Paint

We quickly ruled out several acrylic paints out of safety concerns, and because of questions about the environmental impacts of producing them. The first acrylic paints we tested often required touch ups to achieve even coverage, which was time-consuming given that each block most be hand-painted. So even though they were less likely to bleeding into the grain of the wood, the benefits of these paints were outweighed by these concerns and drawbacks. After testing several alternatives, we found a great non-toxic paint with an eggshell finish and physical properties that work well in the milling process. The paints we've sourced also have nice pigment concentration, and wear well. At the present time, we are testing beeswax and other organic options as a possible finishes to protect the finished blocks from stains and soiling.

Color

While CulturCubes are intended as keepsakes, we fully expect children and parents to interact with them together as objects of shared family experience. As such, CulturCubes were conceived and are designed as toy alphabet blocks, So we don't limit CulturCube colors to the standard orange orange, lemon yellow, of traditional children's products; or subscribe to sometimes problematic conventions like "pink for girls," and "blue for boys." CulturCubes include primary as well as more nuanced non-primary colors. This more expansive color palette we believe, offers parents opportunities to introduce children to new words and colors; and we hope will serve as a tool to see beyond "green," to talk about "neon green," "forest green," and "chartreuse" for example. By providing a broader color spectrum than is typically found in children's products, we hope to help children, parents and grandparents appreciate the treasure that is color.