Cleaning a baby potty: what to do after every use
Cleaning a baby potty takes very little: empty it, rinse it with clean water and wipe it dry after every use, then wash it in hot soapy water once a day. A lingering smell of urine almost always comes from a potty that was rinsed but not dried, or from limescale building up at the bottom of the bowl. This guide covers the daily routine, the weekly deep clean, the products to use or avoid, and how to deal with a potty that still smells despite washing.
Why looking after the potty matters for potty training
A two-year-old has a keen sense of smell and a strong sensory memory. A potty that smells of stale urine or disinfectant quickly becomes something they avoid, and refusal sets in for reasons that have nothing to do with their readiness. We look at these blocks in our article on toddlers who refuse the potty. A clean, dry, odour-free potty is a simple way to keep the routine pleasant.
The other issue is hygiene. Stools contain bacteria and, during a bout of gastroenteritis, highly contagious viruses. Regular cleaning, with steps suited to the situation, limits their spread around the home without the need for constant disinfection, which would be excessive.
The routine after every use
Four steps are enough, in this order:
- Empty the contents into the toilet, then flush.
- Rinse the bowl with clean water, preferably lukewarm, to loosen anything left behind.
- Wipe with toilet paper or a washable cloth kept just for this purpose.
- Leave to air-dry, with the bowl turned upside down if the design allows.
Wiping is the step most often forgotten, and it is the one that makes the difference. Urine left as a thin film breaks down within a few hours and releases ammonia: that is where the tell-tale smell comes from. A dry potty doesn’t smell.
Get your child involved as soon as they show an interest. Carrying the bowl to the toilet and flushing is part of the ritual for many children between two and three years old. Handwashing follows straight away at the basin, which means they need to be able to reach it: our guide to the step stool for the basin and toilet explains how to set up that access.
Daily cleaning with soapy water
Once a day, often in the evening, wash the bowl and the seat in hot water with a few drops of washing-up liquid or mild soap. Scrub with a sponge or brush kept just for the potty, never the one you use for the dishes. Pay particular attention to the inner rim of the bowl and the join between the seat and the base, where splashes collect. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
Soap is enough in the vast majority of cases. It dissolves grease, washes away residue and removes most micro-organisms through mechanical action. Disinfection is only useful in specific situations, covered below.
Should you take the potty apart?
Yes, at least once a week, if the design allows. A training potty is often made up of a removable bowl, a seat and a base, sometimes with a splash guard. Deposits build up between these parts, out of sight, and that is where the smell comes back when everything else looks clean. Our 3-in-1 baby potty was designed with this in mind: a removable bowl, a removable EVA seat cushion and shapes with no hidden corners to scrub blindly. Taking it fully apart takes a minute.
Which products to use for cleaning a baby potty, and which to avoid?
Three products cover every need: soap or washing-up liquid for everyday cleaning, white vinegar for limescale and smells, and bicarbonate of soda for stubborn stains. They are inexpensive, easy to rinse off, and leave no lingering fragrance that might bother your child.
- White vinegar: neat or diluted half and half, it dissolves urine scale and neutralises ammonia. Leave it for ten to fifteen minutes, scrub, rinse.
- Bicarbonate of soda: mixed into a paste with a little water, it lifts a stain without scratching the plastic. It also absorbs odours when left overnight in the bottom of the dry bowl.
- Mild soap or washing-up liquid: the everyday basic.
To avoid, or to keep for specific cases:
- Abrasive sponges and scouring powders, which scratch the plastic. A scratched surface holds on to dirt and smells, and becomes harder to clean over time.
- Scented cleaners and multi-purpose sprays, which leave residue in direct contact with the skin.
- Mixing vinegar and bleach, which gives off a toxic gas. Never use the two in the same clean.
- Boiling water and high-temperature dishwasher cycles, which can warp some plastics. Check the instructions before trying a machine wash.
The materials the potty is made from matter too: good-quality plastic with no smell of its own will stand up to years of washing. Our guide to chemical safety in baby products explains what to check before you buy.
Baby potty still smells after cleaning: what can you do?
When the smell persists after careful washing, it comes from a deposit the soap cannot reach. Tackle it in three steps. First, fill the bowl with neat white vinegar, or a half-and-half mix of very hot water and vinegar, and leave it for an hour. Then scrub the bottom and sides with a soft brush and rinse. Finally, dry it completely and sprinkle with bicarbonate of soda overnight before rinsing the next day.
If the smell comes back over the following days, look for the deposit somewhere other than the bowl: under the seat, in the base, in the grooves of a splash guard. Taking it fully apart and soaking each part in vinegar almost always solves the problem. A potty whose plastic has absorbed the smell after years of use, or which is deeply scratched, will never be odour-free again: that is the time to replace it.
The special case of poo
Poo sticks more than urine. Empty the potty straight away, rinse, and if any marks remain, leave the bowl to soak for a few minutes in hot soapy water before scrubbing. Never leave a dirty potty for several hours: once it dries, cleaning takes longer and the smell soaks into the plastic.
When should you disinfect the potty?
Disinfection is not an everyday task. It has its place when someone in the family has gastroenteritis, infectious diarrhoea or intestinal worms, or when the potty is shared between several children. In these situations, clean with soap first, rinse, then apply bleach diluted according to the instructions on the packaging, leave it for the time stated, and rinse very thoroughly with clean water. Dry before giving the potty back to your child.
Outside these cases, soap and vinegar are enough. Routine disinfection adds nothing and exposes your child’s skin to unnecessary residue.
Potty on the go: cleaning without running water
In the car, at friends’ houses or out and about, you won’t always have a basin to hand. A travel potty with disposable bags saves you washing it on the spot. Without bags, take a small bottle of water, a roll of paper and a sealable bag for waste, and wash the potty when you get home. Our guide to the travel potty compares the different formats.
The toilet reducer and the step stool
When your child moves from the potty to the toilet reducer, the cleaning changes: the reducer mainly gets splashes and is washed like the toilet seat, daily with your usual cleaner, well rinsed. Remove it regularly to clean its underside and the toilet seat beneath. The step stool used to climb up gets wet feet and drips: a regular wipe with a soapy sponge is enough.
Second-hand potty: cleaning before first use
A second-hand potty should be washed all over with soap, taken apart, soaked in white vinegar and then disinfected once with diluted bleach, before a thorough rinse. Check that it is neither cracked nor deeply scratched, and that it holds no smell once dry. If a smell persists after this full treatment, the plastic is impregnated: give it a miss. Our article on second-hand baby gear details what you can safely buy used.
Key takeaways
- Empty, rinse, wipe and leave to dry after every use: drying prevents the smell.
- Wash in hot soapy water once a day, take it apart once a week.
- White vinegar for limescale and smells, bicarbonate of soda for stains, never either of them with bleach.
- Disinfect only in case of a digestive infection or a shared potty, then rinse thoroughly.
- A scratched potty or one impregnated with smell needs replacing: it will never be odour-free again.
To choose an easy-to-clean model from the start, our guide to the training potty reviews the criteria for stability, comfort and cleaning.
