My daughter left her bath toys in a tupperware container, which is where we normally store them while they air dry, but this time, she filled the container with water and left the toys soaking in it for a few days. I did not realize there was water in the container until the weekend when I was cleaning the house and realized they felt slimy and they had what appeared to be mold (we normally use the shower, not the tub, but on this day, we used the tub and the toys sat there for a week before I went inside that bathroom to clean the tub). I Googled how to clean rubber toys and it said to put them in the dishwasher. I was wondering if anyone had done this and with good results, as I am worried that they will melt with the hot water and make a mess of my machine. I guess I am skeptical, but if I see other parents saying they have done so and it is safe, I will feel more confident about doing this. I would rather do that than scrub the toys with bleach and risk getting it in my skin or face. Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the suggestions. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news: I put the toys in the dishwasher and nothing melted/burned/made a mess. Yay! The bad news: the brown moldy stains are still on the toys. Considering they ran in the hot sanitary cycle though, I will assume they're clean and that the stains are just aesthetic. I tried scratching them off with my nail but maybe the stains are inside the toys because they wouldn't come off. I wish I had thought of the gluing the mouth idea before! I did not think of that! I hope to buy some new toys soon and in the meantime, I'll let her play with these.
Clean as well as you can but gtting water out of them is impossible.I woulod toss them buy new ones then fill the holes with glue that way water doesn't get in them
Dishwasher works great.
In the future you can put hot glue in the opening of the bath toy. That prevents moisture and mold from forming. The glue will stay there for months.
I always hand-washed mine in Dawn with a scrub brush and hot water to get the gross stuff off, and then threw them in the dishwasher to sterilize.
I've done dishwasher as well as bleach/water in the kitchen sink. If I do the bleach/water, I just use whatever concentration is recommended on the bottle of bleach and make sure to wear rubber gloves. I've used the strongest concentration (3/4 cup per gallon of water) once to clean my kitchen counter tops before, and DIDN'T wear gloves. (It was the first time I had done it.) Didn't notice anything until later when I realized I felt like my lower arms had been sunburned. Mentioned it to hubby who said it might be a chemical burn, had I done anything weird? .............. Whoops... :) Like I said, though, even with the strongest recommended concentration, it just felt like a sun burn. Not that I'm advising not using gloves, but if a little splashes on you, it won't be bad.
I would let them puppies soak in some hot bleach water and then put them in the top rack of my dishwasher. Seriously, if it ruins it, toss it. If you are worried about your dishwasher burning them up, just stay close by. Trust me-burning plastic has a very distinct odor.
I have done away with those squirty rubber toys. My kids would almost all the time try to put it in mouth and I was never sure about it. Dishwasher however can be used to clean them. Glueing the mouth is a great idea but there are great foam bath toys (floating blocks) which keep them busy making castles and what not, they dry easy, stay clean and kids cant drink out of them. Highly recommended, available on amazon.
I have washed many rubber/plastic toys in the dishwasher on the top rack with success. There've probably been a tub toy or two in the bunch. Give it a try with one and see how it goes.
If you are afraid of the temperature, why not put them in the washing machine with some whites, use the bleach and a little soap, and run them on a cool wash? I'm more worried about the paint on the toys melting off than the toys melting, but I haven't tried it.
The dishwasher works. I put bath toys in the dishwasher regularly (as well as kitchen sponges) to disinfect.
These things are not meant to last forever and they don't. Pitch them and get some new ones. If they are the kind that take water in, then spout it out when squeezed, they are moldy inside anyway.
