On a whim, I went to the Googles this morning to see if anyone else had found a better way to clean the Pack and Play than just wiping it down with a damp cloth and soap. after all of these years and all of those stains, Mommy and the Minister had the answer I was searching for!
I loosely followed Jaime's advice, putting 1/8th cup of my home made laundry detergent, a good slosh of distilled vinegar from the bottle, and sprinkling some baking soda into piping hot water as it filled my bath tub.
 |
| We have a large soaking tub, which allowed me to lay the mat almost all the way out in the water. If you don't have this much room, simply fold the mat in half. Make sure to flip it over a couple of times to get all sides clean. |
After a half hour, I turned the mat and frame over in the tub per her blog posting's instructions. Although it was apparent that dirt was coming off of the Pack and Play, it didn't seem like just soaking was enough. So I agitated the tub for a few minutes by hand. After another 30 minutes the water was just... gross. But my mat was still fairly dark from three years of dirty hands and feet. I grabbed a washcloth and scrubbed the mat & rails with some more soapy water then hosed them all off and propped them in the shower to dry.
 |
| Water after the full hour was up. So glad to have gotten all of that gunk out of the fabric! |
Now, I can't say that the pack and play is like brand new, but it is substantially cleaner than it has been in a very long time. It smells fresh and clean, too! Many thanks to MommyandtheMinister.blogspot.com for having the answer to my problem. I wish I would have thought of this sooner!
