Product Safety

Product Safety

Flat Friends® Cares About Your Safety

All our products undergo very strict quality testing that complies with International Standards including:

Country/Region Testing Criteria
UN ISO 8124
China (GB 19865), GB 6675
EU EN 71, EN 62115
USA CPSC, ASTM, F963
Germany (DIN EN 71), (DIN EN 62115)
Canada Hazardous (Toys) Products Act
Japan ST 2002
Australia and New Zealand AS/NZS ISO 8124

Our Flat Friends® products are tested by professional testing organisations using the highest and most stringent tests, which covers all requirements set by the countries listed in the table above.

The tests were conducted for product safety for new born babies. Even our Flat Friends® products that are marked suitable for age three years plus have been tested as safe for new born babies. However, we mark them three years plus because the toys are not suitable for new born babies.

All tests have come back with a pass for safety for new born babies.

Your safety is very important. We want you, your baby and child to enjoy every moment with your Flat Friend® and to be delighted with beautiful memories that you cherish.

Our safety tests include:

  • Mechanical tests: drop, torque, tension, and compression;
    • Eyes and nose passed all tests and are safe.
    • We use safety plastic eyes and nose which is fused at a high temperature making it very hard to remove the eyes and nose.
    • All accessories including eyes and nose are tested with machines using very strong pressure and the eyes and nose did not shatter or come off the soft toy.
  • Burn and flammability tests;
    • Fleece, fabric and all accessories passed high temperature flame and burn tests.
  • Toxicity in dyes used for the fleece, fabric and accessories;
    • All dyes are safe and there was no trace of any heavy metals or toxic elements.
    • o Our Flat Friends® Products are very safe for new born babies, this includes all saliva tests.
  • Quality checks are conducted in the buying of the raw material, accessories, dyeing, making and when the product is finished. Each product has a batch code.

Safety Information by Category

Lambskin Soft Toys

Our Flat Friend® Lambskin/Sheepskin Soft Toy Baby Comforters have been around since 1996. Many babies have grown up with their Flat Friend®. These babies and parents have taught us a lot about our Flat Friend® Lambskin/Sheepskin Soft Toy. What many parents have said to us is; “My baby can’t do without their Flat Friend® and this why I purchased a second Flat Friend®.” We have found that babies become very attached to their Flat Friend®, resulting in parents buying a second as a back-up and these babies grow into children who love the animal associated with their Flat Friend®. This is our reward for creating a soft toy using 100% Australian Premium Dense Soft and Luxurious Lambskin or Sheepskin Fleece with no stuffing, which is pure fur and leather and all natural with excellent tactile properties.

Over the years we have refined the making of our lambskin/sheepskin soft toys:

  • The skin and fur is tanned using environmentally safe chemicals.
  • After tanning and drying the raw skin and fur, the lambskin/sheepskin is checked by hand to remove any leftover grass seeds and impurities.
  • Safe vegetable dyes with no toxic elements are used to dye the fur into the different colours we need for the animals in our range.
  • Safe dyes are used to dye the threads used for sewing.
  • Safety strong plastic eyes and nose is fused using high temperature and special machines to ensure that the eyes and nose do not come off, break or shatter.
  • Our Flat Friend® Lambskin/Sheepskin Soft Toys are hand cut and hand stitched to make a detailed and beautiful soft toy for you.

We want children to love animals and use accessories and colours that will give the soft toy the detail to easily identify the animal. We make our flat two-dimensional animal lambskin/sheepskin soft toys cute, friendly and cuddly.

Our Lambskin/Sheepskin Soft Toys undergo rigorous tests conducted by a certified professional toy testing organisation. These organisations follow the regulations for safety requirements for use by new born babies by the countries listed in our table at the top of this page.

Lambskin/Sheepskin soft toys are tested for:

  • All surface burning and flammability tests showed that the fleece, threads and accessories did not burn at high temperatures.
  • All toxicity tests conducted for traces of heavy metals and dangerous elements showed that these were not present. All dyes used are safe.
  • All mechanical and physical tests showed that our lambskin/sheepskin soft toys are safe and passed every test.
  • Eyes and nose were tested using industrial grade machines that applied high;
    • Torque to remove the eyes and nose and these could not be removed.
    • Compression to break, smash shatter the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not break or shatter.
    • Tension to break and remove the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not come off, break or shatter.
    • The plastic eyes and nose are safe.

Animal Hand Puppets

Our Flat Friend® Animal Hand Puppets have been around since 2006, and many children have grown up with their Flat Friend®. Parents have told us; “Our little boy/girl, loves their puppet and takes it everywhere with them.” And “We love your Flat Friend® Animal Hand Puppets because they are friendly, cuddly and fun.” Parents are even willing to go on a wait list paying for an Animal Hand Puppet in advance when we run out or have a new line about to be launched, because they love our Flat Friend Animal Hand® Puppets so much!

Over the years we have refined the making of our Animal Hand Puppets.

  • We choose premium quality polyester soft and luxurious fabric that feels great to touch and resembles the animal colours in a friendly and loving way.
  • We use safe dyes with no heavy metal or toxic elements to dye the fabric, thread and any accessories used.
  • The strong plastic eyes and nose are fused using high temperature and special machines to ensure that the eyes and nose do not come off, break or shatter.
  • We use light fluffy stuffing to fill the Animal Hand Puppet to make it easier and nicer to hold and manipulate. The stuffing was tested and passed all tests.
  • The style allows a large male adult hand to fit through the body into the two front arms, head and mouth.
  • Our Animal Hand Puppets are hand cut and stitched, using beautiful accessories that define the animal.

Making our animal hand puppets look cuddly, friendly and loving is important for us, because we want children to love and respect animals.

Our Animal Hand Puppets undergo rigorous tests conducted by a professional toy testing organisation. These organisations follow the regulations set as safe for new born babies by the countries listed in the table on the top of this page. Although our Flat Friend® Animal Hand Puppet Soft Toys have passed safety tests for new born babies, we label them suitable for age three years plus. Please only use these puppets with children who are three years plus, do not put them with babies or toddlers younger than three years.

Animal Hand Puppets are tested for:

  • All surface burning and flammability tests showed that the fleece, threads and accessories did not burn at high temperatures.
  • All toxicity tests conducted for traces of heavy metals and dangerous elements showed that these were not present. All dyes used are safe.
  • All mechanical and physical tests showed that our Animal Hand Puppets are safe and passed every test.
  • Eyes and nose were tested using industrial grade machines that applied high;
    • Torque to remove the eyes and nose and these could not be removed.
    • Compression to break, smash shatter the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not break or shatter.
    • Tension to break and remove the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not come off, break or shatter.
    • The plastic eyes and nose are safe.

Animal Finger Puppets

Our Flat Friend® Animal Finger Puppets have been around since 2006, and many children have grown up with their Flat Friend®. Parents have told us; “Your Flat Friend Finger Puppets are soft, cuddly and easy to pack when we travel.” And “Our little boy/girl are entertained for hours by their puppet” And “We love the detail in your finger puppets.”

Over the years we have refined the making of our Animal Finger Puppets.

  • We choose premium quality polyester soft and luxurious fabric that feels great to touch and resembles the animal colours in a friendly and loving way.
  • We use safe dyes with no heavy metal or toxic elements to dye the fabric, thread and any accessories used.
  • All threads used for embroidery and to sew the finger puppets together have safe dyes.
  • All threads used for embroidery and to sew the finger puppets together have safe dyes.
  • We use light fluffy stuffing to fill the Animal Finger Puppet to make it easier and nicer to hold and manipulate. The stuffing was tested and passed all tests.
  • The style allows a large male adult hand to fit through the body into the two front arms, head and mouth.
  • Our Animal Finger Puppets are hand cut and stitched, using beautiful fabric and accessories that creates a happy and friendly animal for children to love.

Making our Animal Finger Puppets look cuddly, friendly and loving is important for us, because we want children to love and respect animals.

Our Animal Finger Puppets undergo rigorous tests conducted by a professional toy testing organisation. These organisations follow the regulations set as safe for new born babies by the countries listed in the table on the top of this page. Although our Flat Friend® Animal Finger Puppet Soft Toys have passed safety tests for new born babies, we label them suitable for age three years plus. Please only use these puppets with children who are three years plus, do not put them with babies or toddlers younger than three years.

Animal Finger Puppets are tested for:

  • All surface burning and flammability tests showed that the fleece, threads and accessories did not burn at high temperatures.
  • All toxicity tests conducted for traces of heavy metals and dangerous elements showed that these were not present. All dyes used are safe.
  • All mechanical and physical tests showed that our Animal Finger Puppets are safe and passed every test.
  • Eyes and nose were tested using industrial grade machines that applied high;
    • Torque to remove the eyes and nose and these could not be removed.
    • Compression to break, smash shatter the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not break or shatter.
    • Tension to break and remove the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not come off, break or shatter.
    • The plastic eyes and nose are safe.

Doll Hand Puppets

Our Flat Friend® Doll Hand Puppets have been around since 2006, and many children have grown up with their Flat Friend®. Parents have told us; “Your Flat Friend Doll Hand Puppets are soft, cuddly and lots of fun.” And “Our little boy/girl, loves their puppet, they have undressed them and put some of their own baby clothes on the doll puppet” And “Our child is now talking to us through their puppet” And “Our child now listens to us when we ask them through the puppet to brush their teeth. We love how easy it is to communicate through the puppet.”

Over the years we have refined the making of our Doll Hand Puppets.

  • We choose premium quality polyester soft and luxurious fabric that feels great to touch and resembles human skin colours from around the world.
  • Our threads for embroidery and stitching, and all accessories are carefully selected for safety, quality, colour and strength.
  • The fabric or fur used for hair is safe.
  • We use safe dyes with no heavy metal or toxic elements to dye the fabric, thread and all accessories.
  • All threads used for embroidery and to sew the puppets together have safe dyes.
  • Most of the eyes are embroidered, however from time to time we may use safety strong plastic eyes and nose and when we do we fuse these at high temperature using special machines to ensure that the eyes and nose do not come off, break or shatter.
  • We use light fluffy stuffing to fill the Doll Hand Puppet and foam to make it easier and nicer to hold and manipulate. The stuffing was tested and passed all tests.
  • The style allows a large male adult hand to fit through the body into the two front arms and head.
  • Our Doll Hand Puppets are hand cut and stitched, using beautiful accessories that define the puppet.

We want children to love all children from around the world regardless of background or challenge and making our doll hand puppets look cuddly, friendly and loving is important for us.

Our Doll Hand Puppets undergo rigorous tests conducted by a professional toy testing organisation. These organisations follow the regulations set as safe for new born babies by the countries listed in the table on the top of this page. Although our Flat Friend® Doll Hand Puppets have passed safety tests for new born babies, we label them suitable for age three years plus. Please only use these puppets with children who are three years plus, do not put them with babies or toddlers younger than three years.

Doll Hand Puppets are tested for:

  • All surface burning and flammability tests showed that the fleece, threads and accessories did not burn at high temperatures.
  • All toxicity tests conducted for traces of heavy metals and dangerous elements showed that these were not present. All dyes used are safe.
  • All mechanical and physical tests showed that our Hand Doll Puppets are safe and passed every test.
  • Eyes and nose were tested using industrial grade machines that applied high;
    • Torque to remove the eyes and nose and these could not be removed.
    • Compression to break, smash shatter the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not break or shatter.
    • Tension to break and remove the eyes and nose, and the eyes and nose did not come off, break or shatter.
    • The plastic eyes and nose are safe.

Questions?

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at: enquiries@flatfriends.com.au