Babies and young children have plenty of toys that need regular disinfecting. When pursuing a more natural, healthy life in the world we live in today, the options for baby-safe disinfectant wipes or a cleaning solution void of harmful chemicals can be overwhelming. But there is an even simpler option for cleaning your child’s favorite toys than store-bought cleaning products. With a little bit of warm water and soap or vinegar cleaning solution and a clean cloth, your baby’s toys will be clean and safe for any sort of play—even if it ends up in baby’s mouth!
With the upcoming arrival of our fourth baby, I have spent a lot of time reminding myself of the “newborn essentials and rules.” We had our first two girls in the city. Our third daughter and this baby boy will be born in our “homesteading and natural living era.” Needless to say, the parenting and home environment have been and will be extremely different with the latter two than the former two.
As I go through my memories of the newborn stage, I am remembering the overwhelming amount of laundry and baby toys. One thing I have been staunch about changing in this new phase of homesteader life is using all-natural, non-toxic household cleaners. Our baby’s toys are not exempt from this rule. Goodbye, Clorox! Hello, homemade vinegars!
Vinegar, also known as acetic acid, is an effective disinfectant that can be used as a substitute for any store-bought disinfectant. It kills mycobacteria, which is the most disinfectant-resistant bacteria; therefore, I trust it to kill off any other kind of bacteria that enters my house or my baby may encounter.
My journey to breaking up with toxic household cleaners & disinfecting products
So many layers have unfolded for me in our homesteading journey. Homesteading seems to encompass so much more than I could have ever understood when first entertaining the idea and jumping two feet in. We abandoned the city and never looked back. In the last two years, we have grown and changed and evolved so much as people, as parents, and as homesteaders that we are only vaguely recognizable to those from our “city life.”
Not only have we moved to a small town eight times smaller than the city we grew up in and bought a couple of acres. Not only have we built a chicken coop from scratch and welcomed twenty-seven backyard chickens to our fold. Not only am I the crazy lady that uses every part of every food item I can and even asks to salvage food at parties from the trash can to feed my chickens later. Oh yes, I’m that type of person.
We also have transformed the inside of our home to envelope a more simple, healthy environment. I have replaced all lotions, perfumes, candles, soap, and washing powders for the laundry and dishes. I have not purchased a store-bought household cleaner or disinfectant in over two years since learning to make my own from literal scraps. I’ve completely transformed our family’s eating habits and routines by eating more at home and following our natural cycles rather than what time it is on the clock.
What sparked all of these changes? Was it simply moving and diving headfirst into the homesteading community? No. It was our daughter’s first summer on the homestead that revealed our family was in desperate need of a detox.
I’ve spoken about my daughter’s health concerns before and how that led to me finding replacements for toxic, store-bought household cleaners.
Steps to finding an all-natural cleaning solution on the homestead
At first, my city folk mind was under the impression that eliminating only the name-brand cleaners. During the height of the 2020 shutdowns I was in my third trimester and gave birth to our second daughter. I was like a madwoman purchasing all of the Clorox wipes or Lysol wipes I could find in the store to make sure our house was the definition of clean. Yes, I will admit, I even wiped down all of our groceries while heavily pregnant to prevent bringing anything unhealthy into our home.
Oh, how the times have changed.
So, when we moved to the homestead, I stuck with traditional cleaning products like chlorine bleach and the laundry detergents that are advertised as free of scent and are a mild detergent. I thought I was doing better than I was before and therefore that was good enough.
And then our daughter’s health took a turn for the worse and after multiple ER visits and a hospital stay, I knew there was more work to do. I needed to protect her, rather than harming her lungs and skin.
The baby-safe disinfectant I use today
My favorite household cleaner since transitioning to a more simple, healthy life is vinegar. I use it for anything and everything. All of the surfaces in our home are vinegar-safe, including our kitchen countertops and LVP floors. Therefore, I have not had to buy any other type of disinfecting products or worry about the spread of germs from our chickens or sick babies in the home since learning about this fantastic sanitizing solution.
All that you need is a clean towel or paper towel and a mixture of water and vinegar. If you are cleaning a large amount of baby toys, you may want to just get a five gallon bucket filled with a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of water to vinegar and a clean cloth to wipe down each toy individually if they have a hard surface. If they are really dirty, you could even fill a bathtub with as much water and vinegar as needed to clean. Later in the post I will also discuss how to clean baby toys with soft surfaces and wooden toys, as a washing machine or hand washing may be the most effective cleaning method for these materials.
Cleaning baby toys without disinfectant wipes or any harsh chemicals
If you are in need of a disinfectant spray, I suggest filling a glass spray bottle with a diluted vinegar solution. This can be made with my citrus-scented household cleaner or with fruit scrap vinegar. The most popular is apple scrap vinegar but I have also had success with peach scraps. Fill the spray bottle with a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of water and vinegar and spray as needed. Wipe with a cloth and you have effectively replaced your store-bought Lysol wipes with a nontoxic, harmless cleaning solution!
The water to vinegar ratio is completely up to you. I usually do a 1:2 with my homemade vinegars as I think they are much stronger than the white vinegar from the store. This is solely going by smell alone. If you do not know the origin of your baby’s toys (for example, if they are bought second-hand) or they are really dirty, a 1:1 ratio may be more appropriate.
How to clean baby’s plush toys the all-natural way
The most convenient way to clean baby toys with soft surfaces is to throw them all in a mesh bag in the washing machine and use your homemade laundry detergent or a splash of white vinegar. Make sure the machine is set to the gentle cycle when washing stuffed animals, otherwise the cotton stuffing may get out of shape.
There is conflicting information out on the Web regarding whether or not warm/hot water kills more bacteria than cold water. Yes, boiling water and water surpassing 170°F will kill bacteria. But the most common “hot water” setting on washing machines only reaches 130°F. Knowing this, I do not bother to set my washing machine above the cool or warm setting when washing and sanitizing anything. The vinegar added to the laundry load is more than sufficient for me.
When your child’s favorite stuffed animal gets a stain, what do you do?
If there is a stain on the baby’s soft toys or stuffed animals that will be difficult to dry if fully submerged, you can use the spray bottle method mentioned above and create a paste with baking soda by rubbing the baking soda into the wet stain after spraying. Allow the paste to sit for several minutes before rinsing out with warm water. I have found air drying most toys is perfectly acceptable. However, if needed, a hair dryer on a low setting can help dry fabric toys quicker.
My youngest daughter had the stomach bug recently and in the middle of the night while snuggling her stuffy she had an episode. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad and she alerted us right away, but it did leave some questionable stains on her brand new stuffed bunny from Easter.
My solution was to create a paste with the diluted vinegar spray and baking soda as previously described. I simply used my citrus-scented cleaning vinegar and sprayed a little on the two spots. I then took a bit of baking soda pinched between my fingers and rubbed it into the damp spots until it created this paste.
I set a timer for five minutes and then rinsed off the paste with warm water. You tell me, did it work?
How to clean wooden toys that are safe for baby’s mouth
We personally do not have many wooden toys in the house, but I do use a natural wood cleaner for a few trays and cutting boards I have. This DIY natural wood cleaner recipe is great, baby-safe, and will also polish the toys as well. If you don’t care for a polished sheen on the baby’s toys, simply eliminate the olive oil!
Clean baby toys and gear made from other materials
Whether you are looking to clean hard plastic toys, electronic toys, silicone toys, rubber toys, or any other baby toy with a hard surface, the cleaning solution is still vinegar and warm water. You can choose to either clean all of them at once by submerging in a 1:1 or 1:2 water and vinegar ratio in the kitchen sink or bathtub or you may choose to clean them one-by-one. If cleaning one at a time, each toy can be wiped down with a damp cloth from the vinegar cleaner or by spraying down each toy and wiping away the dirt to sanitize.
I can also use my homemade vinegar solution on the kids’ high chairs. Vinegar is an amazing household cleaner because it is powerful and will cut through any number of set-in grimes or sticky spots. After every meal I will spot clean with a clean cloth, clean water, and a bit of soap. I will also spray down the entire high chair on a regular basis and wipe down with a damp cloth. If necessary, I can also throw the high chair insert into the washing machine, but generally the cloth is an effective alternative method to cleaning the soft surface.
Can I use a dishwasher to clean my baby’s toys?
While placing the child’s toys in the dishwasher is a convenient way to clean the entire toy, it is not my favorite option. Depending on the type of material, the toy’s shape can be warped in the dishwasher. I also worry about plastic leaching, though I am not perfect in ridding my home of all plastic toys or even kitchenware.
I find it is a good idea to simply clean the toy with a homemade solution and some elbow grease, if that’s even necessary. Honestly, if there isn’t visible dirt on my baby’s toys, I rarely clean them anymore. When I do get the urge, I’ve found a great way to clean them naturally with little stress or effort! These types of toys honestly require the least amount of effort to clean. I use either plain old dish soap (made from a diluted Castile soap solution) or a few spritz of my vinegar cleaner from the spray bottle and a rag. I’ll even use a paper towel if I’m lazy and don’t want to add to the mountain of laundry. As much as I want to consider myself “crunchy,” we’re just not quite there yet!
A side note on bath toys
If any of your baby’s bath toys have a hole in them, it will be difficult to keep mold out of them. A parent hack that I didn’t learn until my third child is to put a dab of hot glue on top of that hole to seal up the toy and prevent mold. The type of plastic the bath toys are typically made out of (at least a majority of the ones we have been gifted over the years), seem to attract mold on the inside and outside and all over no matter how dry we get them before storing. This seems to be the easiest way to avoid throwing away a gift or your child’s favorite toys while also preventing illness from mold.
Should you desire to eliminate plastic bath toys altogether in favor of more traditionally clean toys, I would suggest investing in some kitchen utensils like stainless steel spoons, cups, or even cheap plastic ones from the dollar store that you can throw in the dishwasher. You won’t feel bad about throwing them away if you have to and it does provide additional entertainment for the kids when trying to tire them out before bedtime. I understand this isn’t the most minimalistic, frugal, or all-natural suggestion, but we all just do our best, right?
Cleaning wipes for on-the-go
Every parent of a new baby knows that cleaning up messy diapers and rinsing off baby toys at home is uncomplicated compared to when you’re out and about. As soon as that chew toy or pacifier hits the floor at a restaurant, your heart sinks to the pit of your stomach if you don’t have a backup plan. You make eye contact with your baby to see if they notice (they most definitely do) and frantically search for a substitute or something to clean the child’s favorite toy off.
I don’t think they were as common with my first baby, but I have in recent years seen pacifier wipes and other disinfecting wipe options for these situations in the baby aisles. While a baby wipe and some soap from the public restroom is a perfectly effective way to clean the surface of the toy when you’re out, sometimes it isn’t the best option. There have been plenty of times that I am not able to locate a bathroom in time to clean my baby’s toys and prevent the spread of germs. Therefore, I started carrying with me in my diaper bag a clean washcloth or two and a homemade version of disinfectant wipes.
This is my step-by-step guide for making and storing homemade sanitizing wipes. This method to making homemade baby wipes has been inspired by Wellness Mama.
Step one for DIY sanitizing wipes that are baby safe: Find your wipes
Grab some soft washcloths or cut up some old receiving blankets or T-shirts into a normal washcloth-sized square. For a disposable option, you can also use paper towels cut in half. The disposable option is great for an on-the-go Lysol wipe-alternative but I usually stick to cloth in any case. If the cloth gets super messy, I will put it in a dog poop bag that I always carry in my diaper bag and either throw away or wash when I get home.
Step two: Grab a container for the cloths and the vinegar cleaning solution
I like reusable silicone bags because I can cram them into whatever pocket or cranny I have left in the diaper bag. This also doesn’t add too much weight to the already-twenty-pound bag.
You will also want a glass spray bottle for the diluted vinegar solution. I have purchased two and four ounce spray bottles to keep in the diaper bag and car with this solution (it works great as an alternative to hand sanitizer too!).
But a glass container for car storage would work too as then you could eliminate the need for the additional glass spray bottle. By submerging the clean cloths into the vinegar solution, you can create a ready-made reusable baby wipe for diaper changes or cleaning baby toys in public. You may also choose to throw the glass container in the diaper bag and have your hubby carry it if it’s too heavy for you!
Step three: Use DIY sanitizing wipes as needed
I like to keep a clean cloth or two in the diaper bag either in an easily accessible silicone bag or just shoved into a random pocket when I’m refilling the bag in a hurry. Then, when baby drops their favorite toy in public (or I’m in desperate need for some hand sanitizing or emergency diaper wipes), I can pull out my spray bottle and give a quick spritz and wipe before it goes straight back into baby’s mouth.
Why a homemade solution is the best way to clean baby toys
Parallel to our homesteading journey has been our journey to simple, healthy living. This was jumpstarted by our daughter’s health issues, but I think also in a sense simply comes with the territory of homesteading. How can we be concerned with what we put in our bodies when it comes to food and not also question what we put on our bodies or surround our bodies with in our home? Of course I am concerned for my older children and want to protect and prevent for them, but bringing new babies onto our homestead has changed me in a lot of ways too. These newborns are so precious, so fragile, and they deserve the best our home’s environment has to offer. For us, that means all-natural and/or nontoxic cleaners, detergents, lotions, diaper creams, and so much more. While it can be overwhelming when trying to replace everything all at once, I simplify this approach by replacing what we run out of with a better alternative. Sometimes that is homemade and sometimes it is not.
What I love about cleaning baby toys with Clorox wipes alternatives is that even on-the-go I can sanitize my child’s favorite toys without sacrificing their health. I am also able to make these household cleaners out of literal trash. These peels and other fruit scraps would just end up in a pile somewhere, or potentially eaten by our chickens. But instead, I can create a healthier home and also lower our grocery bill by eliminating the need for store-bought products. Win-win!
Have you tried making your own cleaning vinegar or other disinfectant wipe at home? Show me your results by sharing on City Folk Homestead’s Facebook page! I am always looking for more ideas or encouragement from other folks wanting a healthier, more natural life! I’m looking forward to connecting with you, friend!
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