Crib Coat
Dear Suzy,
I have a baby crib that I need to paint. Is it okay to use an alkyd enamel? It is a new paint can so I assume it is lead free. Some people recommended using a latex, but isn’t latex water soluble and hence can’t the baby slobber it off? My sister-in-law is coming to visit with twins in a week, so please let me know what you know, otherwise if it is not ready by then my wife will chew me out.
The crib might have a latex paint coating already. If so, do I need to prime it if I use the enamel? I will of course be sanding, and will be giving the crib time to air out. Thanks. — Marcus F.
Dear Marcus,
I know a little about paint, but nothing about babies. Even though I was one, I’ve tried to erase that helpless, co-dependent phase of my life from my mind. But I do recall a little white chest of drawers I once squatted alongside, scratching designs in the white paint, which chipped off easily using nothing more than my spongy finger nail to reveal the green paint below. I’m sure I swallowed a few of those paint flakes. This was around 1963, when lead was probably required in paints so the Lead Union Workers wouldn’t lose their jobs. And look at me, I’m just fine — except for not having a sense of smell and suffering from chronic tonsillitis for about 15 years and that nervous tick and forgetting my grandmother’s maiden name or what I did last Saturday and bursting into tears during AT&T commercials.
My friend Celia went into a frenzy of painting baby furniture before Madeline was born. I know she used oil-based paints on the wildly colored high chair and it seems to be withstanding the wrath of Hurricane Maddy for these last three years. And Maddy seems okay. (She is a little… how shall I put this?… ummm… high-spirited, but I think her father’s gene pool fully explains this.)
But enough of my anecdotal evidence. I talked with Jeff Robinson of the EPA, and while he didn’t have “any strong recommendations” on paints, he was concerned about the current finish on the crib. If the crib is over 20 years old, it could be coated with lead-laced paint. This is very bad, especially if it’s chipping off or you strip it and sand it, creating a toxic dust that can never be fully removed except by bored, drooling babies.
Robinson did think a high quality enamel paint would be better than latex since latex tends to “chalk.” If you do use latex, make sure it’s high gloss.
Too scary? Bad answers? Maybe Uncle Marcus should get busy weaving a nice, safe hammock of organic cotton for the duo bundles of joy.
Send me a bundle of joy in the form of a question to: Suzebe@aol.com or PO Box 49066, Austin, 78765.
This article appears in May 2 • 1997 and May 2 • 1997 (Cover).