How to Clean and Look After a Kids Sandpit

A sandpit is the cheapest hour of entertainment in any backyard, and the one piece of play equipment most likely to be quietly neglected. Sand does not look dirty when it is dirty, which is exactly the problem.

Looking after one properly takes about five minutes a week. Here is the routine.

Why it matters: the cat problem

The main hygiene issue with a backyard sandpit is not general grubbiness. It is neighbourhood cats, who find loose dry sand an ideal toilet.

Cat faeces can carry Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite's oocysts are remarkably durable: according to the Better Health Channel they have been recorded surviving in soil for around 18 months and in sand for around 12 months. That is the reason a sandpit needs an actual routine rather than an occasional rake.

Toxoplasmosis is usually mild or symptomless in healthy children, but it is genuinely serious for pregnant women and anyone immunocompromised. The precautions are simple and they work.

The three rules that do most of the work

1. Cover it whenever it is not being used. This is by far the most effective single thing you can do. Better Health Channel's advice is explicit: make sure your child's sandpit can be covered when not in use.
2. Discourage cats from the area. If a cat has already adopted the sandpit, it will keep coming back, so the cover matters even more.
3. Hands washed before eating. Every time, not just when they look dirty.

The weekly routine

Rake and sift

Run a rake through the whole pit, then sift the top layer with a garden sieve or a kitty litter scoop. You are looking for leaves, twigs, food scraps, insects, and anything a cat has left behind. Work in sections so you actually cover the whole pit rather than just the middle.

Turn it over

Dig the sand over so the lower layers come to the surface. This breaks up damp compacted patches and lets everything dry out, which is what stops it going sour.

Let the sun at it

Leave the pit uncovered on a dry sunny day, ideally after turning it. Sunlight and drying do more for sand than anything you can pour on it. Then cover it again before evening.

Check the edges

Look over the timber or plastic surround for splinters, cracks, protruding screws and rough edges while you are there. It takes ten seconds and it is where the injuries actually come from.

What not to do

Do not use bleach, disinfectant or chemical cleaners on the sand. They do not reliably kill Toxoplasma oocysts, they leave residue in something children will handle for hours, and they will not fix a sandpit that has genuinely gone off. Replacing the sand is the answer there, not treating it.

Do not just top up dirty sand with fresh sand. You end up with the same problem plus a deeper pit.

Choosing the right sand

Use washed play sand, sometimes sold as white play sand or sandpit sand. It has been washed to remove clay and fines, the grains are rounded rather than sharp, and it will not stain clothes.

Do not use builder's sand, brickies sand or plaster sand. It contains clay to make it stick, which is the whole point for bricklaying and precisely wrong for a sandpit. It compacts into a solid lump, stains everything an orange colour that does not come out, and some blends contain lime.

As a rough guide on quantity, a pit roughly 1.5 metres square wants somewhere around 15 to 20cm of sand depth, which is in the order of 400 to 500kg. It is heavier than people expect, so check what your supplier delivers rather than carrying twenty bags from the hardware store.

Drainage

A sandpit that cannot drain will stay wet, and wet sand goes sour and grows mould. If yours sits directly on soil, that is usually fine. If it sits on pavers or concrete, or the base is solid plastic, make sure there are drainage holes and that they have not blocked up with fine sand over time. Clear them once a season.

Covers

A fitted cover made for the sandpit is the best option, because it seals at the edges where a cat would otherwise get in. A tarp works if it is pulled taut and weighted down all the way around.

The thing to avoid is a loose cover that lets water pool on top. That water ends up in the sand the next time someone lifts it off, and a sagging tarp holding water is a drowning hazard for a toddler. Pitch it so water runs off, or use a solid lid.

Many of our sandpits come with a lid that doubles as a bench seat, which solves the problem neatly because it is easy enough that people actually use it.

When to replace the sand

Top up as the level drops, because sand genuinely walks out of the pit in pockets and shoes. Replace the lot when:

• It smells musty or sour even after drying out
• It stays clumped and will not loosen up when turned
• You have found cat faeces in it more than once
• It has gone grey or discoloured through
• It has simply been a year or two

An annual full replacement is a reasonable default for a home sandpit that gets regular use. Scoop the old sand into your green waste or spread it on garden beds, scrub out the empty shell with warm water, let it dry completely, then refill.

Winter

Empty pits get colonised. Over winter, keep it covered, keep the drainage clear, and check on it every few weeks rather than forgetting it until spring. A pit that has sat wet and covered for four months is usually a full replacement job.

The five minute version

• Every use: cover it afterwards, wash hands
• Weekly: rake, sift the top layer, turn the sand over
• Monthly: leave it open on a dry sunny day, check the edges and drainage
• Yearly: replace the sand, scrub the shell

You can see our full range of sandpits, including models with built in lids and seating. If you are tight on space, a sand and water table gives you most of the play value with a fraction of the maintenance, and our cubby houses with sandpits combine the two.

Worth reading next: the benefits of outdoor play, and play based learning, which is where a sandpit earns its keep developmentally.

Written by Carla, owner at All Things For Kids.