How To Deep Clean your High Chair Straps

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Shopping through these links is one small way of supporting this blog, and for that - I thank you! For more information, see my disclosures here.

I’ll be honest - if I could have my way, there would be NO fabric involved in any high chairs at any time… ever. I feel like it’s the same reasoning that goes with the thinking that there should not be any carpet in your kitchen or dining room… who wants to clean that mess?! I’m all about easy to clean and wipeable! Which is one of the main reasons that we landed on the high chair that we decided to get. The only bit of fabric currently on our high chair are the harness straps, which I am often tempted to take out and not use - but because our high chair also has a built-in footrest for our little guy, the straps really are a necessity - especially when you have a “daredevil” child like mine (he loves to stand on the footrest and lean forward to try and get something off the table!).

During my research for a high chair, one of the best suggestions that I found was that it was important to have a footrest for your child. It helps with their posture and learning proper eating techniques. I know that the IKEA high chair is one of the most popular high chairs out there, especially due to its cost and is easy to clean, but it didn’t come with a footrest. (Note: I have just recently seen some footrest add-ons for the IKEA high chair that are not made by IKEA, but created for that high chair, which you can find here.)

Since we decided that a footrest was important for us and also wanted it to be EASY to clean (I’m talking, as few nooks and crannies as possible!), my favorite high chair that I came across ended up being the Stokke Clikk High Chair. I did end up purchasing the gray sprinkles cushion for our little man when he was first starting out in the high chair - mostly to add in extra padding to help him sit properly while eating. But boy, did that. get. dirty. (yuck) The only reason I decided to still get the cushion was that it is machine washable and had a side that was easier to wipe (and less likely to stain).

I was so happy the day that I was able to remove the cushion and just have our son sitting in the slick, easy to wipe down high chair of my dreams! But no matter how quickly I try to wipe food from the fabric straps, they still got super gross and slightly stained from all of the food. So it was time to tackle their first wash (don’t judge me).

HOW TO REMOVE YOUR STOKKE CLIKK STRAPS

ITEMS TO HAVE ON HAND TO CLEAN YOUR STRAPS

A few items that I happened to have on hand and would HIGHLY recommend you grab if you don’t already have these in your laundry arsenal:

• Plastic scrub brush (with plastic bristles)

• Mesh laundry bag

• Stain remover

• Laundry detergent

• Rag or old towel

• Your favorite laundry detergent
  
  
  

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR HIGH CHAIR STRAPS

The first thing that I did once I removed the high chair straps was to lay them out on an old towel and spray them down with stain remover. I let the stain remover sit for at least a minute or two so that it would soak in a bit, especially in the really stained areas.

After spraying down the straps, I used a plastic scrub brush to really go to town on the dirt and grime that built up on the straps. I did use the stain remover a few times on some of the really dirty areas.

Once everything was scrubbed really well, I threw all of the straps into a mesh laundry bag before it went into the washing machine. If you don’t already have a mesh laundry bag in your supplies, I would HIGHLY recommend that you add one right away! I’m such a big fan of these bags for small items or anything loose that could get tangled easily (like these straps!).

Finally, I threw the mesh bag with the straps into a load of laundry that I was already planning to wash on a cold cycle, with my favorite detergent - Mrs. Meyer’s Basil scented laundry detergent.

After the wash cycle, I chose not to put the straps in the dryer - and they barely needed to air dry, as they came out of the wash almost completely dry! These straps seriously look like they did when they were brand new - I am overjoyed with how they turned out!

If you want to try out any of the products that I mentioned in this post, you can check them out using the images below or click on any of the following links.

SHOP THE POST

• Plastic Laundry Scrub Brush • Dreft Stain Remover • Mesh Laundry Bags •
• Stokke Clikk High Chair • Stokke Clikk Cushion in Gray Sprinkles •
• Mrs Meyers Laundry Detergent - Basil •

Have you ever attempted to wash or deep clean your high chair straps? Did you find it to be pretty simple or more difficult than you were expecting? Let me know if you have any of your own tips or tricks in the comments below!

SHARE ON PINTEREST