Primary colour wood dye/stains

[Auldfart2010]

I'm going Google blind looking for coloured stain or dye that I can use for toys etc.  There are tons of natural wood colours but very little in the way of primary colours. Is water based more likely to fade compared to spirit based? I'm on a tight budget and will only be using it on a casual basis. Is 100ml bottle enough for small projects?

[Twisted Trees]

You probably won't find primary colour stain, they are designed to blend with the wood and show the grain so the underlying timber will change the actual colour. Once dry there is little difference in water or spirit base, water usually gives you more application time. but if you want primary colours you really need to be looking at a paint. There are many toy safe acrylic paints about.

[julcle]

Get yourself a sample set from Chestnut products and have a play with them, there is lots of information on their website about toysafe and food safe products and Terry is very helpful with email contacts. The same applies with Martin Saben-Smith at the woodturning shop.

[Bill21]

Several companies sell them, like these from Chestnut. You can also use fabric dyes.

[Wood spinner]

Several companies sell them, like these from Chestnut. You can also use fabric dyes.

Rainbow ? I see no Rainbow colour ?

[Bill21]

Rainbow ? I see no Rainbow colour ?

The OP asked for Primary Colours, are not Red, Yellow and Blue Primary colours?

[willstewart]

For toys I found it impossible to get absolute guarantees of safety.  My solution was to use food dyes - easy to get in bright primary colours and easy to overcoat with child-approved coatings.

[Bill21]

For toys I found it impossible to get absolute guarantees of safety.  My solution was to use food dyes - easy to get in bright primary colours and easy to overcoat with child-approved coatings.

I believe there are minimum recommended sizes for children’s toys? I suppose this is to prevent them putting things in their mouths. That being the case how would they ingest wood stain? I’ve not heard of “Child approved coatings” only food safe?

[Les Symonds]

For toys I found it impossible to get absolute guarantees of safety.  My solution was to use food dyes - easy to get in bright primary colours and easy to overcoat with child-approved coatings.

There are specialist suppliers of paints and finishes for toys which meet the requirements of the "Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011". For example, Earthborn Paints. https://earthbornpaints.co.uk/paint-suitable-for-childrens-toys-and-furniture/

[Sandy]

Thank you Les, hadn't heard of these guys.

[Chestnut Products]

Late to the party as always...

Ours aren't true primary colours, and officially we call them 'Rainbow Colours Plus' - it just gives us a good, collective name. The stains are fully intermixable to give an even wider range of possibilities.

The relevant test for toy safe products is Part 3 of BS EN-71, which covers coatings for toys and nursery furniture. Many of our products are tested to this, and we can provide certificates proving their suitability.

Stains need to have a coating over them to seal them in. As long as the top coat is toy safe, covers all of the stain and cannot be removed or broken away, the stain below does not need to be tested for toy safety.