Toys maintenance

[lj1987]

I got some silicon toys and for some reason, they seem to have melted. Anyone got an idea how that happened? What do I need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen again please

[BootmanLA]

I know it's been hot everywhere (in the northern hemisphere, that is) of late, but I kind of have to think they didn't "just melt" or "seem to have melted".

One possibility is that they were poorly manufactured, and some defect is showing.

A second possibility is that they aren't actually silicone*, but some other sort of vinyl/rubber compound. I'm assuming, for the sake of argument, that you do know the difference, but double, even triple, check the ad listing and/or packaging from the toy.

Third, as you note, this looks like heat damage. Did you expose the toy to heat beyond the parameters recommended by the manufacturer?

Fourth: Alcohol, even rubbing alcohol, can damage silicone. If you tried to sterilize a toy with it, that could well be part of the problem.

*You wrote "silicon", but silicon is a naturally occurring element usually found in crystalline or metal-compound forms. It's a solid material used primarily in electronic chips and in solar panels, among other things. "Silicone" is short for "silicone rubber", a compound derived from silica sand and silicon metal, plus other components that yield a rubbery-like material. It's valued for its heat resistance, in general, which is why silicone is often used for handles on things that are exposed to high heat; but it's not impervious to breaking down under certain circumstances.

To be honest, based on the photo, I'm inclined (without further information) to suspect possibility #2 above. This just doesn't look like most silicone rubber I've seen.

[funpozbottom]

4 hours ago, lj1987 said:

I got some silicon toys and for some reason, they seem to have melted. Anyone got an idea how that happened? What do I need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen again please

That looks like you had two toys touching and one started to melt into/onto the other. 

To prevent it in the future, store each toy separately so there is no contact between them.  Easy way to separate them is to wrap them in a paper towel or individual paper bags. The best is to keep them in individual cloth bags if you can find or make them.