Tips for cleaning your styrofoam incubator?

[Avonshire]

How do you clean yours? I have tried washing it out and now I have it sitting in bleach spray(I hope this is ok). I was thinking about sitting it out in the sun to dry after rinsing the bleach off of it. I am having trouble getting the bits of stuff off the wire mesh that the eggs sat on. Thank you for your help!!

 

[Yiannisk]

That is really a problem i use Detol soap and scrap the wire mesh with a dish wash sponge i can not say that is easy or that i am satisfied so i would like to see other methods too

 

[what did I do]

I've only washed mine once. I washed it in the sink with dish soap and dishwasher detergent. I dried it out in the sun.

I wonder if you could wash the wire mesh and the plastic tray in the dishwasher without heat :/

 

[Yiannisk]

Good idea the dish washer but the wife must not be at home or i will be dead

 

[Avonshire]

Well I settled on trying an old toothbrush and it worked pretty well! I stuck with bleach spray and water! Someone(not me

) should try the dishwasher approach and see how that works!

 

[keystonepaul]

I submerged mine in a bleach and water solution for 15 minutes. I filled a tub with bleach and water and soaked half of the bottom section at a time.(weighteed it down) I also soaked the wire screen and plastic water liner. THe top I washed with a cloth and the bleach and water solution. and scrubbed everything with a brush as I soaked and washed. I then rinsed and dried in the sun. Then I sprayed with lysol and let that dry in the sun. Same thing for the egg turner. I plan on purchasing some surgical or vetrinary disenfenct for cleaning the next time. The spots the worry me are the corners that have gotten all chewed up and craggy from the corners of the wire screen over time. Good luck and I'm open to any suggestions or critique's. Keystonepaul

 

[Avonshire]

Keystonepaul--you do a lot. I am starting to worry I did not do enough! Am I now growing yucky bacteria with my incubator??

 

[leadwolf1]

I do almost exactly the same thing as keystonepaul except I spray everything, after the bleach soak and dry, with Oxine. I just worry about all the stuff that could grow on that kind of yuk that gets left after hatching. A good hot bleach soak with get into the cracks and crevices quite nicely.

 

[hatchingisfun]

I didn't know about the bleach, if it would hurt the incubator, but I stuck the bottom and the screen in the tub with bleach. My turner didn't appear stained or dirty, so I washed it by hand with a damp soapy rag, and then a clean damp rag. I didn't do any cleaning to the lid. I had also used sponges under the screen to increase moisture. I washed them out with soapy water and then laid them on the racks in the dishwasher and ran it without soap. My incubator still has a slight odor. My incubator is a white styrafoam Little Giant incubator.

 

[leadwolf1]

I would spray the top well with a bleach solution and then put both parts outside to air out for a while. If the odor doesn't go away, I would try another bleach soak. Bacteria causes odors so you need to make sure to get it really well disinfected.