How To Safely Clean Bath Toys

They’re in the bath every night, so you’d think that bath toys would be clean as a whistle. Hmm… this is not always the case.

To avoid soap scum, grime and mould building-up, here are a few practical ways to keep bath toys clean without reaching for the bleach:

1. Vinegar

Normally associated with hot chips, vinegar is more than just a friend for deep-fried spuds. It’s also a power cleaner. Give the bath toys a bath of their own in a vinegar and water mix – a couple of cups in a sink full of water should do the trick. Natural cleaning win!

2. Dishwasher

All hail the dishwasher. Our love for this household appliance is only matched by our lingering fear that it might break down. Until that happens, you can happily clean dishwasher-safe bath toys in the appliance (just stick with the top shelf). Did we mention that we love dishwashers?

3. Get hands on

For delicate or foam toys, it’s best to clean them by hand. Washing up liquid and elbow grease should do the job on general grime. But if you suspect the mould monster is lurking within, you’ll need to team this one up with another solution.

4. Washing machine

Hard-wearing bath toys, like rubber duckies, will sparkle after a stint in the washing machine. Put them in a delicates bag and watch ducky hang 10 in the barrel! Hint: add some towels to the wash for a quieter spin cycle.

5. Fizz for the cleaning whiz

Hydrogen peroxide (3%) is non-toxic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-mould. It’s basically a miracle solution. So it is a great option for cleaning kids’ toys, including hard bath toys. They’ll fizz like crazy in a bucket of peroxide and come out clean!

6. And last but not least…

Prevention is better than a cure, so the best way to stop mould growing on toys is to look after them. After your kids’ bath, scoop up the toys, squeeze the water out and dry them off in a sunny spot, then put back in their storage tub.