If there's one thing Allie Fraze understands as a mom, it's that things get messy when you have young kids. But as life-saving as disinfectant wipes and spot cleaning can be, she's realized that it isn't always as effective as parents assume. After deciding to give her son's Pack 'N Play a deep clean, she was shocked at just how much hidden grime came seeping out — despite appearing completely fine beforehand. Now, after getting over the initial nausea, she's warning parents to get those play yards in the bathtub ASAP because the hidden filth is shocking.
The California mom didn't think there was anything wrong with Jackson's play area when another mom's tip on Facebook caught her eye. She decided to take the advice and give it a try: She soaked it in a bathtub filled with hot water, laundry detergent, a few sprinkles of baking soda, and rotated it every 45 minutes. She was left with a tub filled with murky brown water — all grime that had seeped out from the fabric.
"I’ll admit, I was a bit of a skeptic when I read up on a pack n play cleaning hack…This water was HOT AND CLEAR when I started," she wrote on Facebook. "It is now a disgusting brown yellow color from all the dirt, and other nastiness JT’s crib has collected. I will now be doing this MONTHLY."
Allie's eye-opening photos quickly went viral, but not everyone is convinced. Many assumed that she must smoke cigarettes to account for the dirt. "Just to be clear, nobody smokes in the house. Nobody smokes here at all, as my son and I are both severely asthmatic," she wrote. "Sometimes things just get dirty and you think you’ve got them clean by wiping them down with whatever. It’s always good to deep clean your kids everyday items every once in a while."
As an extra pro tip, Allie suggests taking the play yard outside after the deep soak and rinsing it with a hose before letting it dry in the sun. "Hopefully this helps other mommas out there. I thought my son’s Pack 'N Play was clean, because it never looked dirty except for a few spots that I would wipe with soap and water. I never thought about how clean his bed really is, until I tried this method," she added. "It disgusted me knowing all that junk was on/in his bed where he sleeps!!! But how often do you think about deep cleaning your Pack 'N Play? It looks brand new since I’ve tried this! I know it’s gross, but this soak obviously took care of everything that any wipe down could have!"