3 Safety Reasons to Clean Outdoor Toys and Furniture #Palmolive25Ways #cbias

This shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone

Pool games, slip 'n slides, and outdoor patio furniture are all part of the summer scene. Most of the time we just relax and play without worrying about the outdoor toys and furniture from day-to-day, but did you know that those items are a great hiding place for snakes, spiders and wasps? The majority of snake bites occur on the the legs/feet because snakes often hide under toys (ride on toys, sliding boards) and outdoor steps. It's important to keep those areas clean and active so that it doesn't welcome any dangerous pests to create a living under there. I'm about to show you the inexpensive--and fun--way that we keep our outdoor living spaces clean and safe using Palmolive dish soap!

How to Keep Outdoor Toys Safe

• Use any of the mild detergents from Palmolive to clean toys as needed. Clean off any stuck-on dead grass, leaves, bird droppings or spilled drinks/snacks from the toy surfaces.
• Lean over and peek under toys to check for snakes before you turn the toys over.
• Flip toys over to check for spiders, spider webs, wasp nests, or other unwelcome insects.
• Keep lids tightly secured on sandboxes so pests cannot get inside of it. (including the cat)
• Always supervise children while they are playing--better yet, always play along with your children while they are playing :)

I've always cleaned the underneath of my child's outdoor toys. When he was a tiny baby, I noticed that spiders were hiding under his push-car outside; I became proactive about keeping the outdoor living area clean and free of extra-tall grass (or dead grass stuck to the toys).

We've found several snakes in our yard recently--poisonous snakes--and I want them to feel unwelcome here by making sure they have nowhere to hang out. My new rule this summer: I'm keeping all of the toys washed and turned over when they're not in use. It looks funny, but it works well.

Wasps can show up and build a new home overnight--they're efficient like that. I try to tape up any holes in toys, swings or furniture to prevent them from moving in there. I also flip the toys over to check for wasp nests underneath. As the saying goes "its better to be safe than sorry", so check those toys, parents.

As you can see, there's a wasp nest under this ride-on toy in our yard. These toys get moved often and they get plenty of attention, but wasps will be wasps. I'm removing this and cleaning the bottom of this toy with my Palmolive dish soap and water to clean up any scent that might attract the wasps back to this spot.

How to Clean Outdoor Toys

Fortunately, most outdoor toys are really easy to clean. All you have to do is grab a clean bucket, fresh sponges, a wire mesh sponge and some Palmolive dish soap. You can find many varieties of Palmolive dish soap at Walmart. I'm using the Lotus Blossom scent and the Oxy version for the play toys today.

Put some Palmolive dish soap into the bottom of your bucket--a generous squirt of it will do--then add clean water to the bucket. Go ahead and toss your sponges in there to make for easy carrying--sponges love water.

The soft sponges are perfect for cleaning smooth surfaces such as kiddie pools, floats, ride-on toys and swing seats. The wire mesh sponge is best for getting off the tough messes. I'm using the wire mesh sponge to clean the legs of the play equipment. The soft sponge will be used for cleaning the swing seats. After cleaning the outdoor toys, I will throw all of the sponges away because they aren't suitable for reuse after this dirty job.

The Palmolive dish soap is gentle on hands, but we still use gloves since we may encounter some gross stuff out here. See the swing seat? That's a familiar moment, isn't it? Watch how I clean it in under 60 seconds with the dish soap and sponge.

It's practically new again! All it takes is a little tender love and care to keep the toys clean and your child safe in your yard this summer--and always. We have short winters here, so this is an ongoing routine at my house. I, honestly, don't mind cleaning the toys and checking for bugs because it gives me peace-of-mind. I also enjoy soapy buckets of water lol; I'm still a child at heart.

How to Find a Leak in a Swimming Pool

This is a useful tip that works for finding the leak in inflatable swimming pools, floats, beach balls, and even car tires. The science behind it is that the air will blow bubbles into the dish soap, which is easy for someone to notice. We've done this most of my life and it's always worked. My step-dad taught us to do this to find the leaks in car tires; I figured out that it works on the kiddie pool and accessories, too.

What you'll need to repair the inflatable pool leak

• Palmolive dish detergent
• Bucket of water
• a sponge
• a towel/dry cloth
• a permanent marker
• a pool repair patch

Fill the bucket with soapy water using Palmolive dish soap--make it extra soapy because you want a lot of bubbles. Use the sponge to add soapy water across the surface of the pool (or object) until you come across the leak; you will know because it will start blowing bubbles in the soapy water that you're putting on it. Once you've located the leak, wipe off the bubbles and mark the leaky spot with a permanent marker. Clean off the surface, dry it thoroughly and then repair the leak as usual. 

Enter to WIN a $2,000 Walmart Gift Card From Palmolive

Palmolive is holding a sweepstakes on Walmart's site and one lucky winner will receive a $2,000 Walmart gift card! This page is really cool and shows #Palmolive25Ways including a giant bubble maker and rainbow soap foam! Be sure to check it out and good luck!

I hope you enjoyed this DIY post about outdoor safety and kiddie pool repair. I was really impressed with the cleaning power of the Palmolive detergents that I used for all of these projects. Wishing you all safe and happy days of outdoor play.