Child safe finish

[Wes Bischel]

I'm in the process of making a few toys for my little one and I'm not sure what kind of paint would be OK. I'm making a little truck out of MDF and want to paint it. Since it is MDF the typical child safe dyes won't cut it - I need a solid finish. Any suggestions? What have you guys used?

He's not chewing on his toys, but I figure just to be safe I should ask.

Thanks, Wes

(I'm getting a head start on his birthday presents - January baby.)

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Hmmm. I think I'd be just as concerned about the MDF as the kind of finish. You probably can't buy anything that isn't perfectly safe once cured.

KC

[Jim Becker]

As KC eludes to, all finishes sold today as "safe" once cured. I do think I'd use maple for this kind of project, however, for both durability and other reasons. "Some" MDF reportedly has formaldehyde in the resins used to bind the dust and fibers together into the final product.

[Lee Schierer]

I agree witht he previous statements. All paints and varnishes to day are lead free and non-toxic when cured. If you paint, use a gloss or semi-gloss finish rather than flat. It will clean up easier than the flat finishes will. For wood, use poplar if it is painted or maple if not. Both are fairly hard and will not produce slivers easily.

Make sure there are no small parts that can break off easily.

[Wes Bischel]

Thanks for the input guys. To be honest I hadn't thought about the MDF being bad. I figured I better ask my resident expert about the formadehyde. (my wife is a Material Scientist working for a building products co. PhD etc. In other words she's the smart one, I'm here to do the heavy lifting ;) )
As an FYI I added the links she sent:

Specifically on the MDF formaldehyde issue she sent me this link:

http://www.norbord.com/english/mdf/msds_sheets/Questions.pdf

Concerning formaldehyde she sent me these:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/water/publications/formaldehyde/chapter2.htm

http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/chemicals/chemicals-detail.asp?Main_ID=346

http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/formald.shtml


To save you the fine print, she said the exposure from other things are higher/more of a concern than MDF. Formaldehyde is used in a lot of items I didn't know about. Toothpaste, bananas! is nothing sacred!

Now a few of you mentioned other reasons not to use MDF. Indent? I couldn't find any info on denting MDF vs. maple just what I've done with a hammer and center punch. Other?

What I had been planning to use is scrap that has been sitting around for quite some time and well sized for the little trucks I designed (OK little boxes with wheels to be honest - so to Lee's point, no little parts)

Thanks again for the heads-up. It's nice to have a group to bounce ideas off before doing something.

Wes