A few weeks ago I found a huge bin of legos at Goodwill and I had a 25% off coupon--major score! I thought they would be great to own for when kids visit. Like most things from Goodwill, I immediately thought about how I would wash all of these tiny interlocking bricks before setting out in my home. I had seen legos washed in mesh bags many times on Pinterest, so for the $4 mesh bag investment I knew how to easily go about this (or so I thought.....)
In order to get rid of all of the loose junk mixed in with the legos, I picked out each lego individually and put them into the mesh bag. I put the bag in the washing machine on hot, with bleach. I peeked in half way through the cycle and the legos were floating!!! They completely ripped through the mesh bag and were loose! I figured it couldn't hurt and left it go.
After the wash was complete, what was left of the legos in bag were completely tied up around the agitator. I had to cut it loose with a scissors. After getting that out, there was about 6" of loose legos I had to scoop out by hand and put on beach towels to dry. Some of the larger legos used as a flat base got cracked in the wash also, but are still ok to use.
When its all said and done, I probably spent 3+ hours of my life cleaning my discount Legos.