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PVC-free Ball Pits Balls for Safe Playtime

January 29, 2010 by Alicia  
Filed under Bath Gear and Toys, Polyethylene

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We finally tracked down a couple of PVC-free ball manufacturers after running into way too many toxic brands.  So many companies responded to our inquiries in the same way, “All of our play pit balls are made with non-toxic, phthalate-free PVC.”  Ummmm, right . . .

Not only are many of the balls made from PVC, but all inflatable ball pit toys we researched are made from PVC too.  Our kids are seriously surrounded by it!

Today at the last minute before publishing our guide, we found a gold mine!  We confirmed that Tinker Tots.com carries only PVC-free ball pit balls!  And to top it off, they take care of the secondary worry by offering many non-inflatable ball pits too.  Now that’s our kind of store :)

PVC-free Ball Pits and Balls

TinkerTots.com has several tent-like ball pits like this one, which is the Playhut Magic Ball Zone.  The tent is made from polyester with nylon bindings, mesh, polyethylene floor and comes with 100 3″ polyethylene balls.  They also sell Crush Proof Commercial Color Balls and Commercial Clear Balls separately.

We spoke the makers of the Giga Tent Ball Pit Playhouse and confirmed that the tent itself is made with durable polyester walls and a polyethylene floor and it comes with 36 polyethylene balls.  You can purchase it from MyChildPlayhouses.com.

BallPoolBalls.com sells 3″ balls made from polyethylene in many different colors and quantities.

As always, we’ll continue to add more safe alternatives as we locate them.

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  • Lisa
    I contacted Playhut about the play balls they make. Here is the response I received.

    Hi Lisa,

    I apologize for not responding sooner, but the balls we use are made of polypropylene and have been tested to surpass government requirements for phathalates. Although we don’t use PVC, the material itself is not harmful as long as it was produced correctly and can pass government regulations as well. I hope that helps answer your questions.

    Regards,

    John
  • Victoria
    sorry my post is so late, but does anyone know if the flame retardant fabric is treated with a flame retardant or just the type of fabric is flame retardant by nature?
  • Jenny Wu
    Hi - Are you sure TinkerTots.com only carries PVC-free ball pit balls? I am a little confused because one reviewer on amazon.com mentioned that the Playhut 100 pack balls are made of PVC. And, many reviewers commented that the quality of 100 pack balls is cheaper than the original balls that come with the ball pit. When I checked the info on tinkertots.com, these are the info:

    The balls for the Playhut Magic Ball Zone:
    100 3" non-toxic polyethelene balls

    The Playhut 100 Magic Balls Pack:
    I100-3" diameter plastic balls

    I bought the Playhut Magic Ball Zone, but I can't decide whether to buy the extra 100 balls from Playhut because of the possibility of PVC material. Please share your knowledge with me. Thanks
  • Hi Jenny - as mentioned above, we spoke with TinkerTots directly to confirm that they carry only PVC-free balls, so that's all the info we have for you. If you're still uncomfortable that TinkerTots has mislabeled their product listing and given us incorrect info, you may want to contact the manufacturer of Playhut products directly to confirm. You can find their contact info on their website at http://www.playhut.com/custServ.html
  • Michael
    Hi - We actually bought some of these Intex Phthalate free balls for our daughter to use in our Graco pack-in-play.

    Can someone help me fully understand the safety of these balls. Is the concern with PVC primarily an environmental one associated with its manufacture/disposal , or are there some concerns with their use as well?

    Obviously, we're concerned about the environment and the prevalence of PVC's, but the most pressing question for us right now is can our daughter safely play with these pit balls or not?
  • Hi Michael - we recommend against using PVC for children's products because it is inherently toxic. For example lead is often used as a stabilizer and a due to its chlorinated makeup, the entire life cycle of vinyl is responsible for the formation of more dioxin (a known carcinogen) than any other single product (http://earth911.com/plastic/pvc/benefits-of-rec...). PVC is also known to harbor various other volatile organic compounds (http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html).

    While we understand that PVC is everywhere, we recommend avoiding it whenever possible. We were thrilled to find alternatives to PVC balls for parents who haven't already invested in a ball pit.
  • Katharine
    Thank you! Filing this away... You motivated me to start looking into those outdoor plastic houses - I'll be sending that question to you soon!
  • Hi Katharine - glad to help! We've begun checking into the outdoor playhouses and as long as they're made from hard plastic, they are mostly made from polypropylene (like the Little Tikes products). It was a nice surprise to find a group of products that are generally safe!
  • amievetter
    I found these ball pit balls on Amazon.com that claim to be Phthalate free by Intex
    http://www.amazon.com/Intex-Phthalate-Free-Vers...
    Do you know anything about these?

    They also have Phthalate free bouncers for the balls
    http://www.amazon.com/Intex-Phthalate-Jump-O-Le...
  • Hi amievetter - we checked out several products that were specifically labeled as phthalate-free and every one of them was been made from PVC. It may still be worth your while to call the manufacturer and double check though.
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