Disinfecting toys

[Momof4]

Oh wow, I started out as a bleacher, but now it's a mild antibacterial disinfectant. I'm so proud of my 3 year olds because every time the baby puts something in his mouth they tell me and run it out to the kitchen sink for washing. It just shows me that my handwashing/sanitary lessons are sinking in!

I still wash my micrfibre couch every weekend with soap and water and use Febreeze on non-washable things but would like to find an equivalent green product. I'm always washing all the big things when I dust like the children's trucks, bins, plastic kitchen, rocking toys, etc.

[horsegirl]

I spoke with my licensing officer and after mentioning that I had been in touch with the company that makes Lysol and Mr. Clean and she agreed that this was OK, as long as I sprayed it on the area for the length of time that the manufacturers said it needed to become disinfected.
The Lysol spray (it is for air and disinfecting) is what I use. I like the apple fragrance.
It makes me wonder if we are over doing all this cleaning and that is why we have the super bugs that are hard to kill.

[Sarah A]

There is a difference between cleaning and disinfecting and not all solutions that "clean" do a strong enough job of disinfecting for what we are expected to do.

On the other hand I wonder if we worry too much about the disinfecting to the point we waste our time since by the end of the day the kids have all touched and played with the same surfaces anyway transferring the germs amongst themselves. Which does explain why spending hours sanitizing doesn't always prevent the spread of colds and flu in the daycare just tires us out when we should have been taking care of ourselves all evening so can fight off the viruses too.

I do agree. I am with an agency and they suggest bleach and water to disinfect. Not a fan of bleach as I don't like using it around the house. Smell is too strong and I don't feel right having it around the kids.

What are your ratios for tea tree oil, vinegar or any other natural cleaner/disinfectant?

[mamaof4]

I use vinegar pretty often, typically 1/4 or 1/3 vinegar to water

look at dr. bronners soaps also- I love the lavender castile soap

[mamaof4]

I spoke with my licensing officer and after mentioning that I had been in touch with the company that makes Lysol and Mr. Clean and she agreed that this was OK, as long as I sprayed it on the area for the length of time that the manufacturers said it needed to become disinfected.
The Lysol spray (it is for air and disinfecting) is what I use. I like the apple fragrance.
It makes me wonder if we are over doing all this cleaning and that is why we have the super bugs that are hard to kill.

totally- there has been a lot of research to support the idea of being 'too clean' breeding resistant strains of things and the development of allergies etc. finding a balance is HARD though

[sunnydays]

I would never use a spray such as the Lysol spray as those things are very toxic...you can feel it in your lungs when you spray it. I buy a natural disinfectant spray at All About Kids (a daycare supply store in Ottawa) for those things that are hard to wash as well as things like the diaper pail etc.

[apples and bananas]

I use bleach as well when I have to do a full disinfect. Usually every few months I'll do a full disinfect. I always have to go back to the local public health website to get the ratio, I always forget, but I find that the ratio that is recomended isn't too bad for smell, and I've never bleached my clothes doing it. I just get a big bucket and some towels and spend a few hours in the daycare room dunk and lay to air dry, dunk and lay to air dry. Then I pay my oldest child to put them away... LOL.

But I clean surfaces daily and try to wash any mouthed toys with soap and water. I have a "this toy went in a mouth" bucket I just keep adding to all day.

[bright sparks]

I researched this subject in depth on the Internet. Living so close to the US border I found a product available in the states but not available here and I buy it in bulk. Here are the specifics but there are more on the manufacturers website. I purchase it from amazon.com and it's not expensive at all.

It's "Clorox anywhere hard surface daily sanitizing spray." It kills 99.9% of bacteria on hard non porous surfaces. It is gentle enough to use around kids, pets and food. It has no harsh fumes, and leaves no harmful residue. Aside from these great things I love that there is no rinsing necessairy so I just lay stuff out, spray it and put it back. It saves SO much time when cleaning and it is colour safe so won't damage anything or your clothes. This is a disinfecting product so there's never a question of whether it is sufficient or not. I also use it on my highchairs weekly and my play pens. The products intended use is for children's nurseries.

I hope people find this information useful.

I have never used a bleach solution as IMO you can never be 100% certain it has all been rinsed off and bleach is so very dangerous. I also don't use this spray constantly. If we are cold and illness free I just clean with an all natural cleaner which is completely non toxic as I think that being to clean will not help the kids immune system. I wash regularly and when there's colds going round and children are specifically putting a toy in their mouth ( I usually discourage it when there's colds but obviously the babies will still put them in their mouths) I am extra strict with having a toy bucket outside the play area which is for toys that have been put in mouths. Once the child has finished with the toy, it goes straight in the box for disinfecting.