Is stain safe for babies? I built my own baby crib out of pine. I want to stain it and of course i want to to be baby safe. My wife wants it to have color as well.

Hi,

I built my own baby crib out of pine. I want to stain it and of course i want to to be baby safe. My wife wants it to have color as well. I was looking at the bio poly with color. My questions are is the bio poly with color safe for a baby crib and does something else need to be applied before the bio poly of after the bio poly?

Thanks!

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Hi, 

Congratulations on the new addition to the family!

Yes. Bio Poly is a great stain and is safe to stain a crib with. However, I'm a purist when it comes to babies and stains open up a world of complexity.

The best is Baby Safe Crib Finish and let that enhance the woods natural color and wood grain. It's just beeswax and pure linseed oil (flax) cooked in food grade vessels (but not intended as food.)

People use Bio Poly for cribs but I would top coat that with 2-3 coats of NanoTech so there is a hard clear barrier. 

[Skip to "Summary" at bottom if not interested details about pigments, stains and colorants.]

I'll go into a little detail but remember I'm a purist and a bit over zealous when it comes to safe coatings. Babies that are teething (teething timeline) don't have full sets of teeth and don't devour large amounts of wood. So that said...

There are only a few major raw pigment manufacturers. The reason for this is that colorant pigments (stain) are sourced from specific parts of the earth.The big guys tend to get the best sources. Even though many colorants are allowed in food and medicine we don't believe that's a good idea.  We have ours locally made into a very clean zero voc colorant dispersion.

Our colorants are zero voc, mostly earth oxides and some organic synthetics which have the best health profiles I've seen for colorant. 
However, I still don't want babies chewing on it. Earth oxides from the ground themselves may not be good to eat but anything coming out of the earth is going to have other elements and minerals involved that are at trace levels and undesirable in food.

The organic synthetics (which are only a few bright colors) are far better than the barium yellow or cadmium red types but still I wouldn't want to chew on it. This gets complex. Here is a link that shows some of the factors for just one common colorant ingredient, barium. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp24-c2.pdf  They often measure solubility to determine toxicity but the trace elements are not always accounted for and they may or may not be soluble in the body. It's the long term accumulation of these often overlooked things that likely builds up and can become illness or chemical overexposure eventually.

This topic isn't something most corporations are willing to discuss. It's not simple. It's not profitable. It's necessary! Although the studies are becoming more common, most people are unaware of how trace elements and carcinogens can change human DNA, irreversibly.

• "Chemical carcinogens including most trace elements can change any of these processes to induce their carcinogenic effects. Various studies confirm that cancer arises from the accumulation of irreversible DNA damage, which results from multiple mutations in critical genes in the body organ." Trace elements and carcinogenicity: a subject in review

So, basically, when accounting for an ingredient, all of the ingredients, including possible trace elements ought to be considered. If the Government is allowing Chromium Green to be used in contact lenses what else would they allow? Answer: Pretty much anything. See list here   

Summary:

What this tells me is that Accumulation is a major factor, often more so than acute illness. Colorant is safe when permanently bound in paint and stain. It's best used on surfaces that aren't going to be ingested. The method of manufacture is vital and the pigments chosen must be done with great scrutiny.

Essentially, yes,  you probably found one of the safest stains on the market. As a purist I use Baby Safe Crib Finish.  I topcoat paints and stains with NanoTech. 

I actually invented the Baby Safe for my infant son years ago (then called Looking Glass Beeswax Polish applied over a Spirulina stain) and I painted our kids beds through most of their lives with our paints, stains and a NanoTech top coat. My son is now 11 and he just wiped Bio Poly on large exterior shelves with no problem. 

This is a lot of info for a seemingly simple question. Hopefully, over time it may be useful for more than just the crib. 
 
Best wishes,
Tom

*Sample pints are recommended for creating a finished sample in advance. 
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