Best place to buy natural toys?

[Judegirl]

I'll follow up on any suggestions, but I'm looking especially for wooden toys finsihed in beeswax instead of polyurethane. I have a few websites, but they just describe their paints and finishes as "non-toxic." I'm skeptical; I have a feeling that a more genuinely invested vendor would be more specific about the finish.

Anyone have any leads?

TIA!
Jude

[slknight]

Jude, I tried to get a kitchen co-op going for this place, but we didn't have enough people. They say that their items are finished with a beeswax wood preserver. But they really only have big stuff like dollhouses, kitchens, play-stands. I'm guessing you're looking for smaller stuff?

http://www.willowtoys.com/index.htm

I'm going out now, but I'll see if I can find any other places for you tonight. I love searching for stuff online.

[brittone2]

Do a search for waldorf toy companies. I'm not sure exactly what the finishes are but they are probably your best bet. I think most of the things I've seen finished with beeswax are larger items like play kitchens, etc. like you said. I'm not sure that i've seen many small items finished with it, but I could be wrong.

www.magiccabin.com
www.willowtreetoys.com
www.bellalunatoys.com
www.seasonsnaturaltoys.com (this company is kind of local to me...I'm disappointed she no longer has an actual brick and mortar store. The website is kind of confusing but she has some cute stuff)

We bought a bunch of German made toys recently at the store Tuesday Morning and they all have non toxic finishes. I did some reading and Germany has very stringent requirements for non toxic finishes...the wood is dyed with a vegetable based dye that even if the child drank the dye straight up, it would be non toxic. The toys have some special German safety certification mark on the boxes. One of the companies is Heros toys, one is Nemmer, and a few of the others are wrapped already so I can't double check for you. I know Europe has more stringent requirements for formaldehyde in furniture, toys, etc.

HTH a little bit. I'd start w/ some of the waldorf type companies and maybe ask them more about the finishes.

[redhookmom]

http://novanatural.com/
http://rosiehippo.com/