What material is good for crawling mats?

Crawling is a very important part of a baby's growth. Many mothers prepare crawling mats for their babies when they learn to crawl. Using a crawling mat is the most convenient way for your baby to practice crawling. Then it is also very important when choosing a crawling mat. You should choose a good material and one that does not have an irritating smell. So what material is good for crawling mats? What material is good for crawling mats?

The materials of crawling mats are divided into XPE, IXPE, EPE, EVA, PVC, etc. The latter two are made of EVA or PVC material composite cling film, which usually have an odor and are prone to humor exposure. Even poor quality ones can be toxic. Therefore, there are not many of them on the market, and even if they are available, I don’t recommend you to buy them. EPE materials comply with national environmental protection standards and have a series of superior properties such as thermal insulation, moisture-proof, heat insulation, sound insulation, anti-friction, anti-aging, and corrosion resistance.

Compared with XPE, the cost is lower and the quality is not very high. The crawling mat made of this material has poor elasticity, is easy to crack, and is slightly less waterproof. Of course the good thing is the price is cheap. You won’t feel bad if it wears out, and the price is generally within 200. If you look at the product introduction online, if there is no special explanation that it is XPE, the PE cotton is basically EPE.

XPE and IXPE are better-quality PE cotton, which belong to the second generation of foamed cotton and are recognized as environmentally friendly materials in the world. The density is higher, the feel is thicker, and it is not easy to break. The crawling mats imported from South Korea on the market are basically made of this material. The crawling mat made of this material also has good slip resistance and an independent closed-cell structure, which makes the water absorption rate very low, moisture-proof and anti-bacterial. 1. The climbing mat material itself is non-toxic. Whether the product is toxic mainly depends on the additives and plasticizers used in processing. No matter PVC, EVA, or various PE materials, they are not toxic in themselves. Some are due to lack of supervision during the production process, so some recycled materials are used. Some are color additives or binders that can produce something that exceeds the standard. Therefore, whether it is safe or healthy for the baby does not depend on the material, but on the quality control. In other words, look at the brand. If quality control is a unified standard, in terms of safety, organic cotton material = silicone > ordinary fabric > PVC > new material EVA > new material PE > recycled material EVA. However, the above sorting is only if. Even if it is a climbing mat made of fabric and filled with organic cotton, if the quality control is not good and some black cotton is stuffed in, it will be more harmful to the baby than a foam mat containing formamide. Are EVA crawling mats toxic?

Of course not. People have many misunderstandings about PVC and EVA materials. The misunderstanding of PVC is mainly due to malicious propaganda; the misunderstanding of EVA is mainly due to the incident of inferior recycled materials, which has destroyed the trust ecosystem of consumers. If the materials of climbing mats are divided into broad categories, there are two categories, one is fabric and the other is foam. Foam is divided into PVC, PE/XPE, EPE, and EVA. Let’s talk about the fabric material first. Weiqi Fan’s twins use fabric floor mats:

The advantages of fabric mats are: environmentally friendly and non-toxic; relatively safest; easy to fold; easy to carry; skin-friendly and non-irritating; machine washable and dryable ;

The disadvantages of fabric mats are: not waterproof or moisture-proof; generally thin; small area;

For floor mats, PVC is a high-end material. It can only be produced in South Korea. Its weight per unit area is 5 times that of XPE. It is more expensive and is mainly used in children's climbing mats at home. The price ranges from 600-1500 yuan. Advantages of PVC mat: smooth surface; easy to color, suitable for one-piece molding; soft texture; good rebound; good flame retardant performance; Disadvantages of PVC mat: heavy; relatively expensive; not good for the environment (harmful substances will be produced when burned);

Advantages of PE mats: light weight; environmentally friendly and safe (PE and PP are relatively the safest plastic materials); easy to roll up and fold; flexible to move; disadvantages of PE mats: cushioning is worse than PVC One thing: low flame retardant performance; not suitable for making bright and lively colored products; let’s talk about the material of EPE. The relatively low-end material is easy to deform and have creases. The advantage is that it is lightweight and easy to carry when going out, and is often used as a picnic mat. Finally, let’s talk about the material of EVA. It has poor resilience under long-term pressure and has a relatively short life. It is the main material for assembled floor mats in China and Taiwan.