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Cleaning Stuffable Toys with Q-tips

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We love treating our dogs to stuffable toys like KONG. Irie and Tiki love them, and they make a great way to occupy the dogs for a while if we have some tasks we don’t need their help with (like mopping the floor this weekend!)

If you’re not familiar with KONGs, they’re rubber toys designed to be filled with treats and food for your dog. The design, with a larger hole at one end and a very small hole at the other, makes it easy to stuff the toys with kibble, fruits, vegetables, yogurt (they can be frozen for a cool treat!), and more. The holes are generally plugged with gummier foods, whether that’s canned dog food, bananas, peanut butter, or a piece of cheese.

Your dog will definitely figure out just how to get the food out of his KONG (and enjoy it more slowly than if you just put it in his dish) but, when it comes time for cleanup, we’ve found that Q-tips® really help get into the nooks and crannies that can harbor food particles. We place our KONG toys in the top rack of the dishwasher (you can also soak them overnight in a tub of soapy water) but we’ve still found that sometimes food gets just inside the inner rims.

Take a Q-tips® swab (you can use the original swabs or the Q-tips® Precision Tips™) and clean out any remaining food particles that you can find inside the KONG:

If you are having trouble reaching some areas, go ahead and bend the swab! They’re inexpensive and disposable so they make a great tool for getting in those crevices.

Once your KONG is cleaned out, you’re ready to refill it for more fun for your dog to enjoy! Stuffable toys make a great way to help with separation anxiety, boredom on long car trips, distraction if you have visitors, or just a way to prolong the joy of mealtime.

For more information on Q-tips® and Q-tips® Precision Tips™ cotton swabs, visit the Q-tips Facebook page. And don’t forget to check out the Q-tips YouTube channel for lots of fun ideas!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. Q-tips® product was provided by Unilever, the makers of Q-tips®; my tips and usage suggestions are my own.

Paris Permenter
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