PVC-Free Swimmies That Help Facilitate Learning How To Swim
We live on an island, so it’s no surprise that it is VERY important to me that my child knows how to swim. Regardless of where we live, having the freedom to enjoy water and be SAFE around it is something that every parent wishes for their children. True?
So, when we heard of Schlori Swim Cushions, a 100% pure cotton “floaty” recommended by Germany’s foremost swimming schools we were interested. Most swim floaties here in the USA are made of PVC. Yuck! Knowing that “phthalates leach from PVC toys like water from a wet sponge,” doesn’t make the typical arm floaties so appealing. Also, this product uses Oeko-Tex certified fabric, so no nasty formaldehydes or other harmful substances in this cotton.
Not only that, but arm swimmies, life vests and tubes are truly more of a crutch than a tool for learning how to swim properly. As opposed to offering a false sense of security in the pool or ocean, Schlori’s PVC-Free swim cushions place the body into a natural position for swimming while giving the greatest possible freedom of movement. This makes the practicing of the unhindered swimming motion possible, and fun! Today we are happily reposting to announce Schlori Swim Cushions earned our prestigious ‘Mom Approved – Child Tested’ Excellent Seal of Approval Award!
100% Pure Cotton Swimmies
So this is how it works: Fold in a corner of one of the square cotton pieces, and blow it up. The cloth inflates and voila, set up is complete. Then simply adjust the strap size to fit your child, align strap under the breasts, and tie in the back. The cushions will be positioned right behind the arms.
What age child/size child do they fit? This is a one-size-fits-all swim cushion! Babies, children and adults all use the same size, adjusting the buckle is all that needs to be done.
Schlori Swim Cushions are made of a particularly strong and durable natural fiber and are salt, chlorinated and thermal water resistant. Additionally, this material is from companies processing the certificate “Oko-Tex Standard 100″. For a product to earn an Oko-Tex Seal, it has to pass stringent ecological testing for over 100 harmful substances including pesticides, formaldehyde, mercury, lead and plenty more. There are no damage prone plugs or vents either!
Learning To Swim
My daughter has been in swimming lessons for about 8 weeks, 2 days a week. I sure wish we would have got her into these classes sooner. She enjoys being in the water now, and even comes up from going under the water with a smile on her face these days. That being said, she still is not a swimmer. So when she really took to these floaties I was excited. What I really like about them is that they keep her buoyant but she still has to kick and can use her arms to keep her up. It makes her buoyant enough to feel safe, but she is learning how to use her body to swim! Me or her daddy are always right there near her, but we don’t have to be touching her. She feels she is really accomplishing something to, and “facing her fears” successfully!
A little product history: The swim instructor Marga Jenner created the first Schlori Swim Cushions in 1936 in Berlin. She taught exclusively in her own tried and true method and initally used the cusions only with hre own students. The cushions have now been produced by the Jenner family for over 50 years.
Excellent Seal of Approval Award for Schlori Swim Cushions
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Most swimmie arm floaters are made of very toxic PVC. This is a material that is harmful to both our children and our planet.
Dangerous to our planet: PVC is hazardous from production to disposal and that’s why we call it the poison plastic. There’s no safe way to manufacture, use or dispose of PVC products. PVC’s lifecycle uses and releases highly hazardous chemicals including dioxins and furans, vinyl chloride, ethylene dichloride, phthalates, mercury and other chemicals. PVC chemical plants pollute the air and groundwater of surrounding communities, harming the health of neighbors and workers
Dangerous to our children: Phthalates leaches from PVC like water from a wet sponge. Children, particularly infants, are extremely vulnerable to toxic chemicals as their bodies are still developing. Studies have demonstrated that phthalates such as DINP pose hazards in animals which raises concerns for infants and young children chewing on PVC toys. Studies have demonstrated links between DINP and cancer, adverse impacts on the reproductive system, kidneys, liver, and blood. (No, you child will probably not being chewing on his swimmie, but the skin is a very porous organ and under the heat of the hot sun this does not make a healthy combo.)
So, knowing these potential dangers, we were overjoyed to find these COTTON SWIMMIES! Here is a simple testimony from a mom tester with her 12 month old son:
“The adjustable strap was great because I was able to fit it around Kale without it slipping off, and he is a pretty small guy (only 16lbs) and it fit him with room to tighten even more if needed. These swimmies are great because they actually encourage Kale to use him arms (which he has yet to do because I’m always holding him up)… he just needs to figure that part out and they’ll be even better. These are great because they are easy to keep clean, they do not slip off and do not smother Kale in the face like the other vinyl arm floaters do.”
We are quite impressed with the care and consideration that has gone into Schlori Swim Cushions’s eco-friendly packaging. Made of recycled material and completely recyclable! Way cool!
Buy Schlori Swim Cushions at Peace Love Organic Earth
You can buy the 100% pure cotton swimmies for $28 with one of our respected Approved Vendors: PeaceLoveOrganicEarth.com.
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Category: 1-3 yrs, 3-5 yrs, 5+ yrs, Green Retailers, MACT Award Winners, Product Reviews, PVC-free
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Thanks for this great information! I’ve been wanting to buy swimmies but was worried about PVC. These look like the perfect solution.
Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate it that you shared with us such a informative post
I’ve really enjoyed reading your articles. You obviously know what you are talking about! Your site is so easy to navigate too; I’ve bookmarked it in my favorites
[...] That’s why these 100% non-toxic COTTON water wings caught my eye, over at SafBaby.com. [...]
Thank you so much for posting this! I have been scouring the internet looking for a product exactly like this for our upcoming vacation.
Yeay! Thanks for finding this gals. I also didn’t want to get swimmies as I heard they hinder learning to swim, let alone the stuff they’re made of.