How to Clean Toys in Childcare (and How Often)
Toys are shared, chewed, sneezed on and dropped all day, which makes them one of the easiest ways for germs to move between children. If you have ever wondered how often toys should be cleaned in childcare, the short answer from the national guidance is every day, and straight away for anything a child has mouthed. This guide explains the method, how to handle plastic, wooden, soft and battery toys, what changes during illness, and how to make daily washing manageable. Browse more in our library of cleaning guides for services.
How often should toys be cleaned in childcare?
Any toy a child has played with should be washed once the day ends, particularly in rooms with the youngest children. Anything mouthed, sneezed on or handled by a sick child comes out of play straight away and is washed before another child uses it.
| Toy or item | How often | What Staying Healthy says to do |
|---|---|---|
| Toys in use that day | End of every day | Wash in warm water and detergent, rinse well, dry |
| Mouthed or sneezed-on toys | Removed at once | Into a 'toys to wash' box out of reach, washed before reuse |
| Toys used by a sick child | Removed at once | Same box, washed before any other child plays with them |
| A child's own soft toy | When visibly dirty | Wipe with a damp cloth and detergent, let it dry fully |
| Books | When visibly dirty | Wipe with a damp cloth and detergent, dry before use |
This is what the NHMRC sets out in Staying Healthy, 6th edition, which says washing toys well is very important for reducing the spread of disease. It also gives services a practical way to cope with the load: split the toys into two sets and rotate them, so one set is in the room while the other is being washed.
Why so often? Babies and toddlers explore with their mouths, wipe their noses with their hands and pass toys back and forth all day. A block that went through three mouths before lunch is carrying everything those three children had, and a weekly clean simply comes too late to help.
How do you wash childcare toys properly?
Sort them, wash them in warm water with detergent, rinse, and dry them completely before they go back on the shelf. Suitable hard toys can go through a dishwasher on a cycle of their own, with no plates or cups beside them, and anything still damp stays out of play.
- Sort by material
Hard plastic in one tub, wood in another, soft toys and dress-ups in a laundry bag. Put aside anything cracked, broken or missing a part; it is not safe to wash and return.
- Wash in warm, soapy water
Detergent and warm water, with a brush for grooves and joins where saliva and food collect. This step does most of the work.
- Rinse well
Clean water takes the loosened germs and the detergent with it, so nothing is left behind on a toy that ends up in a mouth.
- Dry completely
On a rack in the open air, or in sunlight, which the guide notes works for toys, cloth items and books. Damp toys stay out of use until they are dry.
- Put back and record
Return toys to the room, tick the checklist, and swap the clean set in if you rotate two.
Disinfectant is not a routine step for toys. It comes in when a toy is soiled by vomit, faeces or blood, or during an outbreak, and only after the toy has been washed and dried. Most of the time, careful washing and rinsing is both safer for children and more effective.
How should different kinds of toys be handled?
By what they are made of. Hard plastic can be scrubbed or put through a dishwasher, wood is wiped rather than soaked, fabric goes through a hot wash, and anything with batteries is wiped carefully. Toys that cannot be washed at all have no place in shared play.
- Hard plastic
Scrub, rinse and air-dry, or use a dishwasher on its own load if the toy is labelled as safe for it.
Avoid: spray-and-wipe only - Wood
Wipe with a damp cloth and detergent, then dry straight away. Soaking swells and splits the timber and traps moisture.
Avoid: soaking or dishwashers - Soft and fabric
Machine wash hot and dry fully. Staying Healthy says soft toys for general use must be washable; others go.
Avoid: unwashable plush in shared play - Battery and electronic
Remove batteries if possible, wipe with a barely damp cloth and detergent, keep water away from speakers and seams.
Avoid: immersion - Bath and squeeze toys
Toys with holes trap water and grow mould inside. Choose sealed designs, or check and replace them often.
Avoid: squeeze toys with holes - Books and puzzles
Check for visible dirt, wipe with a damp cloth and detergent, and let them dry before they return to the shelf.
Avoid: wetting pages or card
The simplest way to make all of this easier is at the buying stage. Staying Healthy advises services to buy only washable toys. A toy that looks lovely but cannot survive warm soapy water will cost more in the end, because it either goes unwashed or ends up thrown away.
What changes when illness is going around?
Fewer toys, washed more carefully. When a room has a gastro bug, hand, foot and mouth, or a run of bad colds, reduce the toys out to what is easy to wash, pack away soft toys and dress-ups, and wash and then disinfect everything used, every day, until the outbreak is over.
Hand, foot and mouth disease spreads through saliva, blister fluid and faeces, and gastro viruses cling to surfaces, so toys in an affected room deserve the same attention as its taps and door handles. The nappy change area needs its own attention too: the guide suggests keeping a box of clean toys there and a box for toys to be washed, and handing a child a clean toy if they need one during a change.
Once the outbreak ends, bring the packed-away toys back after a wash. Soft toys that were in the room while children were sick go through a hot wash before they return to general use. Note the extra washing on the log, so the outbreak record shows it.
What are the most common toy cleaning mistakes?
Washing on a weekly rota instead of daily, spraying without washing, putting toys back damp, running them through the dishwasher with dishes, and keeping soft toys that nobody can wash. Each one looks like cleaning while leaving the real problem in place.
- A weekly rota for toys in use
The 6th edition asks for toys used that day to be washed at the end of it. A weekly rota suits stored toys only.
- Spray and wipe
A quick spray leaves chemical on a toy that will be chewed tomorrow, and misses the saliva film underneath.
- Back on the shelf wet
Damp toys grow mould and pass on germs. Dry first, always.
- Dishes in the same load
Toys and dishes never share a dishwasher cycle.
When should toy washing be handed to cleaners?
When washing every used toy at the end of the day is pushing educators past their finish time, or getting done in a rush. Mouthed toys still go into the box as they happen, but the end-of-day wash, rinse and dry is a natural fit for the evening clean.
A room of toddlers can go through dozens of toys in a day, and washing, rinsing and racking them properly takes real time, often half an hour or more per room. Many services find it is the task most often cut short, which is exactly why it helps to give it to someone who has time set aside for it and records it on a log.
See how toy sanitisation fits into our evening clean, material by material.
What else do educators ask about cleaning toys?
Quick answers to the two questions we are asked most about toys.
01Is it enough to clean toys once a week?
02What should toys be washed with?
- Staying Healthy (6th edition, NHMRC 2024): Toys and books, Table 3.1, nappy changing and hand, foot and mouth disease fact sheet
Clean toys by morning, every morning.
Washed, rinsed, dried and logged after close.