Which finishes are childsafe?

[Silly_Billy]

Would anyone be able to advise me which finishes are safe for kids' toys? How about wax? Treatex hardwax oil?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Osmo PolyX, Fiddes hard Wax Oil (and others) are good and easy to use. Some Danish Oils such as Bestwood are child safe, and again quite easy to use though possibly not so easy as the hard wax oils. Any kind of wax alone won't give any protection - it'll look great for a day or two then downhill all the way.

 

[custard]

Would anyone be able to advise me which finishes are safe for kids' toys? How about wax?

Beeswax would fit the bill but wouldn't offer much protection, manufactured paste waxes might not be as they're often stuffed with nasty chemicals. You can get food safe finishing oils, or you can just use kitchen oils, but none of them deliver much shine no matter how many coats you apply or how hard you buff. Shellac is a possibility, I believe the shiny coating on M&M's is shellac so I'd have thought that would be safe enough.

 

[thetyreman]

de-waxed shellac is a good choice, in some ways with kids toys, the best finish might be no finish, because it'll get damaged anyway.

 

[whatknot]

I went down this avenue a while ago, I gave up in the end as its such a minefield

I guess if its for use within the family circle, that is one thing but trying to comply with all the rules regarding selling toys etc is a waste of time IMHO, not worth the effort

 

[Phil Pascoe]

M&Ms coating is apparently just sugar and corn syrup. By the bye ...... Carnauba is used for this purpose, I know.

 

[Silly_Billy]

in some ways with kids toys, the best finish might be no finish, because it'll get damaged anyway.

Good point! In that case, I wonder if there's a childsafe paint that might be more durable?

 

[El Barto]

in some ways with kids toys, the best finish might be no finish, because it'll get damaged anyway.

Good point! In that case, I wonder if there's a childsafe paint that might be more durable?

Farrow & Ball paint is a good option as its all water based and organic: "Our paints have been independently tested and approved to meet the Toy Safety Standard* so parents can rest assured when decorating their children’s nurseries and bedrooms or painting children’s accessories, toys or cots."

There's more information about that here: http://www.farrow-ball.com/eco-friendly ... cp-content (I don't work for them fyi I just like their ethos)

 

[ED65]

How about wax?

Yes. Once any solvent has evaporated all that's left is wax.

Treatex hardwax oil?

You'd have to check with them. It is likely though that unless they specifically tested for this a spokesman won't say it's safe because they need to have legal weight behind that statement to protect against litigation.

This is a very similar issue to that of 'food safe' finishes. Although in reality all finishes are probably food safe (many do cling to the contrary view, but apparently there's zero evidence to support that view) only the makers that specifically get a product tested for this by an industrial hygienist can be assured of it and then are confident to state it on the label or in their product literature.

So, do you need to be assured of this personally or does it need to have legal weight?

 

[whatknot]

Wow, I may give them a miss personally

Cheapest thing they have is a 100ml sample pot at £4.50 !

£78 for 5l of emulsion




Farrow & Ball paint is a good option as its all water based and organic: "Our paints have been independently tested and approved to meet the Toy Safety Standard* so parents can rest assured when decorating their children’s nurseries and bedrooms or painting children’s accessories, toys or cots."

There's more information about that here: http://www.farrow-ball.com/eco-friendly ... cp-content (I don't work for them fyi I just like their ethos)[/quote]

 

[El Barto]

Wow, I may give them a miss personally

Cheapest thing they have is a 100ml sample pot at £4.50 !

£78 for 5l of emulsion




Farrow & Ball paint is a good option as its all water based and organic: "Our paints have been independently tested and approved to meet the Toy Safety Standard* so parents can rest assured when decorating their children’s nurseries and bedrooms or painting children’s accessories, toys or cots."

There's more information about that here: http://www.farrow-ball.com/eco-friendly ... cp-content (I don't work for them fyi I just like their ethos)

[/quote]

Meh. I'm happy to pay the premium for

A. High quality
B. Lower impact on the environment
C. Ease of use (it's water based - easy to clean)
D. Made in Dorset

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Treatex - Safe for use on children’s toys: DIN EN 71-3, according to their site.
As said, virtually all finishes are child safe when dry as the problem is with the solvents not the finish, but there's a difference between your own work and work for sale.

 

[Sawyer]

For culinary items, I use olive oil; cheap, easy moderately protective and obviously safe; so maybe a good choice for toys too.

 

[Jacob]

Most of the worst hazards are already banned but to make sure just ask the manufacturer,
or http://www.toymakersguild.co.uk/
or google "toy safe paints" etc. Plenty of info out there.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

For culinary items, I use olive oil; cheap, easy moderately protective and obviously safe; so maybe a good choice for toys too.

Olive oil isn't reckoned to be the best oil to use, as it can go rancid.

 

[sunnybob]

http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/natural-wood-finish.html

 

[ED65]

I'm happy to pay the premium for

A. High quality
B. Lower impact on the environment
C. Ease of use (it's water based - easy to clean)
D. Made in Dorset

Have to say something about this.

B. I think their claims in this area have a slightly hollow ring. When it comes to the ingredients used to make the paints, they won't manufacture the binder or additives themselves, nobody does, they will buy them from the same sorts of places competing brands buy theirs. As to the pigments, this is where any claims to green credentials really do go out the window as most/all of their paint will be made from common pigments (especially the titanium white which I can promise you they use tons of) and these are made in industrial quantities by big companies that manufacture pigments for the global coatings and plastics industries.

C. So is every company's emulsion paint :|

Can't argue with D! A, yeah okay they are probably really good paints. But realistically there is a lot of quality paint out there now (anyone remember bog-standard emulsion in the 70s??) and not all of it comes with a premium pricetag.

 

[Terry Smart]

Quite a few of our products have been tested, and comply with, the Toy Safety regulations.

There's a full list here:

https://chestnutproducts.co.uk/faq/

And we have certificates for each one should they be required.

Terry