Cleaning baby toys: that’s what matters!

Which toys can go in the washing machine or tumble dryer, which materials can be boiled, and which toys need to be cleaned more carefully?
At the latest when the baby is born, you, like many other parents, will ask yourself the question about the correct hygiene of baby toys.
How often does the pacifier need to be cleaned?
What about the wooden rattle and what is the best way to clean a crocheted toy?
We answer questions like these in this article.

Why cleaning and disinfecting baby toys is so important

Small babies have an immature immune system

It is therefore advisable to clean baby toys at certain intervals, as stubborn bacteria and germs can attach themselves to them.
Diseases can thus be transmitted and spread more quickly.
Children’s toys in particular quickly develop into a kind of breeding ground for bacteria.

Germs and viruses train the immune system

This is countered by the fact that a certain amount of exposure to bacteria and viruses in moderation is actually beneficial for the development of a strong immune system.
For example, people who grew up on a farm, in the countryside or with pets are demonstrably less susceptible to illness in adulthood than those who grew up without animals.
So to a certain extent, it is also a philosophical question to what extent you are prepared to expose your little darling to pathogens as a child.
Nevertheless, a certain level of basic hygiene should be maintained.
It is therefore advisable to clean soft toys from time to time.
There are various ways of doing this, depending on the material.

How often should children’s toys be cleaned?

There is no general answer as to how often you should clean your baby’s toys.
You should use common sense here.
If the teddy falls into the puddle, it’s obvious that it needs to go in the washing machine.
However, excessive hygiene is counterproductive when it comes to strengthening the immune system.
Due to our modern way of life, we are only exposed to a fraction of the variety of germs in our environment that we were a hundred years ago or that people in developing countries were.
It is therefore not necessary to keep your home perfectly dust-free, banish your furry pet to the garage or disinfect everything and everyone for the sake of your child.
Incidentally, children are at less risk from Covid-19 than adults, as the virus is not dangerous for children.

What is the best way to clean and disinfect toys?

Depending on the nature of the toy, various cleaning methods are available.
An insider tip first: If you are not sure whether and at how many degrees you can clean your toy in the washing machine, or whether washing with water, alkaline solutions or other cleaning liquids is permitted, you can use the following method for disinfecting:

Place the toy in the freezer compartment to disinfect!

Put the toy in a freezer bag and place it in the freezer for at least 24 hours.
This way, the toy is more than 99% disinfected.
Even a boil wash cycle will not achieve such a high level of disinfection.
You can then treat the toy further to remove unsightly stains.
The user-friendly and reusable zip bags with different capacities are particularly suitable as freezer bags:

• 1-liter bag: pacifier chains, baby carriage chains, baby carriage pendants, baby rattles, grasping toys and individual music boxes.
• 3-liter bags: as above, but several of them, as well as cuddly toys.
• 6-liter bags: as above, but several of them, as well as larger cuddly toys, baby mobiles and pull-along toys.

Post-treatment cleaning for the sake of aesthetics

After a trip to the freezer, the toy is already quasi germ-free.
Various washing methods can be used to get rid of the physical dirt and make the soft toy look better.
You should follow a few rules here: In general, plastic toys are the easiest to clean.
As soon as other materials are involved, you should be careful:

• Before cleaning, remove the batteries and dismantle the toy as far as possible.
• Do not put toys with wood in the washing machine or dishwasher!
• If possible, keep untreated wood away from water and liquids!
  • Lacquered/sealed wood can be cleaned briefly with lukewarm water.
  • Unsealed wood should only be washed very briefly with lukewarm vinegar water.
• Do not use fabric softener when washing in the washing machine!
• Do not wash stuffed animals with filling wool in the washing machine!
  • Polyester wadding, on the other hand, is generally machine washable.

Cleaning guide depending on toy category

After you have put the toy in the freezer for at least a day, it is now time to clean it.
Depending on the type and nature of the toy, different cleaning methods are available.

Cleaning cuddly toys

Cuddly toys with a cotton or viscose outer material (e.g. bamboo), which are filled with polyester wadding, are the easiest to care for.
You can wash them in the washing machine at 30°C on a gentle cycle.
Very important: Do not use fabric softener! Otherwise the filling material will stick together or disintegrate.
Prerequisite: the soft toy does not have any wooden parts and the inner parts such as the rattle box, squeaker or rattle paper are waterproof.
Upper materials made of synthetic fibers, wool, mohair or alpaca must not be put in the washing machine.
The same applies to soft toys that are lined with wool.
The latter is the case with many organic stuffed animals.
For such cuddly toys, we recommend hand washing with lukewarm water or wiping with lukewarm soapy water.
If you wash the cuddly toy in the washing machine, you should follow the same rules as when washing a down jacket:

• 30°C on a gentle cycle
• No fabric softener!
  However, the addition of detergent is permitted.
• Make sure that there are no sharp objects in the washing drum that could damage the outer material (e.g. sewn-on artificial eyes, etc.)
• It is best to wash several soft toys together and put them in a laundry net or pillowcase.
• Only spin weakly or not at all.
• Do not wash too often, as the cuddly toy becomes slightly more deformed with each wash.

By the way: The outer material of SindiBaba cuddly toys is made of cotton, bamboo viscose or cotton-bamboo blended yarn.
They are lined with polyester wadding and machine-washable rattle cans.
You can therefore clean them in the washing machine following the advice above.

Cleaning pacifier chains

Cotton pacifier chains are the easiest to care for.
If they are pure pacifier straps, they can be cleaned in the boil wash cycle.
Place the straps in a laundry net or pillowcase.
However, most pacifier chains also have a fastening clip and additional stimuli such as sewn-on soft toys or figures made of wood or plastic.
Please only wash such pacifier chains by hand and make sure that the clip is not washed as well.
If the clip is made of sealed wood, you can clean it briefly in lukewarm water.
If the clip is made of unsealed wood, only wash it very briefly in lukewarm vinegar water.

Cleaning baby carriage chains

Soft baby carriage chains made of easy-care fabric – including acrylic, viscose, cotton and blended fabrics – can be washed in the washing machine on a gentle cycle at up to 40°C.
As with pacifier chains, however, make sure that you remove the fastening parts – clips, rings or clamps – beforehand and clean them separately (see above).

Cleaning baby carriage trailers

You clean baby carriage charms with a permanently sewn-in fastening clip in the same way as pacifier chains.
You can clean baby carriage charms with detachable fastening parts in the same way as baby carriage chains.

Cleaning wooden toys

What should I bear in mind when cleaning wooden toys?

Cleaning painted wooden toys

Disinfecting wooden toys

Cleaning wooden figures and dolls

Conclusion

Cleaning baby toys is easier than you might think.
Almost complete disinfection can be achieved by storing them in the freezer for just one day without having to use water or other cleaning agents.
However, the latter can be used to remove physical dirt and make the toy look better.