It’s been one hell of a morning for RC2. The manufacturer of the infamous lead-tainted Thomas & Friends toys is recalling a feeding chair that 12 kids have managed to use as a launch platform and a “Winnie-the-Pooh” potty-training chair that’s tainted with lead. Funnily enough, only the orange paint used on the “Winne-the-Pooh” plaque is tainted.
paint
The Softer Side Of Lead Paint
Foreign manufacturers use lead paint not because they want to poison American children, but because lead paint is, “bright, durable, flexible, fast-drying, and cheap.” The domestic use of lead paint in residences, hospitals, and children’s products was banned in 1978, though lead paint is still widely used. Slate explains:
Save Big Money On Paint: If You Don't Care About The Color
The other great place to look is your local sanitation department. Most cities have specific divisions that deal with paints, since you can’t just toss them in a landfill. In Alameda, CA, it’s a garage full of five-gallon buckets of paint, wall to wall. They’ll just let you take what you want in most cases. They have to dispose of it somehow anyway!
Little whats-his-name will be so happy you saved money, he won’t even notice that his room is tow-zone yellow. —MEGHANN MARCO
Awesome Paint Preview Tool
Thinking about painting a room in your house, but aren’t sure what it will look like? Curbly points the way to Benjamin Moore’s website, where there is a truly nifty tool for previewing paint colors. You can choose sample rooms that are similar to yours, or for 10 bucks, upload pictures of your actual room.
Renters Speak: Lead Paint Chips and Sweatpants Lawyers
From ‘Saralegal,’ the girl with the best lawyer-to-be nickname ever:
Here is my tragic tale of woe from an apartment in Baltimore, MD.