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.

[briggsy's girl]

my mum has one of those steam steriliser machine thingys (you can tell i'm REALLY versed on the name of it!) - it's one of those ones you use to clean showers and things. big items go to mum's to be cleaned. small stuff, hot water (as hot as we can stand) to wipe it down. i love the vanilla wipe mentioned, but not sure about using it on things DD is gumming...

does anyone know if washing down with hot water or vinegar/water and then leaving to dry in the sun would help? sunlight/UV has good properties for bleaching stains out of materials so wasn't sure if it would have a similar disinfecting (bleaching) property on "stuff" kwim?

[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!

[luna moth]

NHMRC says warm soapy water for all surfaces, including toys. Not antibacterials, they are the anti-christ.

Drying in the sun is an awesome idea. Air drying on a tea towel second place.

If you're ultra-concerned you could use Milton sterilising solution, made up as you would for sterilising bottles, we have used that at childcare during disease outbreaks - we even wipe the pages of our board books with it. Homebrew shops also sell a good steriliser solution that only leaves a food-safe residue.

[Santosha]

I think sun + air sounds like the most natural way to go... if only we could get some sun again in Melb!

SB the home-brew steriliser is an excellent idea too. I think we have some as DH is occasionally making home-brew - and stinking up the laundry! Grrrrr!!

[Olive]

i stick one thing of DD2 in the dishwasher, its a suction toy thing for the highchair, it gets food on it so i chuck it in the topself of the dishwasher. were also told in emergency where i volunteer to stick toys in the dishwasher

[fionas]

I was going to say let the dog give them a good lick but I'm just in a silly mood and that's not very helpful!