How to Sanitize Infant Toys

Scrub your infant's toys with hot sudsy tap water, just as you would a dirty dish. Do so in a plastic or Rubbermaid basin, or directly in the kitchen sink, with a bottle or nipple brush to penetrate crevices. Make certain to clean the basin or sink prior to adding toys. Removing dirt from the toy's surface is just as important as the more thorough treatment that follows. If the toys are made of soft fabrics, machine-wash them in a lingerie bag on a hot water setting.

Rinse the washed, nonfabric infant toys with hot water, eliminating as many suds and as much soap residue as possible. Then temporarily set aside the infant toys in a dish-drying rack or on a clean hand towel spread out on a flat surface nearby.

Prepare a sanitizing mixture of chlorine bleach and water. Different brands of household bleach may vary in the potency of their active ingredients. Additionally, the ratio of bleach to water depends on the item being sanitized, particularly its size and composite material--i.e., a teething ring made primarily of a pliable plastic would require 1 tbsp. of Clorox Regular Bleach to 1 gallon of water.

Soak the infant toys in the prepared sanitizing solution for a period of time between two and five minutes. Smaller toys require less soaking time. Too little time will not kill the maximum amount of germs, and too much time may affect the integrity of the item's material. Most solutions require anywhere between 3 tbsp. and 3/4 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water.

Rinse the infant toys after soaking them for no more than five minutes, placing them in a clean area to air-dry. Replacing them in a clean dish-drying rack or on a clean towel would suffice. This can be followed for all toys, with the exception of those made of wood. Because wood is porous, for it to be sanitized effectively, it should not be rinsed after soaking.

Store your infant's unused toys in a clean and airtight container. After treating the container with a sanitizing solution, use it to store infant toys when not in use. By rotating the toys in play, there should be sanitized, ready-to-play infant toys available while others are waiting to be made germ-free.