apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Just joined the facebook group and signed the online petition.

Unfortunately slapping on a "not for children under 12" label won't protect you from this law, since they saw that loophole coming early. Anything that "is commonly recognized by consumers as being intended for use by a child 12 years of age or younger" counts as a product for children. That's taken directly from the CPSC's site.

Thank you so much for posting about this!

I myself have only recently decided to start my dream of having a home craft business selling handmade plush toys. I have an etsy shop online (what handmade artist doesn't nowadays?), consign my items in a shop that specializes in selling handmade goods from local artisans, and participate in the occasional local craft show. My business has just started to pick up...I'd hate to see it die before it even really got started. This new law, if left unchanged and unedited, would destroy that dream by making it impossible for me to do any sort of business at all. I am not a huge, mass market company that makes thousands upon thousands of dollars a year. I am a housewife trying to make a little extra income in this time of impending economic stress. And I can't imagine how this Act, left unchanged, would effect someone who makes their living off of selling their handmade toys/clothes.
I use clean recycled clothes, storebought fabric, polyfill, and other simple materials bought from fabric/craft stores that I'm sure have already been tested for their safety before they get to the store, due to the fact that the fabric/thread/ etc. is being sold with the intent of someone using it to handmake clothing/blankets/toys.

People buy handmade things because they trust the idea of an item being handmade. Think about the term...HAND-made. If there was something dangerous in the materials, wouldn't you think that the HANDS that MADE it would be the ones to be in danger first?

DUH!

What were these idiots thinking when they made this snap decision? All I can say is tht they'd better fix it or there's going to be a lot of very pissed off artisans and crafters. Even if this law is unchanged by the time it goes into effect in February...I don't think any of us are willing to let this go.

(sorry...I'm done venting now)

The CPSC has published a clarification:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html

Quote:
The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.

The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.

Are you kidding me? My kids both go to a Waldorf school, which believes in nothing but handmade, natural toys (made with wood, wool, cotton, silk etc--no plastic etc). These are made largely by small artisans who no doubt will find this law catastrophic. Leave it to the bureaucrats to kills the one of the best sources of safe, sustainably-made, and beautiful toys around. I'm sure Mattel, however, will survive just fine. The irony is just slaying me! Thanks for the heads up --