Cheengoo specializes in a line of modern, hand-crafted toys and accessories for infants and young children. Our products are handmade ethically using natural materials: either maple wood, bamboo, or cotton. Cheengoo toys are first imagined in San Francisco and then brought to life by our international team of skilled artisans from Nepal, Latvia and China.
About our Products…
ONE OF A KIND
At Cheengoo, we are committed to preserving the art of handcraft with global artisans. Because each of our products are lovingly handmade, they are unique with no two items the same.
Wood making, knitting, crocheting and felting are all traditions in many cultures that are passed down from one generation, the end results are high quality products with stories to tell about the people who made them.
NATURAL MATERIALS
Our crocheted rattles and dolls are made using luxuriously soft yarn derived from the pulp of the organically grown (Ecocert certified) and sustainably (FSC certified) harvested bamboo trees. Bamboo is the world’s fastest growing plant - growing 40+ inches in only 24 hours, making it one of the most environmentally sustainable & renewable resources.
Wooden teethers are handmade by woodcrafters in Latvia, Europe using FSC certified maple wood. Since it is left untreated, it’s completely non-toxic and biodegradable. Maple wood will not splinter if broken, and naturally antibacterial.
Felt wool garlands are made with 100% New Zealand sheep wool, azo-free and entirely handmade by Nepalese artisans using traditional wet felting techniques.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Cheengoo products are created by artisan men and women around the world who are paid a fair wage in a safe and supportive environment. In China, our crocheted goods are hand crafted by a band of mostly mothers and farmers in rural China who are provided free training, flexible working hours in a friendly working environment that also doubles as a support network. In Nepal, our workforce is a happy one that consists primarily of illiterate women who otherwise would have great difficulty finding employment. While in Latvia fair and competitive compensation coupled with a strict compliance to international guidelines is the mantra for the small family business who partner with us to help make our wooden toys come to life.
RESPONSIBLY/SUSTAINABLY SOURCED
Maple wood and Bamboo plants we use are proudly FSC certified. FSC certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.
Bamboo requires little or no pesticides or fertilizers (essentially naturally organic) to enhance growth and is one of the most easily replenishable plants in the world, growing swiftly with little water. Bamboo we use are EcoCert certified. EcoCert is an organic certification organization based in Europe but conducts inspections in over 80 countries, making it one of the largest organic certification organizations in the world.
PRODUCT SAFETY
Cheengoo toys are rigorously tested by independent test institutes complying with the requirements of highest product safety standards – ASTM (Physical, Mechanical Properties and Flammability) and CPSIA (Lead in Substrate Materials).
Our bamboo and cotton fibers are Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified. The Oeko-Tex 100 certification emphasize thorough testing for a lengthy list of chemicals which are known or suspected to harm health, including lead, antimony, arsenic, phthalates, pesticides, and chlorinated phenols. Banned substances include:
- Azo dyes
- All flame retardants
- Carcinogenic and allergy-inducing dyes
- Pesticides
- Chlorinated phenols
- Chloro-organic benzenes and toluenes
- Heavy metals
- Organotin compounds (TBT and DBT)
- Formaldehyde