Almost everyone with young children uses floor mats.
You may even have one of those brightly colored puzzle piece floor mats to protect our little ones from an injury from a fall. Floor mats for baby also provide benefits beyond safety including improving visual development and gross motor skills. Floor mats for the kiddos are also portable, module – in other words they work in any space at any time.
Of course
not all children’s floor mats are created equally. Many sold at the popular outlets and advertised as non-toxic are actually made from Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate (EVA). You might want to consider an organic floor mat for your children. Made from bamboo, cork and natural fibers they come with removable covers for easy washing. We love www.Pillobebe.com. Check ’em out. Of course, they are not cheap.
Once you come home with your new floor mat, have a routine to keep it clean. Those interlocking pieces that make the mats so convenient also trap dirt and debris.
The mats are exposed to leaking diapers, pet paws, mommy’s feet
and whatever else your busy house throws at them. Baby’s floormats need to be washed frequently which overwhelms most families because a single floor mat can in so many pieces! Oy vey! Do you vacuum? Mop? Wipe on your hands and knees?
Sorry, none of that gets them *clean*.
As a matter of fact, adding water to the mats while they’re on the floor just encourages germs. I know…I’m fussy this way.
Here’s how we do it.
Do you have the interlocking EVA foam mats? Take them apart, give them a good bang to knock off the crumbs and wash them in the tub or shower with some gentle soap and water. Before you start, lay a towel on the floor near a wall so you have a place to air dry the mats. Lean the mats against each other with a little space between them similar to plates in a dishwasher. It is important to let them air dry or the dark, wet environment between your mats and the floor trap and grow bacteria. Once the mats have dried we spritz them with our anti-bacteria solution of white vinegar, alcohol and essential oils.
Be careful with oils around infants
a very few drops of non-irritating lavender and chamomile do the trick. Let the mats dry once again. Meanwhile, clean the floor in the play room as usual replacing the floor mats when everything is dry.
This is nice!