Organic and eco-friendly, sustainably produced nursery products are now widely available. Not only do they give your baby the best, chemical-free start to life, but they may also help to combat global warming, and contribute towards saving the planet!

We sell both certified organic and eco-tex standard certified textiles for your baby's nursery. Eco-tex fabrics have been produced to strict environmentally friendly standards and contain no harmful chemicals, they conform to the European oeko-tex 100 babysafe standard. These textiles are the best available for your baby and are equivalent to UK organically certified baby products.

Cotton can be one of the biggest polluters and resource-hungry crops grown on Earth. But its skin-friendly and temperature regulating properties make it one of the best fibres to use for baby products. The nursery industry has embraced organically grown cotton and many products are now certified as being grown in a responsible, chemical-free way.

Bamboo is a relatively new fibre which has been developed to produce silky soft textiles which are particularly suitable for use in the nursery. It has similar temperature regulating properties to cotton, and is easily washable, whilst being a wholly sustainable crop which grows fast and provides income for communities in poor areas of the World. Bamboo plants also absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus helping to combat global warming.

In the UK, wool has been an important textile for over a thousand years. Recently the crop has been developed to provide certified organic products available for nursery manufacturers. One particular use is in the production of organic mattresses, with wool providing a supportive and healthy sleeping surface for babies and children. Wool is particularly prized for its breathable qualities, meaning that it is cool in summer and warm in winter. Other natural fibres such as cashmere and angora are also used in baby products.

Coir and latex are used in the production of organic mattresses. Both of these substances are produced sustainably and provide income for indiginous people in poor countries. Coir is a by-product of the coconut husk, and latex is produced from the sap of rubber trees in countries such as Thailand. These two materials are used in place of petro-chemical derivatives such as plastics, reducing pollution and preserving precious planetary resources.

Many other fibres are being developed to take advantage of sustainable resources and crop by-products, such as soy fibres which are very soft and can be used to produce baby-safe eco-friendly soft toys, for instance. Other fabrics and materials which can be produced organically include linen and hemp, silk and kapok.

In addition to the soft furnishings in your nursery, you might also want to consider the environmental impact of the furniture you buy too. Many manufacturers now sign up to sustainable forestry schemes, or use products such as wood ply which is made using less timber, or wood sheet product made from sawdust and by-products of the timber industry. Some manufacturers have implemented a tree planting scheme for every product sold, and similar carbon offsetting schemes.

Finishes (varnish, paint, lacquer etc.) used by nursery furniture manufacturers have to comply with very strict regulations regarding safety in areas such as emissions, and you might like to consider using child-friendly paints in your home too. Eco-friendly paints which don't use large amounts of petro-chemicals in their production are now widely available. Try to select water based paints and those with very low or zero voc ratings (volatile organic compounds) Some paints emit vocs which are breathable gases (contributing to that 'freshly painted' smell) which can cause physical effects such as dizziness or nausea in adults and might be even more unpleasant and even toxic for babies. Some of our furniture pieces are finished with eco-friendly paint colours from eco-friendly ranges like that offered by the little greene paint company.

We now offer the brand new English-made 'Ryeland' organic cot-bed, which is made using FSC timbers with zero VOC finishes, and comes complete with an organic mattress. Many of our other nursery furniture pieces are made using eco-friendly, sustainable production techniques such as beech veneer forming, and are offered with organic or eco-tex textiles. Such ranges include Leander and Bloom.