Child safe finish

[stenik]

Hi all,
Grandchild No 6 was born in Feb and I've been toying (no pun intended ) with the idea of turning a rattle for him. I've got some beech, ash or sapele spindles but I'm unsure which one would be best. I think the beech and ash are non toxic so would be good for this project. After watching many many videos a lot do not use any finish either. So in my mind I'm thinking of the beech with no finish but then one in the ash with a non toxic finish to see how it turns out. What finishes would others use?. I was thinking of olive oil or a vegetable oil as they would be ok for little mouths.
Any thoughts very appreciated.
Steve

 

[Jorny]

Raw cold pressed linseed oil from a reputable supplier such as ottosson or allbäck, if you can stand the long time it takes to dry. Another possibility refined oil without any driers added such as Selders, bit I don't know if they have any UK resellers.

A third option is bees wax, either as is or combined with raw linseed oil for a paste wax.

 

[Jorny]

I would stay away from non drying oils. Especially cooking oils as they can go rancid.

 

[Ginlow]

Had really good success with Hampshire sheens, Danish oil and wax. Even used on spoons, it's basically 90% tung oil and bit of citrus and something else. I have used cold pressed raw linseed oil, but it does have a lasting smell and taste. I'd add wax as well if it's a toy. Buff it on as well it needs to cure properly. I've used skeleton saws peacock oil as well and it's freaking gorgeous that's all natural but a bit much for spoons and cups. All the best

 

[Linus]

Personally, for a baby rattle I would use beech and no finish - it shouldn't need it, and a baby is going to suck and chew it anyway.

 

[Ginlow]

Depending on wood I'm not sure that's good advice. Can bleech not leach in if it's open pores. And the semi gloss cured surface means it can't be chewed easily, it won't splinter and more importantly it's easy to clean. I personally think that's bad advice every wooden toy has a finish that you buy. Unfinished treen gets funky pretty quick I think the same applies here.

 

[mwinfrance]

You don't bleach*, you use sodium hypochlorite solution ( sold for sterilising babies bottles ) and then rinse off.
*word normally used to refer to solution of at least 6-8% Cl .

 

[Ginlow]

You don't bleach, you use sodium hypochlorite solution ( sold for sterilising babies bottles ) and then rinse off.

My bad, read bleach as bleach

 

[Jorny]

Beech doesn't splinter, and that is why it is used for toys and ice cream sticks.

I do not see why you would sterilise a babys toy.

A side note. In a very large population study about allergies in Sweden researchers asked what parents would do if the baby dropped its pacifier on the floor/ground. This question was added out of curiosity after a coffee table chat among the researchers on what they död themselves as parents. That question led to a significant result. Allergies were more common among children whose parents always rinsed and boiled the pacifiers. Allergies were a lot less common among children whose parents cleaned the pacifiers by putting them in their own mouths.

Or as the computer guy, and father of four, at my partners job told ber when we were expecting our child. "So its your first, huh? It's like this with being a parent. With your first child, when it drops it's pacifier you boil it. With the second you rinse it off. With the third you put the pacifier in your own mouth. With the fourth child, you just let the dog take a lick and hand it back."

 

[alex robinson]

Hi all,
Grandchild No 6 was born in Feb and I've been toying (no pun intended ) with the idea of turning a rattle for him. I've got some beech, ash or sapele spindles but I'm unsure which one would be best. I think the beech and ash are non toxic so would be good for this project. After watching many many videos a lot do not use any finish either. So in my mind I'm thinking of the beech with no finish but then one in the ash with a non toxic finish to see how it turns out. What finishes would others use?. I was thinking of olive oil or a vegetable oil as they would be ok for little mouths.
Any thoughts very appreciated.
Steve

Walnut oil probably the best of the food oils for not going rancid. Still takes an age to dry though.

I would go for tung oil. If you look at the liberon quick drying tung oil datasheet it states that it is safe for childrens toys once dried.

I think there is a lot of confusion about what is food / child safe. A lot of woodworking information comes from the US where rules about labelling and toxicity are far laxer than in Europe (eg here tung oil actually has to contain oil from the tung tree!). I think this then leads to a lot of stuff being discounted as a result of excess caution. If it is a UK product, the information and safety sheets should be easily found.

 

[mwinfrance]

I wouldn't sterilise a child's toy, ( never did on any of my son's when he was small, now 27 ) my post was for information re the relative strengths of "bleach" as opposed to the products actually used for sterilising baby's bottles.
We went with methods 2, 3 and 4 ( just for the one child ) in rapid succession, never bothered with method 1.
Agree totally, too much antiseptisising ( a perfectly cromulent word ) is bad for the immune system and leads to delicate kids and later delicate always ill adults.What was good enough for our cave man ancestors seems to have worked out OK for us.

When I was a child in Ireland on our farm, we kids used to drink our milk straight from the milking pail ( we milked our animals by hand ), and occasionaly milk the cow directly into our mouths..never got ill at all .

 

[Linus]

Depending on wood I'm not sure that's good advice. Can bleech not leach in if it's open pores. And the semi gloss cured surface means it can't be chewed easily, it won't splinter and more importantly it's easy to clean. I personally think that's bad advice every wooden toy has a finish that you buy. Unfinished treen gets funky pretty quick I think the same applies here.

When did you last use a wooden spoon which had a finish on it and when did you last sterilise one? Unfinished beech is safe and has been used since time immemorial.

 

[Jorny]

I wouldn't sterilise a child's toy, ( never did on any of my son's when he was small, now 27 ) my post was for information re the relative strengths of "bleach" as opposed to the products actually used for sterilising baby's bottles.
We went with methods 2, 3 and 4 ( just for the one child ) in rapid succession, never bothered with method 1.
Agree totally, too much antiseptisising ( a perfectly cromulent word ) is bad for the immune system and leads to delicate kids and later delicate always ill adults.What was good enough for our cave man ancestors seems to have worked out OK for us.

When I was a child in Ireland on our farm, we kids used to drink our milk straight from the milking pail ( we milked our animals by hand ), and occasionaly milk the cow directly into our mouths..never got ill at all .

We basically went from 3 to 4, but then we had read this brilliant book (the original title in swedish is a lot more sensible than the english "Primer for new parents") written by a paeditrician and a bacteriologist who specializes on the immune system and allergies. The way you describe your childhood is more or less what they point out is the best way to prevent allergies. Living on a farm surrounded by animals.

 

[Ginlow]

When did you last use a wooden spoon which had a finish on it and when did you last sterilise one? Unfinished beech is safe and has been used since time immemorial.

Whoo there haha, I read bleach instead of beech and apologised soon after. I never mentioned sterilising. There is some disagreement to the comment though and this is allowed. I've been spoon carving for 6+ years and I've never seen a wooden spoon without a finish. And linseed oil, birch tar, soap finish has been used on treen since Vikings times. Adds water repellency etc... Finish on toys I assumed is for cleaning not sterilisation just remove sticky stuff etc... Apologies for the bleach mistake. Honest mistake eyes are failing.

 

[Agent_zed]

Thinking of doing pretty much the same for my sisters kid (due in a few months). As above beech is normally considered best due to low risk of splinters. I might use some fruit wood though sandwiched between beech to make it look more interesting.

I tend to think beeswax is a good finish but who knows what the current thinking is on whether that is safe for kids. I think they say not to give babies honey but I can't see the miniscule amount of beewax would be a problem.

The other thing I've used is safflower oil which is cheap, obtainable, appears to be food safe/edible and is a drying oil. Although I've only used it on my oak bedframe which I don't tend to chew on that often.

 

[Richard_C]

You are a grandparent so won't be with the child 24/7. You have a duty to choose species, finish and design to make the rattle as loud as possible so the parents thank you profusely. Or make a drum.

Whatever you do will get bashed, dropped, chewed and ultimately grubby. It a toy not an heirloom. I would go with unfinished beech which can be scrubbed in really hot water, and you can always make another one if the child still requires a rattle in 15 or so years.

 

[Agent_zed]

You are a grandparent so won't be with the child 24/7. You have a duty to choose species, finish and design to make the rattle as loud as possible so the parents thank you profusely. Or make a drum.

I am planning on giving my nephews a whistle. I've made a few now on the lathe and they are brilliant, and will also be incredibly annoying

 

[thetyreman]

Chestnut food safe oil is good

 

[mwinfrance]

Ginlow, if you only knew how many typos, I make before I post ( and often miss until after I've hit "post" , so have to go back and edit them ) you'd fall of your chair laughing, mine are due to age ( 67 today ), typing in english on a french layout keyboard, and be speelchucked here on ukworkshop.co.uk by a system that thinks US english is the one true path. thus ,"let he who is without" etc...I put my * by bleach , to draw attention to what people normally mean bleach re percentage Cl, not to point out your typo

 

[Ginlow]

Ginlow, if you only knew how many typos, I make before I post ( and often miss until after I've hit "post" , so have to go back and edit them ) you'd fall of your chair laughing, mine are due to age ( 67 today ), typing in english on a french layout keyboard, and be speelchucked here on ukworkshop.co.uk by a system that thinks US english is the one true path. thus ,"let he who is without" etc...I put my * by bleach , to draw attention to what people normally mean bleach re percentage Cl, not to point out your typo

Every time though, I'm like a walking disaster on this forum. Should have just typed Hampshire sheen does a toy safe oil. Then switched my phone off haa