Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
ladylisalt
member
cleaning with bleach
ladylisalt
member
I always read posts, articles,etc. that say wash toys with bleach. Am I the only one that feels uncomfortable with this? I guess its fine but I always think of bleach as a potent strong odored cleaner. I cant imagine washing my DS's bath toys and then him chewing on them. Even if I rinse well does this really assure the smell, solution etc is completely off. Someone please put me at ease. Would love to try it I just cant get past this...
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Re: cleaning with bleach
What you do is dilute the bleach it usually takes only a cap full per gallon of water. If you don't dilute it then it will be a lot harder to get it all rinsed.
Everyone that I know in my circle of friends use bleach to clean used toys that we buy at garage sales or consignment shops and we have never had any troubles with smells etc.
It's not anything I do on the regular, but there is a time and place for bleach in my house.
I just follow the directions on the back exactly and if it's something LO touches, maybe dilute a little more.
Usually though, I take some dishsoap water to her toys/stuff and call it a day. She's lived this long.
We're gross, too, then. My son isn't real mouthy with his toys so other than an occasional wipe down on a heavily used item or something that actively fell from his mouth to the dirty floor, we don't do hardcore cleaning of playthings. He's an only child in a relatively clean house so we don't have other germy mouths and grubby fingers all over everything, which definitely helps!
I don't either. I've washed with soap and water when things get really dirty, but I'd never use bleach and it's not something I do on a regular basis. Vinegar and water would be about as intense as I'd ever get with cleaning toys(if I ever did it).
Bleach is great. Hospitals and nursing homes use it. It kills just about every known germ out there. It's natural and biodegradable and breaks down into harmless salt water over time or in the presence of direct sunlight or high heat.
It's potent, yeah, but you're not supposed to use it full-strength. I think it's something like a quarter cup per four gallons of water to disinfect toys and whatnot. I even use it to disinfect pacis and sippy cups.
You just have to use it very diluted and then rinse thoroughly. No sweat.
"Strong odor" isn't a very good indicator of whether something is safe to use. I see people recommending vinegar all the time as a safe and natural cleaner, but it DOES NOT kill bacteria to the degree that it's touted, and the fumes can be irritating to the eyes and lungs. Have you ever soaked a tub or shower with vinegar and then tried to stay in the same room with all those fumes, or ran a gallon of it through the dishwasher to remove hard water scale? It burns my lungs and eyes far worse than bleach fumes do.
DS: 11/8/11 | 9 lb 7 oz, 22 in
DD: 5/22/14 | 9 lb 9 oz, 21.5 in
I generally clean with dish soap if the toy fell on the floor outside. LO did drop a toy car in the toilet (clean water) and I sprayed it with clorox spray and then washed it again with regular soap.
Harmful? I said the fumes can be just as irritating to the eyes and lungs. And I said can be, meaning it varies depending on the person's tolerance. I personally have more tolerance for bleach than vinegar, because I've been exposed to it more.
I also didn't say in my post that I disinfect anything or that I think any certain thing should be disinfected, just that if you are the type to disinfect everything, you shouldn't rely on vinegar for your peace of mind, because food-grade vinegar isn't strong enough to kill most microorganisms.
DS: 11/8/11 | 9 lb 7 oz, 22 in
DD: 5/22/14 | 9 lb 9 oz, 21.5 in
Boiling water can work for sanitizing, although it can melt some plastics.
Rubbing alcohol will kill just about anything if you are thorough.
As another poster noted, white vinegar is a nice bleach substitute for household cleaning.