What Paint Is Safe For Baby Toys

Here'southward a question from one of our readers:

I want to make wooden toys for my daughter, simply cannot effigy out what kind of paint to use. I want to utilize something non-toxic & safety to chew on as she is ix months old & everything goes in her mouth! I would like to utilise something vibrant & am willing to seal them likewise. I have read that beeswax is a practiced sealant; is this right?

Non-toxic paint and non-toxic wood sealant…y'all BET we've got some suggestions!

For non-toxic, kid-friendly dyes, cheque out these possibilities:

liquid watercolors: Liquid watercolors make a vibrant and non-toxic stain for wooden toys. For the best results with no color bleed, rinse or briefly soak each slice in vinegar to set the color, and seal each piece with a non-toxic sealant.
Earth Paint: Earth Paint is a line of completely natural mineral paints; my kiddos and I utilise World Paints, and nosotros're smitten with them. Because they're made from earth, the colors are a little more than "bawdy" than nearly store-bought paints, but still vibrant, and they practise y'all one better by being natural and organic, not just non-toxic. Seal each slice with a non-toxic sealant.
melted crayon: While your average crayon is made from petroleum past-products (unless yous're using soy crayons or beeswax crayons), they are nonetheless non-toxic, and The Aesthetic Parent has a tutorial on her web log showing you how to depict with crayons on heated wood, allowing the crayons to cook over the wood every bit you draw. Since crayons take a loftier wax component, these may not necessarily even need to be sealed, if you've covered the cake completely and you're comfy with the crayon's ingredient list.

Near stains and paints, however, will demand to be sealed, so here are some suggestions for non-toxic wood sealants:

beeswax: I utilize this detail beeswax woods polish recipe on all our wooden toys, our wooden cutting boards, and our wooden furniture–it gets a lot of employ!
vegan beeswax alternatives: Becky, who's a vegan crafter, offers options for non-toxic vegan waxes that can exist substituted for beeswax in most recipes. One reader notes that Candelilla wax, if substituted for beeswax, can exist reduced by half the corporeality of beeswax called for in a recipe, since Candelilla wax is stiffer than beeswax–fortunately, my beeswax wood smooth recipe is very forgiving, then there'due south enough of room to play around with ingredients until you find the consistency that you prefer.

Of course, and as always, our best resource for answering reader questions is YOU! If yous have another proposition for non-toxic wood stains or wood sealants, or an opinion near any of the options that I've listed here, please comment below.

(painted wooden toys image via Shutterstock)

I'm a writer, crafter, Zombie Preparedness Planner, and homeschooling momma of two kids who will hopefully someday transition into using their genius for skilful, not the evil machinations and mess-making in which they currently indulge. I'm interested in recycling and nature crafts, food security, Stalk instruction, and the DIY lifestyle, however it'south manifested--making myself some underwear out of T-shirts? Done information technology. Education myself guitar? Doing it right now.

Visit my blog Craft Knife for a peek at our very weird handmade homeschool life; my etsy store Pumpkin+Bear for a truly odd number of rainbow-themed beeswax pretties; and my Google + for links to articles well-nigh poverty, educational politics, and this famous true cat who lives in my neighborhood.