I have no idea where to post this and seeing as I am addicted to this forum I'm hoping one of you lovely ladies will be able to help.

DD has some bath squirts that she plays with in the bath (basically just little fish and octopus that you can squirt water with). One of them seems to have developed mildew in it and every time I squirt it some of it comes out. It's gross and it's now not being played with anymore, but DD loves them and I would love to know how to clean it so she can play with it again. Can anyone help? I'm stuck for ideas.

Thanks

I wash mine (same toys I think) in warm soapy water whenever I think of it (about once a month), and really fill/squeeze/fill/squeeze over and over until the black gunk doesn't come out anymore -the octopus in particular takes a lot of fill/squeezes. Also, I found that making sure they're fully empty at the end of bath time stops the mildew in the first place...if only my DH would comprehend this.

Hi Trudes,

Well my first suggestion would be to simply ditch the toy and buy a new one!

Second suggestion, maybe get some exit mould or bleach or disinfectant, and put it in a saucer and suck it up through the toys little air hole, KWIM? So the mixture goes inside, shake it around to clean it and then squirt it back out. Would that work? Of course then have the risk of bub chewing on them and chemicals being in contact with it....

Time to go shopping for a new octopus I think!

helen

I would definately ditch it and buy a new one as you can't be sure that the bacteria that has grown the goo isn't still there even after the goo is gone.

EWWW!

Cass

the same thing is happening to mine!!!!
The orange octopus is the worst followed by the pink fish.
Im not buying these again as i have heard this happens a lot to these.Im on the lookout for a different type of bath toy.
Take care
Jodie

Im onto my third set of squirt toys. I find i need to empty them after the end of the bath time and it helps them to last longer. But once they get the black stuff, they get ditched!

I have a solution!!!!!!

I posted this question in misc the other day...

the solution is to soak them in Milton overnight (or a day and a half, cause I forgot about them )

Put them in a bucket with Milton and cold water and I squeezed them so they would fill with the solution and put a plate on top of them to keep them under the water.

The girls in misc told me to then scub them with a toothbrush, but honestly when I got them out they all looked BRAND NEW!!!

If only I could clean my shower that easily

Hi there,

We ditched these type of bath toys a while ago for the same reason. My DD now gets her "ball pool" plastic balls thrown into the bath along with one or 2 plastic containers that she can tip water out of She is happy at the moment with these toys so I wont get the others again. Luckily my DD was not too attached to the squeezy toys.

The milton sounds like a good idea though!

i wished i came here sooner but been sick! i was going to say put them in your steriliser if you use the milton method works wonders i do it monthly now with all bath toys another thing that is cheap but good vinagar! also sterilises them too

I threw DS's toys in a bucket overnight with domestos - it cleaned the toys up then rinsed well to get the bleach out. I like the idea of holding them under with a plate!

Milton is the go!

We have the squirty toys (mine are a different brand because I don't have a octopus or pink fish) and I always empty them between each use.

Plus she usually grabs one and carrys it around the house and then eventually I go and pick them all up. But I think that also gives them plenty of time to dry in between.

I like the milton suggestion - i will keep that in mind.

Thanks for your suggestions. I love the idea of Miltons, but I used a microwave steam steriliser when DD was younger. Do you think the squirty toys would survive 3 minutes in the microwave??? Might try them out and then just chuck them if it ruins them. I 'm sure DD will get over it.