Can toys be cleaned by time?

Question: We have a bag of plastic toys given by our friends. They've been in our house for 6 months now. And today when I wanted to wash them and give them to my 5-month-old daughter to play with, my husband said the following: you don't have to wash them, actually they've already been washed by mother nature, any food or organic matter should have been eaten up by the organism living on the toys and left a neutral environment on them. And considering the fact that even if we wash them, an hour later there will be full of germs as there were before. So why bother washing them??
Is my husband right?

Answer:
No. Some things will die or decay if left alone. Other things will "hibernate". Some viruses can last for months. Sunlight is effective in killing some things.
I strongly suggest that you wash them. Don't take chances.

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No, your hubby is wrong,
they have viruses all over them, either spray them with lysol
or rinse them in clorox water, or vinegar water.

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Well, technically germs can live for a few days on a surface. However, molds and mildew can hang around for a long time, and bacteria have a way of encysting themselves and can also last for a long time.

It's silly to risk infecting such a young child whose immune system has not yet developed. Wash the toys!

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Just clean them to be safe

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YOur husband is an idiot.

Some germs and bacteria will die in time, but many germs and dirt and other things will STILL REMAIN. Sorry, but if toys became sparkily clean after 6 months in a closet, wouldn't all your kids toys sparkle and shine? I can't even believe that anyone would think dirt and germs become "neutralized" in time. This is not a compost pile, it's PLASTIC and it should be washed.

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Wash them, but if you're going to use harsh chemicals like bleach, give them a rinse too.
(herpes and poison ivy are just two examples of what could live on those toys for up to 2 years!)

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No, hubby is not right. Organisms leave droppings - some of those are toxic.

Yes the toys will be covered in germs an hour later but they will be germs your daughter's immune system has learned to deal with.

You're right to wash them. Your husband clearly isn't a scientist or an expert on hygene. Perhaps he should stop interferring with what you do and let you get on with running a clean home.

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Only if Time is the name of your antibacterial detergent.

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