For about the past two weeks, my boys have been arguing over Legos. They have been very selfish and to keep their brothers away from their favorite pieces, I guess they started resorting to putting them in their pockets because I kept finding Legos in the washer and dryer.
Finally, last Friday I made them clean off all the shelves in their "areas" (each boy has a loft bed and the girls have regular beds and that's their "area" since they all share a huge room). They were to put all their "own" Legos on the shelves. They did this, made their little forts, it looks neat, adorable, and the Legos are now protected - being on the shelves as they are. Of course I also threatened all the children with severe punishment (all their Legos would be given to the other children) if they went into someone else's area and touched ANYTHING or even went into another person's area, etc. (yelling involved there I'm ashamed to say). You get the picture.
Well, that was Friday. Saturday I was out and apparently someone closed the door to the room where we keep all the "community" Legos (that were given to all the children - not a special set for one child). They didn't bother to look in the room first and there was a cat in there. (Yes, we're having cat problems lately, but hey, they kill the rats...)
You can use your imagination here, but the cat couldn't get out so she found the only "litter box" available in the room - a huge HUGE tub of Legos - and she went... a bunch. We found the box last night and I wasn't sure what to do about it so we sat it by the door until I could decide how to wash 3000 little parts. This morning I woke up with a revelation.
I thought, "You know, I've been finding Legos in the washer and dryer so they must not go through the holes too well...." So yes, I dumped the whole tub - about 20 POUNDS of Legos - into the washer!
I just want to say that the Legos are clean, the boys were busy for an hour now trying to get them all OUT of the washer (but they are having fun finding all those little pieces they haven't seen in forever because they were at the bottom of the tub), and I don't even think we lost any pieces through the little holes in the washer. I just kept turning it into the spin cycle and they spun right out into the bottom of the drum.
So, if your cat pees in your Legos or if they are just plumb dirty for other reasons, now you have a suggestion (even if not the best one) on how you can wash them.
Have a great week!
Sonya Haskins
Comments
Jan. 14, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Michelle32
What a great idea! We've done Scubbing Bubbles, the tub and a shower sprayer with air drying. What a hassle! We'll have to try the "wash" next time it's that time again.
Michelle32