Wonderful update at the
bottom of the page!
In 2008, a new law called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement
Act went into effect. This law was apparently written after a Christmas
season when many toys with
lead paint (most of them imported from China) showed up on the American market.
Understandably, people wanted to make sure this was avoided in the future - so they
made a law regulating lead content in children's products and requiring testing
to prove those products were safe - and they rushed it through.
Unfortunately, the law was written so broadly applying to ALL children's
products, and with no exclusions for small
businesses, so that the small home seamstress or maker of children's toys was put
into the same category and given the same restrictions as large factories making
plastic toys overseas. Many small business owners stood up and asked the
government to change this law. If nothing else, at least to allow small businesses
to rely on the component parts testing rather than having to do testing of their
own. This testing portion of the law was due to be enforced beginning in February 2009.
You see, as the law stood, someone like me, using fabric, buttons, thread,
elastic, and laces - even if the manufacturers of those component parts had
already certified them as lead free - would have to have each individual "lot"
tested. A "lot" is defined as a group of absolutely identical items. So, since
I often make one of a kind items, they would each individually have to be tested.
Even a short sleeved dress, a jumper, and a pair of bloomers all made of the same
exact materials, would have to be tested individually. When my cost to make a pair
of bloomers is about $10 and they are sold on my website for about $15, and now they
want to require a test that as far as I can figure out, would cost around $50 to $75 per
area to be tested, that doesn't work out very well as you can probably imagine.
Fortunately, at the last minute, the CPSA passed a one year "stay" of the
testing requirement portion of the law. Small business owners were now allowed
to "use common sense" and as long as we were reasonably certain that our products
were within the maximum lead standards, we could continue to sell them without
having them tested - until February of 2010.
Unfortunately, although small business owners like me have been praying that the
extra year would give them time to change the law, that outcome is looking less
and less likely.
Yet, God does not allow anything to come into our lives that He does not intend
to use for great and wonderful good, right? In the process of researching this
law and its ramifications for Daddy's Little Princess, I found that there was
an exemption for totally natural materials - cotton, wool, wood, etc. Of course
as soon as you add dyes to your cotton or wool, that exemption no longer holds true.
But I started looking for natural organic cotton cloth - and I found something
beautiful!
It's called colorgrown cotton. Did you know that cotton doesn't just grow white?
It grows in a wide variety of shades through the green and brown spectrums. I've
even heard it grows in a pinkish color in some places, though I haven't found a
way to get a hold of any pink. :) I did however find a wonderful variety of
ginghams, stripes, and lovely patterns all woven from this green, brown, and cream,
colorgrown cotton. No dyes - no chemicals - just completely natural organic
cotton. I ordered some and have been doing some experimenting this year.
I have really fallen in love with it.
I must admit these fabrics are more expensive than the fabrics that I've been using
over the last several years - almost 3 times the
cost in many cases. But the cost of the materials will still be less than the
cost that all the testing would be. In the meantime, I can stay in business, bringing
you modest and feminine clothing that lets your little girls be little girls.
Plus I have a product that is
completely 100% natural, hypo-allergenic, an example of good stewardship of the
earth God has given us - - and did I mention gorgeous? ;)
WONDERFUL UPDATE: On Dec. 17, 2009, the CPSA decided to extend the stay for the testing requirements
one more year, until February of 2011. Not only that, but in looking at their updated
website, it appears that their new standards for exemptions includes fabrics, both
dyed and undyed. If this means what I think it means, I will be able to continue
business as usual indefinitely. I have to do some more research to be positive, but
either way, we have one more year for sure. :) I will have both organic and
non-organic items available for now, so there will be options. I hope you will be
able to try out and enjoy the dresses made of these new, wonderful fabrics.
God bless you,
~ Heidi