Replies

1. 
   Gretchen | Mar 29, 2009 03:06pm | #1

   Is it already white paint? You don't really need anything else on it. All finishes when cured are baby safe now.

   Gretchen
1. 
   BruceS | Mar 29, 2009 03:24pm | #2

   By our "US standards"  the white paint should be perfectly safe.  BUT,  Who knows what can come out of China !!  They sure don't care. And sadly our inspection departments are way under staffed.

   I would be tempted to get a lead test kit, if I were that worried.   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

2. 
   finicky1 | Mar 29, 2009 09:56pm | #3

   hi, it's actually a pigmented lacquer that's what i should of said when i said white. and it's got a vinyl undercoater. i always thought  that once cured lacquer was safe, but i'm second guessing this for some reason.

   thanks                finicky

2. 
   integrity_woodworks | Mar 30, 2009 10:06am | #4

   finicky, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO lacquers are baby safe in particular the ones with added hardners(catalist). Baby's chew things like cribs,and this includes opaque lacquers(your white lacquer) .also opaque lacquers only need top coats if they will see heavy use......If It helps I went to school for this ,twice actually. the best choice for a white crib is food save paint.

1. 
   finicky1 | Mar 30, 2009 10:33am | #5

   hey thanks for that, i thought i would need a clear over it, i guess my question should be what clear should i use. i wanted to put a gloss clear over my satin anyway so any recomendation on whats going to be safe?

   thanks                                  finicky

   also in your response you said lacquers are baby safe? typo?

    

   Edited 3/30/2009 3:36 am ET by finicky1

1. 
   integrity_woodworks | Mar 30, 2009 05:57pm | #6

   actully I said (NO) lacquers are baby safe, or maybe I it should have been ,there are no baby safe lacquers . as for a top coat ,sounds like it is already white so I should be the harder the better ,so post cat.I would keep a good I around teething time. and wait as long as i could before having a baby sleep in it,lacquers gas off for a few months.

   Happy finishing Dan

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 30, 2009 06:35pm | #7

   Basically all clear finishes, including lacquers, are baby safe once dried or cured.  The ingredients, including cross linkers, that are toxic when in solution, are bound into the dried resin so that they don't leach out in sufficient quantity to harm anyone. 

   I am less confident in being able to say that all finishes are as safe, though the significantly toxic pigments such as lead, have been banned.  Still to have ill effects from toxic pigments, the resins binding them to the surface still have to break down. 

   Still in the scheme of things I think you run a greater risk of dropping a baby on it's head than of damage from US finishes.  Yes, we want to avoid risk as much as possible, but the measures we take to avoid them should be proportionate to the chance of harm. 

1. 
   integrity_woodworks | Mar 31, 2009 06:57am | #8

   That is interesting. I must show this to my respiatory therapist freind who was visiting from the US in november.He works  with children and was sharing info on several cases he has dealt with that where directlly linked to infants exposed to such finishs,as he knows I was a spray finisher for many years, he knew I would be interested.... So when is a lacquer finish fully cured according to you sir?

   Dan

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 31, 2009 07:37am | #9

   Ordinary NC lacquer doesn't cure--it's purely an evaporative finish so it will have very little evaporation after a few days--call it a week.  As soon as you start adding catalysts and the like, which is likely the case with just about all modern "lacquers", there is a chemical cure going on, and in general a month should, by all accounts, handle it, assuming normally warm temperatures for curing. 

   Doctors "directly link" lots of things, but unless there are statistically controlled  studies, published in peer reviewed journals, which I doubt have been published, (shall we test this unknown chemical on your well baby?)  they are just guessing.  Ie. child has rare disease, child has a new crib, therefore must be the finish on the crib.  If epidemilogical studies have been done, then we would have been hearing about such things in news reports. 

   Applying finishes is a whole different story.  In liquid stage we are often talking about toxic solvents.  But, they are quite volatile.  No one doubts the necessity of taking strong protective measures for folks applying these finishes. 

3. 
   finicky1 | Mar 31, 2009 07:53am | #10

   steve, thank you. that is what i have been taught about finishes as well. about 72 hours for gas off,and about 30 days for total cure, then everything is bound. i personaly don't know enough about the different types of finishes to be an authority so thought i would ask people who are, (before i kill my niece). thanks again, i am now comfortable finishing what i originaly  started off to do. and thanks to everyone for their input, i always enjoy different point of views.   finicky.

4. 
   integrity_woodworks | Mar 31, 2009 09:39am | #11

   thank you , then atleast we agree that dry. , and cured are two different things. as I was confused by your  last post to me. that said the finishs are safe once dry or cured as if they are the same. I still agree with what I learned in school and from the chemical control offices of Canada  (who have tested and studied these materials), who say they off gas for about three months,plus just because you have not seen something in the news yet ,does not mean you won't in the future.

   I'm just saying I would'nt use it ,and I know full well what it is like while being sprayed .If you think someone is more likelly to drop there baby on there head, then for that baby to chew on its lacquered crib during teething . then thats your right. I diagree and that is mine.

   Edited 3/31/2009 2:43 am ET by woodguydan

5. 
   Gretchen | Mar 31, 2009 10:12pm | #12

   I have never had a child to chew on a crib. Never had a grandchild chew on a crib.  I have dropped a child--scared me s  t less!!

    Gretchen