The Pure Nordic Home

Introduction

Children have enjoyed playing with wooden toys for generations and tend to not go out of style as many other toys.

Natural toys made from wood and other sustainable materials are becoming more popular as people start to become more conscious about their environment.

You don’t need to be a Waldorf or Montessori parent to be interested in wooden toys.

I slowly started transitioning into natural toys for my daughter several years ago more because I wanted to avoid plastics and unnecessary chemicals and additives in our home and around her. There was also something nostalgic about choosing wooden toys.

My son was born just over two years ago, and it was amazing to see how much the variety of wooden toys had increased.

When something, like wooden toys, in this case, becomes more popular and trendy, so does the amount of low-quality, and counterfeit products.

By reading this post you will learn about how to make sure you are buying high-quality wooden toys that are free from harsh chemicals and will last for a long time.

Most homes today are full of plastic toys. At the end of the article I will dig into the different plastic types, and which plastic toys are better than others, and which ones you may want to get rid of.

Wooden Toys

When you are choosing toys in general, it’s essential to know how the toy is going to be used and by whom. Here are a couple of points to keep in mind. Is the toy:

• Going to be used by a baby and end up in a mouth?
• Suitable for the age and development of the child?
• Safe? Does it have any sharp objects or splinters?

Why wooden toys?

Wooden toys are a great natural option and can tick many boxes like being environmentally-friendly, biodegradable, sustainable/renewable, durable, Waldorf- and Montessori-friendly, and last but not least beautiful.

They are also considered open-ended, which means they are excellent to encourage imagination and problem-solving. They tend to be more simple than plastic toys because they don’t always have smooth surfaces and straight lines, which leaves more room for creativity.

Wooden teethers are a great natural option for soothing the gum of a teething infant. The best type is hard maple wood.

We all know that our children can be quite rough on their toys. Apart from being safe, a toy needs to survive wear and tear, being put into mouths, being thrown on to the floor, many times. That’s why selecting the right wood matters.

Wood Types

Hardwood

Hardwood comes from trees like Birch, Balsa, Beech, Hickory, Maple, Oak, Teak, and Walnut. It is more expensive than softwood. The main advantage is it’s high density, and therefore, durability. Wooden toys made from it last very well and could be handed down for generations if taken well care of by the owner.

Maple wood is great as it is not likely to splinter, and is hypoallergenic. Some woods can cause allergic reactions through inhalation of the wood dust, or skin contact.

Rubberwood

Rubberwood comes from the rubber tree, and can mainly be found in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and Brazil.

It is one of the most environmentally friendly wood as the rubber trees are only cut down for lumber when the trees have stopped producing latex sap, which is used for natural rubber making. New trees are then planted to replace them.

Softwood

Comes from trees like Cedar, Douglas Fir, Pine, Spruce, and Redwood. Softwood is more suitable for instruments and toys that do not need to tolerate as much wear and tear. It is cheaper, but are more likely to break and splinter, which can easily make the toy unsafe.

Composite wood

Many wooden toys are made from composite wood, which means the wood has been pressed together with chemicals or glues. Examples of timber like this are MDF, plywood, or pressed wood. It depends on the manufacturers which type of adhesives they use and how much chemicals they contain or how much off-gassing they introduce.

If you choose toys from composite wood, you want to make sure that the adhesive used doesn’t contain harsh chemicals. Some glues used, especially outside of Europe, may off-gas formaldehyde, which you want to avoid for your children.

Where does the wood come from? Is it Sustainable?

When choosing a wooden toy, make sure the wood comes from responsible, sustainable forests. It’s best if it has the FCS or PEFC certifications.

If you are not familiar with these certifications, they are designed to ensure an environmentally-friendly, economically feasible and socially beneficial forest management.

These are the logos you want to look for:

Wooden toys finishes and paint

Let’s start this chapter with an example of a recall from the US Consumer Products Safety Commission:

This example shows that wooden toys are not always as natural as we think. You might have chosen these wooden toys in good faith, believing you were buying a good toy.

We can see that this toy, was painted with lead-containing paint.

Ingested paint containing lead or lead dust is a hazard to children, which is the reason it has been banned for more than 30 years. However, toys from less regulated areas are still being imported to the US and Europe despite of regulations (see more below on regulations).

Your best weapon is to know the origin of the toy and if the manufacturer is using safe chemicals, and has certifications, like CE marking for their products.

If the wooden toy is made in China, be extra careful and see if the manufacturer has strict quality regulations, and make sure the product is tested, and allowed to be sold in Europe (since it has the strictest regulations).

You can also become a pretty good detective just by using your nose, if something has a very strong smell, it’s probably not good. Lead does not have any scent, but harsh chemicals usually do.

I know a friend of mine even licks the toys before her baby starts chewing on them, to make sure they are OK 🙂 

It is most natural to choose a hardwood finished with natural oil or wax, like beeswax, olive, or walnut oil (if not allergic).

However, paint doesn’t always contain harsh chemicals, several paint types are perfectly fine.

The best options are plant- or water-based paints. Milk paint can also be a good option (if your child is not allergic).

You want to avoid strong plastic sealants and lacquers, especially if chances are that a small child will put the item into its mouth.

Paint is often made from plastic materials. If you are buying a wooden toy because you are avoiding plastics, you may want to think twice if the wooden toy is covered in plastic.  

Ordering wooden toys from Amazon and Etsy

If you are ordering from Amazon, it’s essential to read the reviews. I was looking at a wooden rainbow from the Grimms company the other day, and I noticed how bad reviews it was getting from many buyers.

It turned out to be a fake one from China. It looked similar but started cracking after only being used for a few times. The real wooden toys from Grimm’s are very sturdy and last for a long time.  

If you buy wooden toys from Etsy you want to check these things:

• Is the wooden toy made from hardwood?
• Does the maker use non-toxic glues?
• Does the maker use non-toxic sealants or paints?
• Is the toy sanded smooth, or is there a risk for splinters.

What about second-hand wooden toys?

Yes, second-hand toys can be excellent, especially for our environment.

However, the same applies to second-hand toys, as we were discussing above. You want to understand from which materials the toys are made.

The problem with second-hand toys is that you may not know the origin of the toy.

Another thing to keep in mind with old wooden toys is the paint. You want to make sure the paint does not contain lead, and that it is not flaking and ending up in your child’s mouth.

If the second-hand wooden toys are made from solid wood and are not painted you can follow the tips below to make them like new again.

How to care for and clean wooden toys

Wood has natural antibacterial properties, so it will not be as affected by germs as plastic toys. However, it’s good to clean them once in a while, especially if they are put into small mouths.

It’s good to use a gentle natural cleanser, like very mild dish soap, or vinegar (both white and apple cider work well).

You never want to soak wooden toys or immerse them in water. Instead, you want to gently wipe it down with a washcloth, or spray it lightly, and allow it to air dry.

It can also be dried in the sun, which makes it faster and might kill more germs. You want to be careful though not keeping it for too long in the sun. It may cause the colors to fade and cause cracking.

If you have a stubborn stain on the toy, you may want to sand it down with very fine-grit sandpaper.

To avoid getting cross-grain scratches, you want to follow the wood grain when sanding. You can then take a bit of beeswax and coat it. That will preserve the wood and protect it from moisture and heat.

Plastic toys

Are All Plastic Toys Bad?

In my blog post: “ Top 10 Tips to Kick Plastics out of your Kitchen”, I covered the different plastic types pretty well. In case you missed the guide about each type of plastic, you can download it by clicking on this image:

Plastics are not good for our environment and not so good for us, or our children so it’s best if we can reduce them in the long run, especially the bad types that potentially contain harsh chemicals.

However, if your home is like most modern homes, you will find a lot of plastic toys there. I am not suggesting throwing it out all at once, that would not be good for the environment.

My suggestion would be to get more educated about the different types of plastics. You may want to throw out or give away the plastic toys that are most likely to contain harsh chemicals. The next time you buy a new toy, you may then consider obtaining a more natural one.

I would also suggest keeping the plastic toys in closed containers, especially if they are inside your child’s bedroom, so they don’t release chemical fumes into the air. Doing this is very important if a plastic toy smells; it means that it is potentially off-gassing.

Regulations and understanding which types of plastics you may want to avoid

Children’s toy’s regulations vary between continents. Here in Europe, the rules are pretty strict, both in terms of safety, and chemicals.  

Europe has a system called RAPEX (Rapid Exchange of Information System). It is an alert system that reports about compliance status for products sold within the EU. 

According to an analysis from the RAPEX, banned chemicals were found in toys more than any other product type in 2018.

The European Commission, says that fake products being imported into the EU increased in 2018. The second-largest category of counterfeit products, after cigarettes, were toys.

This high amount makes it more likely for non-compliant products to sneak into our homes, it doesn’t matter if it is a wooden or plastic toy.   

Phthalates

Phthalates are one of the chemicals being phased out of toys in the United States, Canada, and Europe because of human health concerns.

At a high level of exposure, the toxicological properties of phthalates present a risk of cancer and can lead to adult infertility.

They are chemicals used to make plastics like PVC, flexible and durable. PVC plastic is the worst type of plastics because it can contain Phthalates, Lead, Cadmium, and volatile organic compounds.

Here is an example from the RAPEX database mentioned above, to show you what type of products containing banned chemicals have been identified with the system:

We can see in this example that this is a counterfeit of the popular L.O.L. dolls. This product was originated in China and contained illegal phthalates.

Luckily this product was stopped before imported. That is, unfortunately, not always the case as more and more products are being ordered online directly from China.

Qima, a company providing supply chain compliance solutions, randomly selected 35 Chinese-made plastic toys that were intended to be sold in Europe and the US. Approximately 25% of these toys were found to contain dangerous levels of phthalates.

This shows us, even though chemicals like phthalates are banned, there are still a lot of attempts to import these toys into these continents. This is especially true for less regulated areas like Asia.

When getting rid of plastic toys potentially containing phthalates, you want to check if they have recycling codes #3 or #6. However, toys do not always have these numbers.

If you have flexible plastic toys, like dolls, balls, or bath toys in your homes, these are the ones most likely to contain phthalates, especially if the toy is made in China and not from a European company.

There is no way of knowing for sure if the toy contains these chemicals, but if the toy smells a lot or even nice (sometimes the bad smell is masked with fragrances), it could indicate PVC materials. You may want to discard it or limit how much your child plays with it.

BPA and BPS

The other plastic I would recommend avoiding is plastics containing BPA or BPS. Plastics containing BPA are mostly being faded out in European products and US products. However, it is being replaced with a chemical called BPS. Here is a report, suggesting that BPS is as harmful as BPA.

Flame Retardants

Finally, the worst types of plastics are in items frequently found in homes, and often used as toys, remote controls. I know, most children love them.

The thing is that they are not intended to be put into small mouths. They follow completely different regulations and often contain flame retardants, which are not for our children.

The better plastics

My daughter LOVES LEGO (and I love building it with her when she allows me). I contacted LEGO to ask about the plastic they use. The answer I got was that they use ABS plastic. That is among the safest plastic-type, so I let it slip.

If the toys you are looking at have recycling codes on them, the better ones are #1,2,4,5. The #1 and #2 are mostly intended for single use.

Conclusion

We, as consumers, need to be educated in order to make buying decisions. We need to keep harsh chemicals out of our homes as we can. Even though regulations have never been more strict, we can not solely rely on them.

When choosing wooden toys, you want to make sure they are finished naturally with non-toxic paints and sealants. If it contains glue, you want to make sure it is also non-toxic.

Luckily several brands today are making beautiful high-quality wooden toys.

In my next post, I will introduce you to my favorite wooden toy brands!