rubber ducky maintenance

We have several rubber duckies (this isn't just an American term, is
it? Do non-Americans think I'm insane?). They mostly hang out in the
bathtub.

Lately I've noticed they seem to have dark patches on their interiors.
Despising mold as I do, I'm afraid that there's a great colony of
mildew growing inside the ducks, and one day it'll burst out and cover
the entire apartment.

Has anyone else noticed this with their rubber duckies? Any idea what
it is? I could slice one open, I know, but I'd rather not sacrifice a
duck if possible...

--
Sara, not reading entrails

I check this e-mail account infrequently

Sara wrote:
We have several rubber duckies (this isn't just an American term, is
it? Do non-Americans think I'm insane?). They mostly hang out in the
bathtub.

Lately I've noticed they seem to have dark patches on their interiors.
Despising mold as I do, I'm afraid that there's a great colony of
mildew growing inside the ducks, and one day it'll burst out and cover
the entire apartment.

Has anyone else noticed this with their rubber duckies? Any idea what
it is? I could slice one open, I know, but I'd rather not sacrifice a
duck if possible...

They probably are growing mold inside of them. In my experience, this is a
common problem with bath toys that take on water. Here's what I do:

1. Fill a bowl with warm water and a bit of bleach
2. Immerse toy in water and squeeze. Old water comes out, new bleachy water
comes in.
3. Allow the toys to sit in the bleachy water for about an hour.
4. Remove from bleachy water, squeeze as much water out as possible and
allow toys to air dry.
5. Repeat as needed.

You can reduce the frequency with which you need to clean the toys by being
sure to squeeze as much water out of them at the end of each bath as humanly
possible. Unfortunately, I am too lazy to do this often enough!






feel great!" -- fair booth sign

What does it all mean? I have *no* idea. But it's my life and I like it.

Has anyone else noticed this with their rubber duckies? Any idea what
it is? I could slice one open, I know, but I'd rather not sacrifice a
duck if possible...

Yeah, it's mold. Throw them out and buy new ones.

To keep the mold at bay as long as possible, make sure you squeeze as much of
the water out of the ducks as possible after every bath, and keep them out of
direct sunlight. But you have to view that kind of toy as essentially
disposable, because they all tend to have that problem after a while.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2 yrs

Yeah, it's mold. Throw them out and bu new ones.

I like the cleaning idea better. Why waste a toy that (a) just needs a good
cleaning and (b) might be a treasured bathtime "pal"?

I noticed the same thing in the little spongey water bottle I use at work to
seal envelopes. I thought it was algae because at first it appeared black,
but when I cleaned it out it appeared green . Is there a difference between
algae and mold?


"HollyLewis" wrote in message
...
I like the cleaning idea better. Why waste a toy that (a) just needs a
good
cleaning and (b) might be a treasured bathtime "pal"?


I've never had any success trying to clean them. If you can do it, great!
But
I can't, and the mold can be harmful.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2 yrs

They are different.

Algae are photosynthetic organisms (they are able to use light energy, just
like plants). Technically, they have chloroplasts. They can be individual
cells to huge organisms.

http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projec...e/AlgIntro.htm

Mold, yeast and mildew are all names for members of the same group of
organisms. They can be individual cells or form colonies or more complicated
organisms.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/fungi.html

I am sorry that I cannot give a simpler to understand answer.

Jeff

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
I noticed the same thing in the little spongey water bottle I use at work
to
seal envelopes. I thought it was algae because at first it appeared black,
but when I cleaned it out it appeared green . Is there a difference
between
algae and mold?


"HollyLewis" wrote in message
...
I like the cleaning idea better. Why waste a toy that (a) just needs a
good
cleaning and (b) might be a treasured bathtime "pal"?


I've never had any success trying to clean them. If you can do it,
great!
But
I can't, and the mold can be harmful.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2 yrs

On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 18:23:25 -0500, "Donna Metler"
wrote:

If they've got the hole in them to squeek (and let water in) what about
putting them in a bucket of bleach or rubbing alcohol and squeezing to let
it in, to kill whatever is growing in there?

My only concern with this would be that my DD chews on her rubber
ducky. Usually just the head of the duck. However, wouldn't the
bleach and/or alcohol be bad for her?

--
==Daye==
Momma to Jayan
#2 EDD 11 Jan 2004
E-mail: brendana AT labyrinth DOT net DOT au

x-no-archive:yes ==Daye== wrote:

On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 18:23:25 -0500, "Donna Metler"
wrote:

If they've got the hole in them to squeek (and let water in) what about
putting them in a bucket of bleach or rubbing alcohol and squeezing to let
it in, to kill whatever is growing in there?

My only concern with this would be that my DD chews on her rubber
ducky. Usually just the head of the duck. However, wouldn't the
bleach and/or alcohol be bad for her?

The alcohol will evaporate. By the time she gets to chewing there
won't be any left.

The bleach will also disintegrate in light - that's why they have to
keep adding chlorine to the pools. And if you rinse it good there
shouldn't be any residue. Plus the bleach is very bad for the rubber
ducky itself, so you should leave any on it anyway.

We do a shock treatment on our water tanks to get rid of mold and
algae which consists of one cup of bleach to 10 gallons of water.
(IIRC) You run this solution through the system - let it sit for more
than 12 and less than 25 hours, and then rinse completely out.


grandma Rosalie

SO how do you tell what you have growing in your particular environment?



"Jeff Utz" wrote in message
...
They are different.

Algae are photosynthetic organisms (they are able to use light energy,
just
like plants). Technically, they have chloroplasts. They can be individual
cells to huge organisms.

http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projec...e/AlgIntro.htm

Mold, yeast and mildew are all names for members of the same group of
organisms. They can be individual cells or form colonies or more
complicated
organisms.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/fungi.html

I am sorry that I cannot give a simpler to understand answer.

Jeff

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
I noticed the same thing in the little spongey water bottle I use at
work
to
seal envelopes. I thought it was algae because at first it appeared
black,
but when I cleaned it out it appeared green . Is there a difference
between
algae and mold?


"HollyLewis" wrote in message
...
I like the cleaning idea better. Why waste a toy that (a) just needs
a
good
cleaning and (b) might be a treasured bathtime "pal"?


I've never had any success trying to clean them. If you can do it,
great!
But
I can't, and the mold can be harmful.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2 yrs

x-no-archive:yes "dejablues" wrote:

SO how do you tell what you have growing in your particular environment?

Doesn't really matter because you get rid of them the same way, but
it's likely to be mold unless there is light available.



"Jeff Utz" wrote in message
...
They are different.

Algae are photosynthetic organisms (they are able to use light energy,
just
like plants). Technically, they have chloroplasts. They can be individual
cells to huge organisms.

http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projec...e/AlgIntro.htm

Mold, yeast and mildew are all names for members of the same group of
organisms. They can be individual cells or form colonies or more
complicated
organisms.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/fungi.html

I am sorry that I cannot give a simpler to understand answer.

Jeff

"dejablues" wrote in message
...
I noticed the same thing in the little spongey water bottle I use at
work
to
seal envelopes. I thought it was algae because at first it appeared
black,
but when I cleaned it out it appeared green . Is there a difference
between
algae and mold?


"HollyLewis" wrote in message
...
I like the cleaning idea better. Why waste a toy that (a) just needs
a
good
cleaning and (b) might be a treasured bathtime "pal"?


I've never had any success trying to clean them. If you can do it,
great!
But
I can't, and the mold can be harmful.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2 yrs






grandma Rosalie