Are fabric paints safe for babies and toddlers?

[lrg]

Hi! I am throwing a baby shower for a friend and heard of a great activity I'd really like to do. Providing the attendees with onsies and toddler tshirts with an assortment of puffy paints or other fabric pens/paints so that each person can design their own shirt for the baby. I haven't been to the store to check it out yet, but what I wondered was if this would be unsafe for the baby/toddler to wear?

I've never used these materials and don't know if the paint starts peeling off with washes. Or if a 6 month old were to chew on the shirt (mine went through that phase) or a toddler peel off peeling paint and end up eating it, if it would be safe?

I haven't been shopping yet and planned to go out today. My experience with this kind of stuff is it will specify that it's only for use by kids of a certain age, but that's for USING the paints. I am doubtful it will say an age appropriate for babies/children to WEAR. Any advice/knowledge would be much appreciated!!!

[Pipersmamma]

I can't speak specifically to safety, but want to comment on comfort.
Prior to becoming a SAHM I was an elementary Art teacher and used to design sweatshirts with fabric paints and sell them. The paints dry pretty stiff, even on the thicker sweatshirt material. When you use them on t-shirts (onesie material too) you'd have to put cardboard between the front and back since it will bleed right through. The result is a very stiff area where you have the paint. I think it would be quite uncomfortable to an infant or even a toddler. If you requested that guests come up with a phrase to write or just a very small symbol or pic, that might work. All art products used in schools have to be non-toxic and/or have a ASTDM safety rating. Not all fabric paints comply. Check the paints. If it says non-toxic and has the cicrular safety seal I'd think it would be safe even if a baby/toddler chewed on the painted area. Best to have a small design and ask guests to practice on a paper plate first to get the hang of how much pressure to use so you don't have thick globs of paint on the actual shirt/onesie. It works best if you have the paint point at a 45 degree angle with the tip just barely touching the fabric and apply light pressure, moving the pen quickly.

[parkersmama]

My experience is that some of the paints do peel off...particularly the puff paint. I wouldn't think it would be toxic after being washed but might be a choking hazard for a small baby depending on how large a piece came off. I don't think chewing on it would be a problem but I don't really know! :)

[lrg]

Those are great suggestions, Kel! The paint I went out and bought today was just the 3-D shiny stuff in little squeezable bottles. Do you think that would still be very stiff? As long as any one area with paint isn't a large solid area, but either writing or small designs, would that be more comfortable? How does the cardboard make it so stiff? Could I use something else behind it to prevent that? What I bought did say non-toxic, so hopefully that's ok.

[lrg]

Thanks for letting me know that it peels - I got the 3-d shiny stuff - is that what's considered "puff" paint?

[Pipersmamma]

The cardboard isn't what makes it stiff you need something between the front and back of the clothing so that the paint, if it soaks through, won't color the back of the item. You can use folded layers of newspaper too. The paint dries stiff, so if you were to use paintbrushes or a finger and spread it out, it would be stiff.
There is puffy paint that you iron and the design rises up and it can be peeled off with fingernails easily. If you stick to the shiny, slick kind and try to apply a thin layer (not raised up- you can do this by having the bottle touching the fabric and not be up above the fabric so it comes out slower) it should not be able to be peeled off.
Hope this helps!

[kwc]

I've actually done this for all 4 baby showers I've thrown (and my daughter still wears the onesies that were decorated at her shower). Our family members hate games so this is our main activity (besides eating and opening presents)... it has worked out much better than our other projects (quilts, blankets, scrapbooks, etc.).
We've tried puffy paint, glitter paint, fabric pens, stencils, stamps, iron-ons.
Yes, the craft store has a lot of my money.

My advice:
Skip the puffy paint and glitter paint and paint "pens". Even if supposedly nontoxic, they do peel off, are hard to control on fabric and take a long time to dry and many designs end up getting smeared (some of our cutest ones got really smeared).
And yes, my kid would definitely chew on it.

We've had the best luck with the regular fabric paints (in little pots) from Michael's used with small brushes, stencils and stencil "spongers", and small "fabric stamps." If you keep encouraging your guests that "less is more," then there is not too much paint and the shirt isn't very stiff. My personal favorites are the ones that had a single small design on the front or back, on maybe just on the tush of the onesie.
We also have a few pens standing by, but many of my family members are a bit intimidated by "freestyling it" so they prefer stencils and stamps (though stamps take some practice to get the right amount of paint and to stamp it before it dries).
Iron-on appliques have also been very popular but they are stiff and sometimes peel off later... my DD loves to chew on the one she has with little appliques which I keep ironing back on (never thought I would IRON her onesies!).

Definitely have cardboard or old magazines to stuff the onesies to prevent bleed through.
We also use a clothesline and clothespins to hang/ display (and dry!) the finished onesies... very cute
I also like to wash the onesies first (used reg. detergent, extra rinse, no fabric softener) so the paint sticks better and you don't have to account for shrinkage.

JoAnns and Michael's have pretty much all you need, though sometimes the stuff is spread out over many different sections (e.g, stencils can be in fabric crafts, scrapbooking, and wall stencil/ art sections).

Enjoy!

Karen

[czollmann]

Another idea that we did at my shower for my 1st DS was using the fabric paint to decorate cloth diapers, which I used as burp cloths. They used the nice thick ones, and they are so great. They turned out so cute and because they are bigger and have one side that you can keep blank for the actual burping/wiping up, people were able to use the entire other side for their design and most also signed it so I know who they are from. I am still using them now with my second DS 2 1/2 years later and they have been washed ALOT! At first sometimes the paint would stick to itself in the dryer from the heat but I was able to pull it apart and no paint has ever come off of any of them. Now after many washes that doesn't happen in the dryer anymore.

I think the onsies are a great idea too!


Carol
mom to
Ben (2/02) & Jack (3/04)