So much mess, so little time to clean. A nursery can get pretty gross what with all that pee and poop and spit up. And, when you’re pressed for time, cleaning it properly can easily be put on the back burner…trust me, I know.
I once grew black mold in my baby’s laundry hamper because, in a frenzy, I tossed the burp cloth soaked with spit up in the hamper then promptly forgot about it. For a LONG time. EEWWW. I feel slightly embarrassed admitting to that, but hey, I’m a frazzled, busy mom who gets little sleep so stuff happens.
So, I’m here to share with you a few cleaning tips from one mom to another. And, Dr. Benjamin Tanner has a few ideas, too…he’s a microbiologist who specializes in testing and development of disinfectants and other antimicrobial technologies who sent me a few cleaning tips that I incorporated here.
Here’s the skinny – get a good cleaner you trust and get jiggy with it. I, personally, like the all natural cleaners like Seventh Generation or Mrs. Meyers. In fact, you’d be surprised at how much hot water and plain old soap can actually clean. I know – radical idea…soap and water!
I don’t like chemicals around the babies because I just don’t know what will or won’t happen with exposure. A lot of people like to keep anti-bacterial hand sanitizer or wipes in a baby’s room, for those really messy moments when the room somehow takes a poop bath before your very eyes.
I, personally, don’t keep these things next to the changing table because I don’t like them. I use baby wipes for my hands (and the changing pad and the wall and the floor) if things get really gross. Dr. Tanner recommends a good disinfectant spray. And, did you know that you should wipe the area that you disinfected after the spray dries? I didn’t. Makes sense, though, no?
The key is to pay attention to “hot spots” like the changing table, laundry hamper, floor and toy chest. Wipe these down early and often and that should about cover things. I realize that I’m not offering anything ground breaking here…maybe just a gentle reminder of things you already know.
There is no real silver bullet to cleaning…unfortunately. Now, if someone could just tell me how to wiggle my nose like Bewitched and then presto, everything would be clean…
photo credit: fdecomite
If you like this article, please subscribe to our RSS feed follow us on Twitter, or find us on Facebook.
