Last week Peter and I were working our Kai Kids booth at the Children’s Trunk Show. We always enjoy meeting our customers and talking to other parents about products, kids, and things we go through as parents!  I was chatting with a customer about using reusable wipes for diaper changes at home, and how we soak and launder them ( I blogged about this back in the summer). She was asking what we soak them with in the diaper pail, and i was telling her about non-toxic bleach, or hydrogen peroxide. I told her that we also use it to clean and disinfect toys, and she said: you should blog about that too!

Hydrogen peroxide is also known as oxygenated bleach, and it is one of the most environmentally safe chemicals on the market. It works by releasing oxygen to perform the bleaching process, and then converting to simply H2O (water and oxygen) once the process is complete. It is biodegradable.  

Now, you don’t want to go disinfecting crazy, as germs are good for kids and babies to help build up their immune systems. But there are some things, that you just want to feel are squeaky clean.  So,  if you haven’t already tried it, hydrogen peroxide is great around the home – use it on grungy compost bins, mold on the shower curtain, sanitizing cutting boards after chopping up raw chicken, cleaning the toilet bowl,and, it’s gentle enough that you can also use it on your baby’s toys – especially after she’s had a bad cold or virus and you don’t want a repeat!

Simply buy a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide from the drug store, grocery store or natural food store. You can also find natural baby disinfectant in some baby stores that sell cloth diapers, but it is usally triple the price. We found a much cheaper alternative: in our house we use the All Natural Liquid Bleach by Nature Clean – it just contains water and 5% hydrogen peroxide. When you are disinfecting toys, just pour a1/4 cup or so  in a bucket and fill the bucket with warm water and clean away!  Or mix some with water in an empty spray bottle.

If you want more specifics on strengths and how much to dilute for various cleaning tasks, there is an excellent web siteI found all about Using Hydrogen Peroxide.