Bath toys make convincing your tot to get into the tub a lot easier but what's the best way to keep them clean so your child can continue to enjoy them safely?
How to clean bath toys
"Most bath toys will do just fine if you just rinse them off with fresh water at the end of bath time, however, it's important to do a deep clean and a thorough bath toy check every couple of months in order to prevent dangerous black mould build-up," explains Sophie Pickles, official parenting coach and early years expert for Munchkin.
"It’s good to get into the habit of doing a deep clean on bath toys every couple of months. By far the easiest way to clean your bath toys is to fill the bath an inch or two deep, throw in a couple of sterilising tablets and let the toys soak a bit," Sophie recommends. There's no need for hot water or to rinse them off afterwards, just let them dry thoroughly once you've taken them out and they're good to go.
"For a really labour-free way of washing, you can pop toys on the top shelf of the dishwasher on a quick cycle," she adds. "However, I wouldn’t do this too often as it can wear down the colours over time."
Keep mould at bay
The key to keeping mould at bay is to keep the toys as dry as possible (easier said than done with bath toys!).
"The way you store them can have the biggest impact on how much mould develops so look for baskets/nets made out of mesh as this helps the toys to dry quicker," says Sophie.
Make sure you check through your toys every month or so and throw away any that have any signs of black mould.
Bath toy tips
• Don’t leave toys soaking in the bath after your little one is done bathing. Whilst it can be easy to forget about, this is the quickest way to ensure they get full of mould.
• Make tidying bath toys away into a fun chore to do before getting out of the bath. In the same way that you may get your little one to tidy toys away when they are finished playing with them, before getting out of the bath, why not rinse and put them away together?