# Water Hyacinth Placemats ok??



## fuzz16 (Feb 9, 2010)

Don't know if anyones seen them there, i couldnt find them on the site. but their a circle placemat type thing that is made from the water hyacinth...their 3$ each so i was thinking those would be great fr the buns. they have a natural color but then also dyed ones which i wouldnt trust. but my friend told me to worry about toxins or sealants they use, but i wouldnt think theyd put toxins on placemats for food and what not

any ideas?


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## undergunfire (Feb 9, 2010)

I saw those too and wondered the same thing!!


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## BethM (Feb 9, 2010)

Personally, I wouldn't trust them. There's no way to guarantee they haven't been treated with _something._ I did a Google search for "hyacinth placemat" and some of the results listed that they were treated with a "foodsafe topcoat." Who knows what that is! I would expect for some of them to be treated with a stain-resistant coating, or something like that. Placemats aren't really meant to come into contact with food that will be eaten after. 

That's just my opinion, though, I am very wary of things like that. I know several people will give their bunnies those woven-wicker-sort-of paper plate holders, but I am scared of what coatings might be on those, too.


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## Raspberry82 (Feb 10, 2010)

*BethM wrote: *


> Personally, I wouldn't trust them. There's no way to guarantee they haven't been treated with _something._ I did a Google search for "hyacinth placemat" and some of the results listed that they were treated with a "foodsafe topcoat." Who knows what that is! I would expect for some of them to be treated with a stain-resistant coating, or something like that. Placemats aren't really meant to come into contact with food that will be eaten after.
> 
> That's just my opinion, though, I am very wary of things like that. I know several people will give their bunnies those woven-wicker-sort-of paper plate holders, but I am scared of what coatings might be on those, too.


Ditto. These days almost all manufacturers spray or coat 'natural' looking wicker or fibers, to make them last longer or be stain resistant.. and they're usually not non-toxic. Unless they say 100% natural, non-toxic. Is it made in china?


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## fuzz16 (Feb 10, 2010)

hmmm it said natural but i didn check to see where they were made. 
but ya i know some people grab up placemats and things from walmart and other stores for really cheap and had wondered if those ones were safe...


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## BethM (Feb 10, 2010)

Even if it says "natural," if it's made in China and purchased at Walmart,the dollar store(or similar stores), I would not give it to my rabbits unless they weren't chewers. 

I have heard of too many products that were supposed to be safe (toothpaste, baby formula, etc) that had toxic things added to cut costs, and were not caught until later due to lack of oversight. (I even read about a tea company drying tea leaves by driving trucks over them, the exhaust fumes dried the leaves in less time, allowing them to get product through the facility more quickly. Meanwhile, all those toxins from the exhaust were going into the tea leaves, meant for human ingestion.)

In the end, it's up to you to decide what you're comfortable with. They _might_ be perfectly safe, and if so, that would be an awesome low-cost bunny toy. Personally, I'll spend the extra money for things I am more confident of. (I trust The Busy Bunny more than I trust Walmart.)


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