Stored Baby Toys

[Mother Goose]

With around 9-10 weeks to go and having finally sorted the new house (with the exception of the nursery), I figured it was time to start on Baby's room. There's about 4 moving boxes of stuff for me to sort and either re-store or store appropriately. Last night I was unpacking a garbage bag full of old stuffed toys of DD's from her baby days and got to the bottom of the bag to find little bits of shredded paper. I don't believe it was the toy musical mouse that did it either

We DID have a mouse on the run at the old house (may s/he RIP) and know that it managed to get into several of the boxes stored. I can't recall if it was IN this box or not... but I found a solitary mouse dropping in the garbage bad. No signs of mouse chewing to get IN the bag though...

So my question is this. What do I do with the toys? Some of them are from DH's baby days and others are things DD was given. None of them can be thrown in the washing machine (because that would be too simple). So, is there a safe way to clean them or do I need to simply chuck them?

TIA!

MG

[~me~]

Can you wipe them down with a baby wipes? I wouldn't throw them out, just yet. Do they smell musty or micey?

The other thing to do is wipe them down with some sort of cloth and disinfectant and then hang them out on the washing line for airing.

[Mother Goose]

thanks Heather.

When I was packing I automatically got rid of anything that was musty or yucky with the exception of a couple of "sentimental" things... which have also been tossed when UNpacking.

I feel pretty torn... we're talking a good couple of hundred dollars worth of toys and stuff that would be good for this baby... but I also don't want to risk their health... I'm too scared to look in the rest of the boxes now! LOL

[Netix]

Can you spray the toys with white vinegar and put them in the sun? The sun is an excellent steriliser. What sort of toys are they?

[Mother Goose]

pram toys, a clutch type thing, a mobile with hanging toys... can't remember what else

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

How about sterilising tablets, like you use for baby bottles, on plastic toys?

[diva det]

we had exactly the same issue with stored toys. Similar age gap between kids for us as you. I cleaned over the plastic ones with disinfectant etc. the stuffed toys I wiped over with a cloth with microshield on it and hung them on the line for a couple of days. I then gave them a spin in the dryer if i could or a blast over the ducted heating vent.

give it a go- if you can save them its a bonus
plus i found in the end that in such a short time the toys had dated and people bought the new bubs new ones anyway!

ooh not long to go now!!

[AliBaby]

Oh no! I would be devastated as well. I agree with the above advice. Hit them with some vinegar and lots of direct sunlight. It's worth a shot. Especially on the ones that are sentimental.

[veus]

I chuck pram toys into washing machine when I know it's gonna be sunny and hang it out to dry. As long as they don't have any electronics stuff in them.

[AnyDream]

Personally I wouldn't chance the mousie germs. Unless they are battery operated or have air-filled squeekers, you could still chuck them in the washing machine (I've done this with loads of toys, since lots of ours came from the op shop) or if they are older and more delicate you could wash them by hand, maybe using something like napisan which has a sterilising element. If they are solid-plastic ones you could run them through the dishwasher or even a quick dunk in hot soapy water, again depending if they have squeekies inside.