How do I clean / sterilise toys?

[Santosha]

I'm thinking of joining our local toy library but am very conscious at at the moment DD puts EVERYTHING in her mouth and while I'm not super-paranoid about germs, you don't know where this stuff has been! I've also wondered this after DD has had a bug - not wanting other bubs from mother's group to pick up her germs from playing with her toys...

Obviously some toys can just be cleaned with hot soapy water, but what about other stuff that can't be washed. For instance larger plastic items with electronic parts... fabric, wood etc. Is there something non-toxic that I can spray / wipe over them to get rid of the germies?!

[YoYo]

Vinegar & water in a spray bottle? Not sure what it really does (if anything) but it sounds OK to me

[Fleur]

I use vinegar & water on the benchtops.

You can get a spray like Glen-20 or something, a friend got me some; I will see if I can find it & what it's called.

Although TBH I'd be just as worried about what chemically stuff she'd be putting inher mouth; I'd probably stick with wiping it with vinegar

[Sammiejane]

i would add eucalyptus oil to the water and vinegar - takes away the chip shop smell!
Its what i mop my floors with.

[suse]

Please DO NOT (and yes I am being very emphatic here!) use eucalyptus oil or any essential oil for that matter on anything that will go into a baby's mouth or be in close contact with their skin.

Eucalyptus especially is highly toxic as well as a skin irritant.

Personally I would just stick to vinegar - most cleaning and disinfectant products are dangerous if ingested. Dishwashing detergent is OK because it's designed to be safe for use with food handling equipment.

[BabyQ]

I have Mclintocks Vanilla Fresh Spray from the supermarket which has only ethyl alchohol, water and ethyl vanillin I use in the kitchen and on the inside of the fridge ...it's safe around food and even suggests it is safe to use to clean children's toys.

[Santosha]

Yeah, I figured eucalyptus oil would be bad since it says 'poison' on the bottle. I'd tend to avoid any commercial cleaning products too as there's all sorts of nasties in them.

Vinegar seems plausible, except that I know that it can have a corrosive effect if too strong. Might do my research and see what I can find about the anti-bacterial powers of vinegar!