I’ll admit, when I started the journey of having my own products manufactured, I had no idea about all of the stringent testing requirements in order to be able to sell them in the US. While this ended up being a costly learning experience, it ultimately gave me peace of mind as a brand-owner as well as a mom knowing just what goes into testing products for safety. All of our Boppabug branded products have been thoroughly tested by an independent laboratory to ensure that they are safe for your kiddos and that they meet or exceed all safety guidelines set out by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSA).
So, what exactly does this testing entail? It depends on the product and its use, though there are commonalities across all baby and children’s products. While all of my products underwent similar testing, let’s take the snack cup as an example. Once my snack cup manufacturing was complete, I had several of each color sent to an independent laboratory.
Each of these cups were thoroughly tested to ensure they met the following guidelines:
-Physical and mechanical tests:
-
Evaluation of any sharp points, sharp metal, or glass edges in toys and other articles intended for use by children under 8 years of age.
-
Evaluation of small parts in products intended for use by children under 3 years which may present choking, aspiration, or ingestion hazards.
-
Physical and mechanical tests to ensure durability including impact test, bite test, flexure test, torque test, tension test, and compression test.
-
Evaluation of flammability.
-Testing for any trace of lead in any material on the product.
-Testing for any trace of 8 different phthalates in any material on the product.
-Additionally, the lab verified that I had necessary tracking information on my product and packaging so that consumers can identify the manufacturer, distributor, and production run that their specific product came from.
Phew! Once everything came back clear (and it did!), my products were ready for sale.
This is a process I repeated for each of my products. With this comes the confidence that I am selling the highest-quality, safest products for your kids. As always, I won’t sell something that I would not be 100% comfortable using for my own children.