dumb newbie question

benniferbaby

So I am finally settling into nesting (I think - it may just be that we have houseguests coming next weekend and I'm freaked out that anyone should see our house in such disarray). And we got a few soft-cloth books for baby, plus a couple of those carseat/stroller hanging toy thingies. Am I supposed to wash these before use? It seems like yes, but most of them say "surface wash only" and I'm not entirely sure how that works ... go over them with a rag dipped in soapy water? cleaning solution? and then how do I rinse them off? Gah!

gimmietimmies

The soft cloth books, don't wash until they're actually dirty. The car seat toys, if they are cloth, same thing. I wiped ours down with a wet cloth, or vinegar rinse. If they got really mucky I used a soapy cloth and quickly used the kitchen sprayer to hose off the soap, but didn't let the fabric get more than surface wet.

mwd

Ditto what GT says.  I have washed some of these items in a lingerie bag (the carseat things, not the cloth books) with vinegar only,  and then dried them in a normal setting, and then hung them to dry until I could feel that they were dry.  I do not recommend this, as the toy looked pretty bad afterwards, but if it's their favorite......

BrideBuddies

Hmmmm.... Washing them... interesting idea. 

<hiding my head in shame for germifying my kid>

 

jessandandy09

uhhh, you are supposed to wash their toys before they play with them? I only washed a few of evelyns outfits before she wore them, everything else went directly on her. I have not yet washed a toy. *gulp* I did wash and sterilize bottles and paci's so I guess I am not a total failure....

stever

I clean stuff with a damp cloth. If I'm worried about germs I'll put un-washable stuff in the freezer for a few days - which apparently kills the germs.

benniferbaby

Hmmm, the freezer huh? I will try that one.

I have never been super crazy about degermifying and stuff but I figure if I buy something in the store I know that *I* touched it as I oohed and aahed over its cuteness, so how many other people did too? And how many of those people had clean hands? Because even if it's not designed for it, I know this thing is going into baby's mouth. I'm most concerned with a pull-y stroller toy thingy that I bought at a garage sale. I wouldn't have, but it was a freakin quarter and it is the same one that my nephew has and loves, which is like $12.99 at BRU. It looks and smells perfectly clean, like she either washed it before putting it out for sale, or else her kid never used it - but I figure I should do SOMETHING about making sure that is nice and germ-free.

Jess I did throw all the baby clothes down for a wash and just went out and bought some Dreft. Holy crapolie but that stuff is expensive!!

Maggee206

I always used clorox wipes.  I wasn;t sure how I much good I was actually doing but it made me feel like I got some of the handling germs off. If it is any consolation, by the time baby is old enough to put these in the mouth you will likely have forgotten you washed or didn't wash it.  Good luck and enjoy!

lwsnake

Toys I don't wash before use unless they are used. For all those jingle toys and stuff that can't get washed when they are dirty I throw themin in the dryer on low with a couple damp towels and figure the steam and agitation should get them mostly clean.  It makes a hell of racket though.