How do you clean plastic toys for your fids?

[Sterling1113]

I've seen tons of awesome toys that are made from old, re-purposed toys for toddlers and infants, but how do you go about cleaning those?
Now that the weather is nicer I'm sure there will be tons of garage sales, spring cleaning sales, etc, and of course when you have those, you have old toys that children have outgrown.
Obviously I'm not going to pick up a box of toys and throw them into the cage without some sort of cleaning, but what's the best way to do that?
Do you boil the toys? (Can plastic withstand that sort of temperature? I've never had to think about that before.) if so, just in water? Salt? I'm totally clueless, making toys is something new to me that I've recently started as a hobby, so forgive me if these questions have answers on various threads. (Couldn't find much doing a search, though)
As much as I'd like to make a trip to my local goodwill and secondhand stores, I'd have no idea what to do with the toys once I got them home!!
(Also, my conures are more partial to shredding toys than anything else, so maybe I shouldn't worry too much about plastic and just do foraging/shredding? Not sure.)
Thanks ahead of time.
-Ash

 

[jenphilly]

You can boil all the plastic toys (like baby key rings or rattles), even little plastic toy soldiers / farm animals, plastic shape sorting toys and such. All can be tossed into boiling water, they only need to be in there for a few minutes, less then 5 minutes. Don't leave them in for a long time, but 5 minutes in boiling water won't melt them I usually stir them around couple times too, just to make sure nothing sits on the bottom of the pan and gets too heated.

You can also use bleach. I do this with larger stuff (like I just purchased an old bucket type shape sorter). But when you use bleach you can to rinse and clean it multiple times after bleaching. I find boiling the easiest, but either will work. Just be really careful to clean super super well after bleach.

 

[Sterling1113]

You can boil all the plastic toys (like baby key rings or rattles), even little plastic toy soldiers / farm animals, plastic shape sorting toys and such. All can be tossed into boiling water, they only need to be in there for a few minutes, less then 5 minutes. Don't leave them in for a long time, but 5 minutes in boiling water won't melt them I usually stir them around couple times too, just to make sure nothing sits on the bottom of the pan and gets too heated.

You can also use bleach. I do this with larger stuff (like I just purchased an old bucket type shape sorter). But when you use bleach you can to rinse and clean it multiple times after bleaching. I find boiling the easiest, but either will work. Just be really careful to clean super super well after bleach.

Awesome, thanks! I can definitely do the boiling.
I'm too paranoid to use bleach, I'm afraid that I won't clean or rinse thoroughly enough, so knowing that boiling for just a few minutes does the trick is wonderful!

 

[Kiwibird]

I just wash them really well in the sink along with the dishes.

 

[MomtoPercy]

I wash them in super hot water with some dishwashing soap added. I scrub with a brush to make sure I get in all the nooks and crannies. Then rinse well and leave to airdry in the sunny windowsill . I do this with repurposed toys as well as his own toys that I clean when retrieving them from the cage floor, the lounge floor, everywhere he drops them

 

[Terry57]

I spray them with a vinegar/water mixture and let them sit for a few minutes, then wash & scrub in hot water with Dawn.

 

[hacatta]

i let them sit in vinegar with water for a few hours and then scrub with hot water
but i will try the boiling thing,i hate to wait so long

 

[hacatta]

...so i just boiled a lot of tings now,and i apparently left it in to long.
Some thing shrunk half there sizes!!
Trough the rubber teething things are really cute right now.lol

 

[henpecked]

I just throw them in the dishwasher. Most get hot enough to sterilize things. Perches too.

 

[antoinette]

When cleaning all Mishka's plastic toys I spray them with a vinegar and water mixture.
Leave it on for a few minutes, rinse it off then place them in boiling water for a short period.

 

[Sterling1113]

Awesome! Thanks for the answers, everyone. Now if I happen across a garage sale I may have to poke my head in and see what I can grab..