a year ago my daughter recieved some bath toys from her grandmother and my aunt... a lot of rubber duckies. She loves them. The problem is that the little hole in the bottom on the duck that sucks in water and blows it out. No matter what I do I cannot get all of the water out of it. I went to clean them this evening and as I was sqirting the water out it was brown and gross. Do I need to throw them away or is there something that will actually clean and disinfect the rubber ducks? I have searched for ducks without the holes in them but can't find any that are not decorative. HELP!
After you clean them - or if you toss these and get new ones - try putting some silicone caulking over the hole so water doesn't get inside anymore.
You can use diluted bleach water, or vinegar water.
Every time I clean the bathroom--which is weekly-- I always put all the tub toys is the tub and fill it with HOT water and put bleach in the water (and tell the kids NOT to play with the toys or in the water because of the bleach in it will hurt their skin). While I am cleaning the rest of the bathroom, the tub toys soak in the bleach water. When the rest of the bathroom is clean I then empty the tub toys of the water they collected and put them in their basket--make sure it's a basket in which the water can drain so as to NOT collect water and sit, then clean the tub last. This helps clean the toys on a regular basis. (Oh, before I let them soak, I try to squeeze all of the water and gunk out of the toys first)...
I hope this tip helps. It sure does help keep our tub toys from smelling yucky.
--L. W
A little bit about me: My husband and I have been married for 13 years We have 5 active children ranging rom age 4 up to age 12. I've learned a little over the years and am willing to share whatever wisdom I've garnered over the years with anybody who is willing to listen. ;-> I also love to sew and bake. (So do my kids)...
Use hot vinegar water, (bleach can be unsafe with children) to clean out the duckies. Also if there is a party supply store near you they have these duckies that light up when they touch the water. Those dont have any holes. Also the hot duckies that tell you if the water is too hot dont have holes. I get tub toys from the dollar store that way I dont feel bad if I have to throw them out.
Personally, I would just toss it out because if you can't get all of the water out, then once you fill it with bleach or cleanser, you can't be sure you'd get that all out either. I had that problem when my sons were younger and what I opted to do was buy one of the temperature testing duckies which has a solid, water-tight bottom. You can buy them at Target or Babies R Us. :)
http://www.munchkin.com/products/detail.html?section=prod...
If you want to clean your rubber ducks, use bleach water. Just squeeze them in a bucket of bleach and water, fill them and let them sit for a bit, then squeeze the bleach water out and repeat with clear water a few times.
If you just want to replace them, Munchkin makes rubber ducks with no holes that are meant to be a guide for water temperature.
we have found the same problem with our bath stuff! the balls are the worst! we try to get the water out every time, but they still get the gunk. so, our best advice is to clean them in the sink full of hot water with some vinegar and a denture cleaning tablet. works like a champ! use just enough water to cover the toys and then about one inch more. once the denture cleaner has dissolved, squeeze the water into the toys and let it sit for a while (we usually finish the bath and get pjs and brush teeth) then take them out and squeeze out all the gunk. then, rinse with clear water inside and repeatedly squeeze out the gunk until none is left. the vinegar/denture cleaner just loosens the stuff and then you have to get it out. we've saved some really cute toys from the trash! hope this helps!
-B.
We have the same problem with any bath toys that squirt water. When they start getting disgusting, I throw them out because they're so repugnant. However, I think that you could probably soak them in a strong bleach solution (making sure you filled up the toy with it) if you wanted to salvage them.
LOL, just soak all her bath toys in the kitchen sink or a bucket with 1 cup of bleach per gallon....It is good to do this at least every 3 months. My kids get toys handed down from neighbors or older siblings, this cleans them right up!! Good luck
I haven't read any other responses, so I don't know if this was already said. My kids have been given gifts of these little duckies that are not squeezable like a rubber duckie, but they don't have holes. They have 2 metal dots on the bottom of them. When you touch them to your hand, they light up. My kids have enjoyed them, but they do eventually stop lighting up. I saw some of these at World Market last week in Goodyear. We used to have toys that had holes in them. I had the same problem, and that freaked me out, so I banned all bathtub toys with holes, just in case. Hope you find some!
