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  1. #21
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    Oh, and one more thing. Does anyone else use bleach in the sand box? I spend a good deal of time in the spring (2+ hrs) with the garden hose and diluting attachment with bleach spraying the sandbox. Mine is a 14'x16' hole in the ground filled with sand. I'm in the country and there's lots of creatures around at night. Plus I have a cat (that's her to the left.) And even though I think I finally figured out the perfect way to keep the sand useable all summer, I still wonder what could possibly be in there.

  2. #22
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    I never clean the sand box. The thought actually never crossed my mind but I am not super big into disinfecting anything really. This was just a one off for me. I also don't stress if the kids eat it, heh heh

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee-Bee View Post
    Yes, the sterilizer is just a dishwaher looking machine that super steams everything. I suppose I can how a dishwasher isn't as good as a sterilizer. I don't run the toys with any dishes...just toys not sure if that would make a difference.

    But, as far as I'm concerned if we lick the dishes that come out of the dishwasher then the toys are lick-able too! They come out clean but not sterilized.

    Pretty sure bleaching toys in a bath doesn't result in completely sterilized toys either. There would be many points of contamination while taking them out and drying them. I just like to get the snot off the toys!

    I don't believe we NEED to sterilize toys. The kids are in contact all day if they have something that contagious, odds are the kids are exposed before we have a chance to completely sterilize the toys.

    But hey, I'm the parent that lets my kid eat food that fell on the floor, roll in mud and just get plain old filthy while exploring. We've never sterilized anything for her and she's only really been sick once.
    I agree with you. All of us staff members didn't see an issue with it so we did it (toys separately at the end of the day but I don't think it made a difference) However, the health and safety inspector didn't approve of it.

    A tub is probably even less sanitary haha. The health and safety person would probably die knowing that's how some of us clean LOL

    Yes, most things are spread before the symptoms even appear unfortunately

    I'm like that too!! When we eat our snacks and lunch outside...it ain't the cleanest food that makes it to their mouth sometimes! haha

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by kindertime View Post
    Oh, and one more thing. Does anyone else use bleach in the sand box? I spend a good deal of time in the spring (2+ hrs) with the garden hose and diluting attachment with bleach spraying the sandbox. Mine is a 14'x16' hole in the ground filled with sand. I'm in the country and there's lots of creatures around at night. Plus I have a cat (that's her to the left.) And even though I think I finally figured out the perfect way to keep the sand useable all summer, I still wonder what could possibly be in there.
    My aunt had a huge homemade sandbox for her 4 kids when they were quite young. They also live in the country and had cats. They ended up only using it for a couple of years because the cats used it as their personal litterbox (and god only knows what other creatures lol) and it was just too hard to keep clean! The kids would stink after playing in there! I'm not sure what you can do to clean it but there is probably something!

    I don't have a sandbox in my yard but if I did, I really liked what I saw on pinterest. It was a little pop up tents with a zipper...I thought that would keep it nice and clean!

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by kindertime View Post
    Oh, and one more thing. Does anyone else use bleach in the sand box? I spend a good deal of time in the spring (2+ hrs) with the garden hose and diluting attachment with bleach spraying the sandbox. Mine is a 14'x16' hole in the ground filled with sand. I'm in the country and there's lots of creatures around at night. Plus I have a cat (that's her to the left.) And even though I think I finally figured out the perfect way to keep the sand useable all summer, I still wonder what could possibly be in there.
    I've never thought to clean sand! The daycares are required to have the sand boxes covered. They typically use a mesh-y kind of tarp that lies over top. It keeps animals from using it as a sandbox but still allows good airflow. I haven't a clue where you'd get one or how much they would cost but it might be worth looking into just to save the hassle of cleaning sand!!

  6. #26
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    Oh and Suzie...your house sounds so cozy!!

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by 5 Little Monkeys View Post
    Oh and Suzie...your house sounds so cozy!!
    Thank you. We like it a lot.

  8. #28
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    Mostly I just wash the toys to get the grubby hand stuff off them and not so much about worrying about sanitizing. I use the kitchen sink, dishsoap - figure if it's good enough for dishes we eat off it's ok for toys kids might lick too, and a toothbrush - bought a cheap one labeled hard. For toys like little people with a hole in the bottom I put my finger over the hole, do a quick dunk in the water and then hold the toy while scrubbing with the brush, another quick dunk in the other side that is either just water or a water bleach solution and then it gets put on a towel to drip on the counter. When the towel is full I transfer them over the table I have covered with a blanket and cotton sheet and the great thing is that above the table is a fan so put that on full and it helps a lot with drying time. I do a couple tables of stuff a week so all is done in rotation based on what the interest seems to be. The big stuff sits on the counter and I use the brush and a cloth to wipe down and then another cloth of just water to rinse.

  9. #29
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    I put a dab of hot glue in the holes in all my little people (just to stop from going in, they can still fit on the pegs in cars etc). Make a difference when washing.

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  11. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee-Bee View Post
    I've never thought to clean sand! The daycares are required to have the sand boxes covered. They typically use a mesh-y kind of tarp that lies over top. It keeps animals from using it as a sandbox but still allows good airflow. I haven't a clue where you'd get one or how much they would cost but it might be worth looking into just to save the hassle of cleaning sand!!
    I used to use a regular tarp. At first I used sand bags at the corners to hold it down, but they always ripped and the tarp would fly away anyway. Then I used long tent peg like things at the corners but then the tarps ripped and would fly away. Then, because the sand was always covered and cool, the ants moved in. The ground around here is very sandy to begin with so that became unmanageable. So for a couple of years I didn't use the sandbox. But then last Spring I found a solution. The mesh tarp! I bought two from Lee Valley Tools. They are about 6'x13' and I also built a wooden frame/edge to sit on the ground around the sand. One tarp is permanently attached with staples into the wood on one side, it gets flipped open and closed. The other tarp lies on the sand with a play kitchen in one corner and a tent filled with sand in the other. It worked so well last summer, I wish I'd thought of it sooner.

    This is maybe too much information, but the reason I stopped using it in the first place several years ago was because even though I had a tarp on it all the time, one of the kids still found a "lump" from the cat. By the time I realised what it was, it was in his hand... So gross!!

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