Washing playmats and toys

[Sullwah]

We have a large playmat (made my Taf Toys) for my 5 month twin boys that has a mirror embedded in it.

Instructions say suface wash only.

Would you risk sticking in the washing machine? They are voming aand gobbing all over it and then sucking and licking it (the playmat - not the vom and gob!).

Also what sort of toys do you generally stick in the dishwasher/ washing machine? ours are starting to be rather dirty - but cant face all that "surface washing" whatever that is.

Thanks,

The type of toys I wash fairly regular are the teething ring type ones. Often just give them a swish in the washing up bowl. Also things like plastic stacking cups. I have a play mat (but not a posh one like yours) and that machine washes fairly well.

You could try gently handwashing a corner of yours and squeeze the water out with a clean towel just to test how it will react to washing? If you machine wash obviously use the wool/handwash cycle. I would handwash and rinse something like this and then spin in machine on a slow spin.

We deliberately don't have a lot of cuddly toys and those we do have tend to stay in the bedroom/cot ad I confess I don't wash them unless the baby is sick over them or similar.

p.s. surface washing afaik is just sponge/wipe them over with a damp cloth.

I've machine washed my playmat with a mirror thing on it.
Mirror looks slightly blurry now but playmat comletely fine!

Napisan and Milton are what you need!

I would bung the playmat in the washing machine - low heat (here's where the napisan comes it - it really really cleans at only 30 degrees) and to heck with the mirror! It should be fine, it's meant to be unbreakable for heavens sake!

Might go easy on the spin and avoid tumble drier if you have one

As for toys etc - big bowl of warm water with Milton in (sterilising solution) anything goes in for 10 minutes and comes out all lovely and sterile and good for chewing/ voming again to their heart's content

When my DS was 10 months, he was diagnosed (incorrectly I may add ) with impetigo. Clearly the Dr had no kids because he instructed me to go home and "sterilise all items and surfaces with which DS may have been in contact with". HEAVENS!!!

I wept for about 2 hours at prospect of cleaning, then rolled up sleeves, rolled up DS, got out the gin (for me) and the Milton/ Napisan (for everything else) and set to

It is the cleanest any of us have ever been and nothing suffered too much....

except for DS who was then told he had eczema!!!

Good luck!

Thanks for all your views.

I am going to bung it in the washing machine. I can live with a blury mirror.

Life is too short to surface clean

Never a truer word, sullwah .

i have the exact mat i think you mean, does it have a removable toy frog, bee etc as well?

I have washed it on 30 degrees loads of times and then hung on the line to dry - is fine.

I also wash all DS's cuddly toys in the machine, sometimes in a pillow case if there are loads of them and they have been fine too. I also can't be faffed 'sponge cleaning' - dried on marmite, porridge, felt tip and snot doesn't really come off that way

I stick stuff like that on a "hadwash cycle" in my washer with some nappy san. I wouldnt arantee it but I do it with everything and havent ruined anything yet!