About
Hey there, I'm Caity, the mompreneur behind Hansel's Toybox! I created Hansel's to fill a need for truly natural wooden toys, complete with long lasting food grade finishes.
When my son was born, I began searching for wood toys finished with materials that I felt confident he could play with and mouth while young. As a nutritionist, I worried that some of the toys I found could open my son up for ingesting things that I really didn't want him to be eating such as mineral oil, heavy metals, or acrylic paint.
Ultimately, I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, so I decided to do it myself. I began creating wood toys with natural food grade finishes for my son, and eventually realized, that if this is something I want - Other moms might want it too!
How Do You Make Sure Hansel's Toys Are Natural?
I started by learning about child and toy safe paints, then took it a step further to find naturally created non-toxic options that fit that strict criteria. We use milk paint, and adjust the consistency to create a range of colours and coverage options ranging from stains to opaque coverage.
Then I focused on protecting the paint layer, or sealing the natural wood for longevity. We use a food grade hemp oil. Hemp oil is one of the only food grade options to exist that over several weeks will dry and form a protective layer. This is the longest step in our process, and is the reason why custom orders take 6-8 weeks to create!
Lastly, for some products intended for children over one year of age, we use a natural food grade beeswax to polish the surface, and provide an added layer of water resistance. Products that include this are clearly marked on our website. We do not apply this to toys intended for building (ie. Rainbow Arches) as the smooth texture can reduce the traction required for a solid build.
Hansel's Toybox provides one of a kind toys, and at the end of their life, they're biodegradable. We share these details to be 100% transparent with you, so you can be confident that our toys are the right fit for your family!