what wood & nontoxic paint / stain to use for homemade wooden toys?

[homesteader]

i'm wanting to make some teething beads & other wooden toys that ds can chew on (i absolutely refuse to let him do his teething on plastic!). i don't know what types of wood to use though. my brother told me that the wooden toys in a catalog he has says they are made out of maple...my mother explained that it's "hard maple". we only have soft maples around us(so she says-i really don't know...they are sugar maple & silver maple). we have 50 acres of forest but i don't think we have any maples on our place at all--we've scoured those hills! what we have are elm, oak-lots & lots of oak, hickory, cedar, persimmon, pecan & sycamore. i'm thinking that oak or hickory would be fine but i want to be absolutely positive before i give him something that i'll regret!!!

also, i'm all about recycling scrap wood & i have a neighbor that does woodwork with raw materials (he doesn't use treated wood) and i wondered if anyone knows anything about the milling industy. even though it's not treated do they use any chemicals in the drying process or when they are sawing the wood? i have very limited time on the internet so i just haven't had time to do the research & thought i'd check with you all.

what about natural colored stains or paints to use for when he's older...i know that onion skins make a good stain-actually i should say "i understand" that they do...haven't actually tried this yet. any thoughts/ideas? thanks a bunch!

[Missgrl]

Moving this to the "crafts" forum for ya!

[transformed]

[delly]

I don't have any answers, sorry but this is a really good question! I'm watching to see if anyone knows... I would ask my grandfather's friend (a woodworker) but I don't think he thinks about toxicity so much, you know?

[transformed]

Well, I will throw this in:
http://www.ecosafetyproducts.com/Sur...nishes-s/2.htm

We are getting ready to stain our cabinets with this:

http://www.ecosafetyproducts.com/Tim.../t1-2000-1.htm

[Kodachrome]

I wish I had a for sure answer for you, but I do recall something called "milk paint" or something similar to that.

Maybe you can google it? I think you can buy it pre-made, or even find a DIY recipe for making it via google on answers[dot]com.

(realizing how old this post is....) but hope that helps - good luck.

[Think of Winter]

There are several threads on this topic. Try a seach in the Toy and Dolls board using "paint."

[autumnbloom]

i was going to suggest Milk Paint too.

[red_trillium]

i'm starting to make some wood toys again, and i'm not sure what i'll be using on them. everything i've made before hasn't been for a baby.

i've made milk paint before, it's pretty simple(and cheap!) to do with some dry milk and lime. you can find instructions online, or you can buy some pre made.

i've been researching some different finishes. you can buy a lot of completely natural finishes to put on wood, most of them are food safe, so i'm assuming safe for chewing?

i think i'm going to do a beeswax/mineral oil finish. you just melt a little beeswax in a pot of mineral oil(have to look up the exact proportions, maybe like 30/70?) then let it cool, apply it with a rag and rub.

if your neighbor is using raw wood, that should be fine to use. from what i know about milling(my dad had a mill for a while), all they use is a saw/blade and water for the cuts. i'm sure you could ask him if he does anything different.

i don't know if any kind of wood would be bad for teething? hmm...