog or contact us today to find out how we can help you keep your home happy and healthy all year long.