Cleaning Toys

We went to a party this weekend and had other kids that I don't know chewing all over our toys. I'm a germ-a-phobe, especially with it being cold and flu season. Can you throw the fabric toys that make crinkle noise, squeak, rattle, jingle etc in the washing machine and not ruin them? These are toys made by Lamaze or Infantino. Can you throw them in the dryer too?

 

I do, lol. But I wash them separately and the ones that have fabric, but are mostly plastic I lay out to dry.

 

Most things that say not to machine wash, I have thrown in the washing machine and dryer anyway. Most things have come out totally fine - fabric and crinkly rattles, fabric books, puppets, stuffed animals. I have one fabric book that seems a little puffier now, but it's still fine. I hate when the instructions on things say "wipe with a damp cloth" but they're in packaging that leaves them exposed to the air (and lots of germy fingers) on the store shelves! Plus, my kids spit up on everything! So I do it anyway, and it's been fine so far.

What I hate most are plastic toys with sticker decals. You can't clean with soapy water or it will ruin it. I sprayed them with clorox anywhere spray, and it still took some of the coloring off the stickers. Why don't they make all baby toys washable?

 

I've put Infantino toys in the washer. If it has a plastic ring I take that off, but they went into the washer even if it crinkled. I let them air dry though since I thought the dryer might damage the plastic that made them crinkle. Oh and hard plastic toys can go in the dishwasher, top rack.

 

I have put krinkle toys in the washing machine, but I use the delicate cycle. I just lay them out to dry. I also put plastic toys in the dishwasher.

 

I usually throw it all in the machine. No time for hand washing. I let their fabric books air dry though because of the plastic squeaky things inside them. With their rain forest gym though, the one time I stuck it in the dryer, I shrunk the crinkly leaf on it, so now that air dries as well.

 

I wash the items in a mesh lingerie bag or pillowcase on the delicates cycle (cold/cold) with a gentle detergent. Then I lay them out to dry.

I'm all paranoid about germies too. Don't tell my husband, but I've been known to discard the cheaper contaminated stuff.