A Quick Way to Clean Toys

My children's toys had gotten so cruddy. I didn't even notice it but my husband pointed out that a toy that my 1 year old was about to put in her mouth had gunk in the creases of it. Upon examination of the other toys in the closet, I realized that they could all use a good washing. However, I currently have 3 children and between them they have more toys than I care to count, or clean.

So what was the quick solution to my dirty toys dilemma? I put them in the washing machine. And it worked like a charm.

Here are a few tips to successfully machine wash your children's toys:

Pre-soak the toys in the washing machine or use a long washing cycle. This will ensure that the toys have enough time to get clean.

Don't put toys with stickers on them in the washing machine. It seems obvious enough that the stickers will get ruined in the wash. Unfortunately, I didn't even think about this until I pulled a pail out the washing machine that used to have a large, pretty sticker on it. However, now there is nothing left but sticky glue residue.

Don't machine wash toys that are hollow in the middle and appear to be sealed together with glue. My daughter has a rattle that is clear in the middle and has plastic balls on the inside of it. This item seemed completely sealed. But in the wash it filled up with water and I can't figure out how to get it out.

Add a little bleach to the water to disinfect the toys. You really don't need much bleach, maybe 1/8cup to ¼ cup depending on how many toys you are washing. Wash all the toys together. I didn't bother to sort plastics, stuffed animals, and cloth toys. I put them all in the same load and they turned out fine.

Hand wash all battery operated toys. These toys cannot be immersed in water.

And drying the items is a breeze as well. I machine dried all of the stuffed animals and cloth blocks on a low heat setting. They actually turned out fluffy and some of the stuffed animals look new again. I laid out all of the plastic toys on a few towels and let them air dry.

Voila! Clean toys with minimal effort.