# Children's furniture finish & toxicity



## williamchall (Oct 25, 2007)

Hey all, my brother refinished a crib with Minwax® PolyShades®. I'm concerned about its toxicity. I've read that shellac is great for children's furniture because it's non-toxic when cured. What about this PolyShades product? Is it a concern. If it is, can he put shellac over that to deal with the issue or should he strip it and use only shellac. Thanks!


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## mski (Jul 3, 2007)

Most finish is nontoxic when cured, unless you got some very old or Chineese stuff with lead.(in the driers)
Covering unsafe material with shellac will not help if the child chews the crib.
I used Minwax stain and poly on my daughters table and chairs. 
If you are worried get the MSDS info from Minwax.
I also used Salad Bowl Finish on some cutting boards we made, It is 1/3 varnish, boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits.
In this age of law suits and Attorneys I'm sure a company like Minwax would have in BOLD writing not safe for childrens furniture!


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## williamchall (Oct 25, 2007)

Cool, I didn't know about the MSDS info. Here's the one for PolyShades:

http://www2.itap.purdue.edu/msds/docs/1731.pdf

Thanks for the info!


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## mski (Jul 3, 2007)

When I researched this when I made my daughter's furniture 5 or 6 years ago I was paranoid also, another thing that relates to the covering of a finish with shellac is that they banned lead in the 70's, so if your home is older than that you know that most people have scuffed and painted over the original paint in and out of the house, so the paint that is underneath from before that era is dangerous to eat or breath when sanded.
So that being said you should be more worried about old paint in the house than modern finishes nowdays
(I wouldn't trust off brands from some overseas Co's)
Interesting though is most lead danger is from lead in the pigment (color) of paint not clear finish, there is alot and it tastes good, driers only have a minute amount, but it is all banned in the USA.
Also when you get a MSDS from a company you have to get the MSDS for the drier they use to see what that is.
But nowdays just relax


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## jrm (Mar 20, 2007)

All the finishes available to the consumer are non toxic when cured (not dry) for varnish this usually takes 30 days or more. If this is a concern in the future remember most of the shellac used in the USA is used as a time release coating in the drug (legal) industry. Shellac is ,or was, used to coat M&M candies.

Regards

Jerry


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## mski (Jul 3, 2007)

"All the finishes available to the consumer are non toxic when cured " 
I would not say ALL, All from reputable companies, be carefull in WalMart ,99 cent store and the like.


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## williamchall (Oct 25, 2007)

Awesome, thank you all for the great responses.


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