Clear Finish for a Tassie Oak Baby's Cot

[digahole78]

Nearly finished building her. Its got a whole load of laminate bending that took a fair while to do so i'll post a full build blog soon.

My questions is whats a suitable clear gloss finish that is ok for bubs?

I've got a tin of Cabots Water Based Carbothane. Is that suitable?

Many thanks for your help.

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Good Morning
Do you know what is in it? If not would you let your baby chew on it in a few months time?
Ask for an ingredient list and see if they will give it to you and if not....why not?
If you wanted something that is baby safe, the Kunos natural oil sealer is suitable. It is certified food safe; is penetrating so does not leave a layer on top and as the baby starts to chew on it later on, you can touch it up. All ingredients are fully declared so you can make an informed decision.
Another thought would be to use the Kunos white, it will give it a timeless look, will not outdate and you will still see the grain of the timber/ply. Just sand off the mark and you are ready to go.

[StuartMcC]

Ha- theres no such thing as a "food grade certification" for timber coatings. Your cabots water based varnish will be fine.

[digahole78]

Thanks for the advice guys. After some advice from our good friends at carbatec i'm going to trial some danish oil and see how its copes with the laminate sections.

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Hi Stuart
What makes you think there isn’t a certification?
We had to have papers specially translated for an organic winery to be able to use it on their timber benches. It all had to go to council and thru the Liquor Licensing Board for prior approval.

[StuartMcC]

Hi Angela, I wasn't aware of any australian food grade coating certification but am happy to be corrected. Who is the authority that issues the certification?

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Hi Stuart
The certification is not from Aus as the Livos products are made in Germany.

[StuartMcC]

Is your certification available for viewing?

[TP1]

Shellac is used as a coating on many pharmaceutical preparations. Based upon that I would have thought it should be safe for use on the crib.

[AngelaPetruzzi]

TP1
Yes, natural shellac is.
Stuart,
Yes of course.

[jamarpa]

bump.

Just getting into finishing and interested in the food grade question as well. Just spent 20+ minutes searching your site Angela and found several references to 'Certified food safe' but could not find the certification. Found various MSDS and TDS pdf's but no certifications. Not attacking, just confused I couldn't find anything. Trust me will be researching your product more, just confused at the moment.

To Livos just like digahole (http://www.woodworkforums.com/members/74506-digahole78/), I couldn't find a certificate for the new ubeaut foodsafe plus product but it also looks good.

Disclaimer: not associated with U-Beaut or Livos and have used neither of their products, yet.

[AngelaPetruzzi]

Fair call. No it is not on the site. It is requested directly by email on many large projects especially for surfaces in public buildings. I can't attach it here as I am on a different comp. Have you seen Neil Scobie's video and his reason for using the products?

[Harry R]

Although safe, shellac is not the most robust finish out there and won't stand up to the rigours of baby teeth. UBeaut's Hard Shellac however does so very well. I made a cot that I finished with this and it held up to the gnawing of two kids exceptionally well.