Did cleaning my old plastic toys make them unsafe?
Another “if you don’t want them I’ll take them” here … I’ll even pay you to ship them to me. I let my own son play with vintage FP toys all the time, without concern. I’d be very, very, very surprised if any of the old Fisher Price toys have lead paint, but if you’re concerned about that there are good lead testing kits on the market. I am actually far more concerned about new FP toys testing positive for lead than I am for any of the vintage ones doing so. There is a persistent rumor that the original Little People were discontinued by FP in 1991 due to concerns over them being a choking hazard (they do not, in fact, pass the “toilet paper tube test”) but I can’t find anything to back that up on line. It may be the FP just voluntarily changed the design. Solid plastic: I wouldn’t worry at all. Plastic heads/wooden bodies or wood head/wood bodies: I’d be more concerned re: germs and/or splinters than any damage done from the Magic Eraser. But, again, if you don’t want them Mefi mail
Get a lead testing kit, and make sure they aren’t lead-bearing. Old plastic toys are done out-gassing any fumes, and probably aren’t yet decomposing. Magic eraser is extremely fine grit, so I wouldn’t be concerned. Also, I’d dole them out. Toddlers can’t really deal with a lot of new input. Let them sit for a while in a sunny spot, which kills germs. You’ll really enjoy sharing these toys w/ your child, so the child gets double the benefit; new toys & engaged parent. Everybody wins.
My uneducated guess is that Fisher-Price toys from 30 years ago are probably just as safe as anything coming out of China today. My toddler plays with a bunch of metal cars and trucks and planes that were my dad’s toys when he was a kid in the 50’s. I’m sure they’re not perfectly “safe” since I bet there’s at least a bit of lead there, but, hell, you gotta live a little. We encourage him not to chew on them. My parents grew up in an era of lead paint, x-ray machines in shoe stores, leaded gasoline and handling mercury with their bare hands. We’re an order of magnitude safer than they were (literally…blood lead levels of kids today are about a tenth of what they were in the 70’s). Lead is also much more dangerous when breathed than when eaten. Handling lead paint is almost entirely harmless. I’m not saying lead is safe, but I _am_ saying you shouldn’t freak out because in general the world is becoming a safer place.
