I am sure many of you had a favourite teddy bear as a child, I know I did. I am also sure many of your children will also have that special bear who goes everywhere. Have you ever thought about the hidden germs that could be settled in the plush?
Dettol Care For Your Bear campaign has been designed to help educate parents and some of the statistics make for scary reading.
Here is more information about this wonderful campaign.
Dettol Launch ‘Care For Your Bear’ Campaign
Research highlights potentially harmful germs and bacteria found on children’s teddies
Teddies are a child’s first best friend and have a life full of shared experiences including summer holidays, playing in the park and bedtime stories. However, with over 90% of children regularly dropping their beloved teddy bears on the floor, they can also have a life full of dirt and germs.
New laboratory research conducted by Dettol has revealed cuddly toys have the highest levels of bacteria in the family laundry basket and that three out of four teddy bears do not get washed after a child is ill. Microbiologists swab-tested a variety of children’s teddies and found that over 80% were contaminated with staphylococcus spp (a pathogen associated with food poisoning) and almost a quarter contained coliforms, indicating a possible presence of harmful organisms.
The Dettol Care For Your Bear campaign, supported by Hygiene Expert Dr Lisa Ackerley, aims to raise awareness of germs and bacteria found on teddies and soft toys. With almost three quarters of children putting teddies in their mouth, the campaign helps parents protect their family’s health.
Dr Lisa Ackerley comments; “Anything that children put in their mouth should be hygienically cleaned but it is often difficult to get a child to let you wash their favourite teddy, which means they can become very dirty. I would recommend regularly washing them in a machine at a low temperature but including something to kill the germs such as Dettol Anti-bacterial Laundry Cleanser which kills 99.9% of bacteria during the washing process.”
View ‘A Day In The Life Of A Teddy’ video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L559PjuCy0
Dettol are encouraging parents and children to get involved with the Care For Your Bear campaign –share pictures of your teddy on the Dettol Care For Your Bear Twitter page @DettolTeddy #careforyourbear. Entrants will automatically be in with a chance to win a Dettol Antibacterial Laundry Cleanser.
I think I need to get some of this to wash my puppy's toys. I dread to think what they're carrying!
ReplyDeleteI plan on using it on my dogs toys too eeekkk I don't even want to think lol x
DeleteLiv never took to a Teddy, she has 2 blankies she loves but it would hurt to pop somenof this in on a hot wash :)
ReplyDeleteI have some of the laundry cleanser its really good. I have used it on towels and gym kits so far x
Deletewe thankfully dont have this issue so much my son is a thumb sucker so its hand cleaning for us :-)
ReplyDeleteahh Sophie is like that! My son loved a teddy bear at bed time, still does on and off
DeleteIt's strange I never even thought about all the dirt and bacteria that the toys had on the, I did wash them regularly though but never thought about anti bacterial x
ReplyDeleteI used to stick them in the washing machine on a regular wash, like you, I never thought about antibacterial. Plastic toys I would use the bleach/cleaning wipes x
DeleteI like their laundry cleanser as it doesn't have that dettol smell
ReplyDeleteYeah it's not a strong smell at all. Always a bonus!
DeleteWe wash the boys bears and the dogs teddies regularly. I used to tell the boys that even teddies need baths when they were little!
ReplyDeleteThe teddies played with/hugged on a daily basis used to be shoved in the machine, antibacterial never crossed my mind x
DeleteI am a terrible mum who rarely remembers to make sure these things are clean - after reading this I will be sticking some favs in the wash this weekend!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until recently I gave it a thought so easy to overlook the little things like this when you have children x
DeleteThank you for your great tips. I havent washed some in a while. I mostly have to keep the teddies off the floor and locked in my sons bedroom. Otherwise my dog thinks they are for him.
ReplyDeleteThank you x
Our dog thinks all soft toys belong to her too!! Like you, I try to keep them away in the kids room x
DeleteWe do wash our kids bears fairly regularly but I'm always shocked at how clean they look after a wash!!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing isn't it. Scares me how much of the dirt is hidden
DeleteMy son didn't get into bears and soft toys that much when he was younger, but I'm sure we should have washed them a bit more often.
ReplyDeleteI think it's hard to know how often to wash toys like bears for example as many say "surface wash only" but then they are not 100% clean are they x
DeleteHmm I think I've only washed his favourite teddy once as it's over thirty years old and very delicate. In fact it used to be mine. Thankfully we've never had any issues but it is good to regularly clean toys after a childhood illness x
ReplyDeleteAwww I wouldn't wash it either if its been in the family for years. Too valuable x
Delete