Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 You have to wash them thorougly, 12 times in order to remove the antimony and other toxins in the flame retardants. I just started requesting cotton pajamas- often it's those synthetic blanket sleepers that have the flame retardants. Baby clothes are really cheap used, and those have been washed a lot, usually. Used sleepers are harder to find, however. Look out for your car seat cover, they are often very toxic (some of the safest in crashes are most toxic)- i don't have the link but someone has rated them for toxicity. For the mattress, I would get into the chemistry of it, and try to find out what you could spray on the mattress that neutralizes the boric acid. Baking soda is all I can come up with off the top of my head. Sometimes the wiki articles have links to chemistry wonk stuff. I would probably only spray it lightly, until you can get it out in the sun to dry. In the short run, you could get a mattress cover, you're going to need one with a baby. Leaks happen when you're figuring out the cloth diaper system, and then there's the whole water breaking issue. desh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 Desh, How did you find that out? I'm worried about the bromine in flame retardant coatings - I've read that on many things like sleepwear, seat covers, etc. it is many times the amount rated as safe and is a carcinogen. Do you know how to get that out?? > > You have to wash them thorougly, 12 times in order to remove the antimony > and other toxins in the flame retardants. I just started requesting > cotton pajamas- often it's those synthetic blanket sleepers that have the > flame retardants. Baby clothes are really cheap used, and those have > been washed a lot, usually. Used sleepers are harder to find, however. > Look out for your car seat cover, they are often very toxic (some of the > safest in crashes are most toxic)- i don't have the link but someone has > rated them for toxicity. > > For the mattress, I would get into the chemistry of it, and try to find > out what you could spray on the mattress that neutralizes the boric acid. > Baking soda is all I can come up with off the top of my head. Sometimes > the wiki articles have links to chemistry wonk stuff. I would probably > only spray it lightly, until you can get it out in the sun to dry. In > the short run, you could get a mattress cover, you're going to need one > with a baby. Leaks happen when you're figuring out the cloth diaper > system, and then there's the whole water breaking issue. > > desh > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 I'm glad I asked now! Most of the clothing so far is cotton: I was concerned because I heard that flame retardants are required for all children's sleepwear. I'll make a point to request cottons from this point on. I'll wash everything thoroughly just in case. I'm very lucky to have gotten both my car seats as hand-me-downs. They're still new enough to meet safety requirements, but they've both had the covers washed many times over. Getting them used also has the bonus of the plastics not off gassing as much (the smell of plastic just kills me). While I'm on the subject of chemicals and babies... we have a wooden crib and will be getting several other common items out of wood instead of plastic so I was wondering what I can use to clean the wood with that won't be too toxic. Thanks!!! -Lana > You have to wash them thorougly, 12 times in order to remove the antimony > and other toxins in the flame retardants. I just started requesting > cotton pajamas- often it's those synthetic blanket sleepers that have the > flame retardants. > Look out for your car seat cover, they are often very toxic (some of the > safest in crashes are most toxic)- i don't have the link but someone has > rated them for toxicity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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