How to Clean Baby PlayMat

Cleaning a playmat may be difficult for some moms, but here are the best and easiest ways for “How to Clean Baby Play Mat.” Playmats are the best and most enjoyable area for children, and they spend most of their time on these playmats.

How to Clean Baby PlayMat

When babies spend most of their time on playmats, it is obvious that they create a mess while eating sometimes, they spit up food or drink, and other family bodily functions can create mess and dirt on the play area. And cleaning the baby playmat becomes important to save your little ones. Your babies have direct contact between the playmat and their skin.

Moreover, if you have pets, your playmats can be more exposed to germs and other dirt. So it is very important to keep your baby’s playmat or play area clean. Before buying a play mat, you must check that it is easily cleanable and a non-toxic baby play mat. Also, I will recommend reading every section of this article thoroughly to learn how to best care for and clean a baby’s play mat. Also, check out the best baby bath mat.

Don’t Do this to the best care for Baby Play Mat

Before discussing the methods to clean your play mat, I will share some handy tips for the best care and keeping your play mat clean.

• Place the baby play mat away from any other home fixtures, and it is recommended to remove any plastic cover or packaging before using.
• Sunlight can damage the surface of the play mat if directly exposed to the sun. So you need to keep away from sunlight.
• Keep away the playmat from inflammatory objects.
• Do not place the playmat under heavy furniture.
• You need to ensure that your babies don’t use colored pencils or any other pens on the surface of the play mat as they may leave a permanent mark on the surface, and sometimes it can’t be removable.
• Keep the play mat in a dry place when not in use under a cool temperature.
• It is recommended not to use the vacuum cleaner with a bristle head on the playmat as it may damage or scratch its surface.

The cleaning of the Playmat may differ according to its type and material, and we will try to cover all the aspects in this regard. Following are the different ways to clean the Playmat:

Cleaning items required for Playmat:

I have selected some easy ways to clean your baby play mat using home-available items with an extra budget or spending additional money. Cleaning your baby’s play mat using home material is the safest way, as your child has close contact with the play mat. If your baby has sensitive skin, then another cleaning comical may harm your baby’s skin. You are cleaning play mat using kitchen items and Natural Cleaner using the following items.

Baking Soda for washing playmat:

If you want to clean the stain or spot from different areas of the play mat, you can use baking soda with water to form a paste. It is safe to use in children’s playing areas. You need to apply this solution/paste on the dirt stain only.

You can use a sponge to allow it to sit the paste for about 10 minutes. After ten minutes, clean the surface with a sponge. It is a time-saving method; instead of washing the whole mat, you can clean the dirt spots only.

Vinegar & Water Solution for clean play area:

To make the vinegar and hot water solution, you must mix both items equally. Then put this solution into a spray bottle. And spray this on the stains and apply it for 2 minutes. After this, use a clean cloth to clean the spot.

Vinegar solution with hot water is one of the oldest ways of cleaning household elements that hold mold, stains,

bacteria, and germs. Its acid-base reacts chemically with stains, breaks them down, and 

clears the stain from the mat.

Detergents and Dish Soap

You can use the detergent, cleaner, or Dish soap but before choosing a detergent, make sure it is free from dyes or perfumes. You can also use all Natural cleaner or soap like Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, which has very good cleaning results. But Dish soap is only recommended for foam tiles or PVC play mats.

Bleach / Non-toxic Spray Cleaner / Disinfectant

Bleach is also readily available in kitchen items and performs a very effective cleaning to wipe the dirt from mats.

Also, you can use the non-toxic cleaner for clean mats, but you need to ensure it’s gentle use with babies.

Cleaning with Rag and Water:

If your mat is not so dirty and you want to clean the few stains from its surface, then you can use a rag and water to clean your play mat. Using a rag or small towels is a great way to remove dirt spots from the mat. You can use a different cleaning solution for the rag for effective cleaning.

How to Clean Puzzle Playmats

Puzzle playmats are perfect for babies who have just started crawling. For such babies, usually, parent covers their living room floor with sizeable interlocking puzzle mats. These mats are usually made of foam. A clean puzzle mat is a challenge for parents.

You can use the same cleaning solution (vinegar and hot water ) discussed above for cleaning these mats. I will recommend spot-cleaning these mats when required, normally, do it daily and perform a good scrub once a week. Cleaning with a mop on a puzzle playmate is not recommended as it may allow water to flow through the unions of each puzzle part.

How To Clean Foam Play Mats

Usually, parents use Foam play mats for their babies as they are soft enough so babies can freely crawl on these mats and safely fall without sustaining injuries. Foam is the most popular material for baby play mats and is comparatively durable, inexpensive, and soft.

Cleaning foam mats are sometimes tricky and may require some special consideration because some chemicals and detergence can damage the surface of the play mat. So it is better to use the all-natural items or recipes (discussed above) for cleaning foam playmats. You can also use the mopped foam play mat like the standard floor and the vacuum cleaners. But for play mat for harder floors may require extra effort.

Best Way to Clean Foam play mat:

If you are planning to clean the entire foam mat then you may require the following material:

• Soap or Detergent
• Water (not too cold)
• Dishwashing soft-scrub
• Dry Cloth or towel

By using the above material, you can clean the foam play mat by the following method:

1. First, you need to prepare a soap or detergent solution. If your play mat is made of different pieces, then it is better to clean them separately as less effort is required.
2. Apply the water and Detergent, cleaner, or soap on the mat so that it can soak in well. And identify all the dirt stains on the mat.
3. As you apply the soap solution on the mat and start scrubbing it in, mainly focus on the spots that you have identified earlier.

1. Soft dish scrub is suitable for foam mat, as otherwise, it can damage the surface of the foam.
2. If your mat is dirtier, then apply a lot of water after the scrubbing. Use the detergent solution again if you require it.
3. If there is oily dirt on the play mat, then a dish soap solution is better for you.
4. Once you have entirely scrubbed the solution on the mat, wait for 10 to 15 minutes. This will help the solution to work on the dirt.
5. After this, apply water or shower until all dirt and oil can come off ultimately.

Use the towel to suck the water out of it and then place the play mat in the outdoor area to come out of the remaining water.

How to Clean the Fabric Playmat

Like foam, these play mats absorb everything, and spots can easily set in if you are not paying attention. The fabric floor playmats are more comfortable as they are like carpets and can provide a quiet place for the baby a room to play on it.

However, fabric play mats are quickly exposed to dirt or other stuff. For duct and everyday dirt, you can use vacuum cleaners. But also, most fabric play mats are safe to dip into the laundry machine with a mild detergent. It is recommended to follow the washing instruction of the manufacturer while washing the play mat.

How to Clean Water mats or plastic play mat

The plastic play mat is also available in the market. usually, plastic is always considered the easiest material to wash as it does not absorb water. Cleaning a plastic mat is very simple, just through water on it, scrubbed off with soap and once you have done, remove the soap solution by applying the water. Do not use hot water in case of a plastic play mat.

Water play mats are usually plastic and easy to wash and clean. You can perform natural cleaning wipe for the water mat; scrub it lightly with a solution of vinegar & water. So if you are looking for a product that can use cleanly easily, this is one of them.

Washing Playmat in a washing machine

Some plastic or fabric play mats may be safe to wash in the washing machine and most parents like this type of mat. Some playmats can be vacuumed or scrubbed with soap and water.

How often should you clean baby play mats?

As your baby has close contact with the play mat, it is essential to clean it regularly. Be sure to wipe away dirt & debris before each use and perform a spot clean after every use. You must completely clean the mat if you feel a lot of mess or dirt adds up there. This will also depend on how often your baby

uses the play. But, you need to keep the focus on it clean as your baby’s good health is also dependent on it.

I hope this article is helpful to you. I have tried to cover all types of cleaning and discuss different play mats. Thanks..!