How to Remove Mold from High Chair Straps

Mold or mildew is found everywhere but more especially in constantly damp and dark environments. Not only can these fungi spread if not removed, but they’re also unsightly, and some species can cause harm to your infant or toddler. It’s therefore essential that, as a health-conscious mother, you learn how to remove mold from high chair straps.

Maintaining a mold-free high chair doesn’t take a lot of work. You can perform daily cleaning, regular deep cleans, and a monthly once-over for fungi removal. You can make that possible by using the correct methods and cleaning products.

What Is Mold, And Is It Dangerous on My Child’s High Chair Straps?

In your home, moisture comes from showers, faucets, steam from kettles or boilers, and so many other avenues. Humidity levels are present in your house depending on the temperatures and air current flow. During cold weather or when you’ve lowered your air conditioning, condensation turns this water vapor into liquid droplets.

Mold grows well in such conditions, especially in dark garages, basements, or poorly ventilated bathrooms. It’s a fungal species that reproduce using microscopic spores that waft within your home continually. These spores will land on various items, including your child’s feeding high chair and its fabric straps.

Mold spores grow and digest whatever material they’ve landed on. They become potential health hazards due to the irritants and allergens they produce. Sensitive babies and infants will react from inhaling or touching these fungal invaders. That results in hay fever-like symptoms of allergic reactions. These include sneezing, red eyes, skin rash, and a runny nose. Black mold is known to trigger asthma attacks in children and adult sufferers, due to irritation of the respiratory system.

Is It Possible to Remove Mold from High Chair Straps?

As a parent with a child who’s learning to feed themselves, you already know how incredibly messy feeding sessions can get. It’s as though there’s more food on the high chair than has gone into your toddler’s mouth at the end of every mealtime. Without regular cleaning and disinfecting, your baby’s dining perch can become a disgusting-looking roost shared with harmful bacteria and mold.

All high chair straps don’t have the same design. So is their maintenance of fabric or cord materials that make them. Some restraint types are removable, while another type is fixed to the plastic or metallic crate forming your child’s seat. For straps that you can disengage from the high chair, there are those you can pop into the washing machine or dishwasher, but others will get ruined.

Some products also claim to be mold-free or resistant to mildew which can be a plus. But that hinges on your chair’s cleanliness and storage. Removing these fungi from high chair straps will involve a deep clean. You may be forced to use household bleach for getting rid of stubborn fungi, but always read the manufacturer’s instructions first.

How to Remove Mold from High Chair Straps

Here’s how to remove mold from removable and non-removable high chair straps. According to experts, the essential factor that controls mold in your house is moisture. But since we are dealing with strapping, that must come into contact with wetness and attract other sources of the fungi.

Mold Cleaning from Removable High Chair Straps

You’re in a better position to remove mold if your little feeder high chair straps are the removable variety. It’s much easier to clean off the fungi thoroughly with restrains that you’ll pop into the dishwasher or washing machine. You can also deal with the coliform manually, and for that, you’ll need;

• Water
• Baking Soda
• Soft Brush
• Disinfectant
• Dish or Detergent Soap

For straps that you can disassemble from the high chair, removing mold includes removing the straps from the seat. If you’ve no idea how this is done, check the user instruction manual, manufacturer’s website, or watch various YouTube video demonstrations. Avoid forcing off the restraints until you’ve seen or read a tutorial, which sometimes proves relatively easy.

Depending on the material your high chair straps are made of, you can either wash them by hand or in a washing machine. Try and keep them away from excessive heat, as synthetic fabrics like nylon will melt or deform. If your straps are dishwasher safe, keep them on the top tray away from the bottom heating elements, and you can use a laundry mesh bag to arrest them there during the cycle.

Cleaning Mold from Removable High Chair Straps Manually

The high chair straps manufacturer may advise against using either a dishwasher or washing machine. You may also not have access to either equipment and as such, you’ll have to hand washed them. Use a tub, sink, or a basin that holds the restraints, and then add baking soda with white vinegar to let soak overnight.

A soft brush will help remove the dark spots of mold left on the soaked high chair straps. Spray them with a disinfectant or sterilizing solution to kill any remnant mold or spores. A non-toxic and kid-friendly spray that smells great will do, and then allow the straps to air dry. After they’ve dried, place the restraints back in your child’s feeding perch and let them resume a happy feeding routine.

How Do You Remove Mold from High Chair Straps Fixed to the Seat?

For non-removable high chair straps that are moldy, I would advise deep cleaning the entire set-up. That includes the seat, cushions, and tray. If you must get rid of the fungi that have collected only on the strappings, use the same cleaning materials, except this time, you’ll also need baking soda, a microfiber cloth, and dry cloth.

To clean mold from non-removable high chair straps;

• Mix warm water with detergent soap, white vinegar, and baking soda in a bowl and use the microfiber cloth to apply to the affected high chair straps generously. Rub the solution well until all the mold stains are off. Use a soft brush dipped in a baking soda paste to gently scratch off stubborn fungi stains, rubbing in circular motions.
• After cleaning off visible traces of mold from non-removable straps, wipe the soapy water off entirely with a dry cloth. Spray a disinfecting solution onto the attached restrains, ensuring that it’s safe and won’t irritate their sensitive skin. If you have to use chlorine bleach, make a 30-to-70-part solution with water and lightly apply that.

Conclusion

Mold will grow on the traps, seat, tray, and cushions of your constantly wet high chair. That’s because you are a mom to a messy eater. If the temperature and indoor air current conditions are favorable, and your tot has dabbed their dining chair’s restraints with fruit pudding, expect mold when the mess stays unclean.

Removing mold isn’t tricky. Controlling it is also achievable by reducing the moisture exposure within your home. Constant cleaning after meals, weekly or twice monthly, will also keep your baby’s high chair straps clean, dry, and sanitized. The results are a healthy, more wholesome feeding time experience.