Bibs, Bibs, Bibs

Hi Everyone! Niki here.

The topic of bibs doesn't really seem like an exciting topic worthy of a blog, but if you are a mom with a baby just learning how to feed himself, bibs are actually worthy of a discussion.

Most of the bibs out there are made of cotton with a vinyl protective coating, enabling you to just wash them with a sponge and always reuse the same bib. Great! You can save TONS of water because you are avoiding using cotton bibs that need to get washed in the laundry after every use. However, this is not a good alternative because they use a VINYL (i.e. PVC!) coating which is, as we all already know, an extremely toxic material.

In my former product development life, I had done a lot of research trying to find an environmentally friendly alternative to the plastic coatings out there, trying to make fragile fabrics more durable. I was never able to find a great alternative, especially not on a mass-production level.

Well, this problem has been solved by a woman named Pia Andersson.

She started a company called Mimi the Sardine.

Their cotton fabric is treated with acrylic to make it permanently water and soil resistant. Their acrylic coating is water based and contains no chlorines. The cloth meets the Oeko-tex 100 Standard which is an ecological certification that means the fabric does not contain chemicals or components harmful to the consumers health. The fabric is made in EU (European Union) and then their products are manufactured in San Francisco. They also make aprons, lunch bags and table covers. You can even buy the fabric by the yard. Their patterns are all vibrant and fun!

Oh...and look how happy my little man is in his Mimi the Sardine Bib!

And let me just note that I have hand washed this bib at least 100 times and it is still in great shape! It doesn't look like the coating is wearing off at all!

Happy Messy Eating!

niki