An earth-kind, soft, empathic doll with a removable wheat bag you can heat in oven or microwave for cosy bedtimes, or cool in the freezer for hot days, fevers, and bruises.

The wheat is organically-grown in Sweden. The doll's outer layer is certified 100% organic cotton, and its stuffing is 100% certified-recycled polyester.

Rubens Barn began in Sweden in 1998 with two mothers who wanted to create a soft cuddly doll, with a child-like body shape and a warm, cheeky face. A comforting friend for an entire childhood. “Children should...get the opportunity to practice creativity, care and empathy through role play.” Teruko, Co-Founder of Rubens Barn

Each Rubens Barn doll is handmade - involving over 100 steps! They use 100% organic cotton for the body, hair, and clothes. The eyes are embroidered and bring the doll to life.

The dolls' filling has to date been virgin polyester plastic, but the Rubens Barn team are committed to using the most earth-kind materials, so have started an exciting project: to switch all dolls to 100% recycled polyester filling! So far only Mini EcoBuds and Tummies have made the switch (so we stock them), but we will gradually add all their lines as they switch.

Important: Remove the wheat bag from the doll before heating or cooling:

Microwave: About 60 seconds at 600W (or less time at higher watt level), microwave must be clean :-); or
Oven: About 10 minutes at about 100°C for 10 min; or
Freezer: 1-3 hours.

Remains warm for 30-40 minutes, or cold for about 30 minutes.

Nicely accompanied by our organic-cotton kids' wrap slings!

What it contains: 1 doll in a box with instruction booklet. 31cm high, 350g weight.

Feel great about where it comes from:

Raw materials from Europe? Wheat: yes (Sweden); other materials: No :-( - China - see below
Organic? Yes the wheat and cotton are 100% certified organic (cotton certification is OCS 100 - Organic Content Standard, checking what the wheat certification is)
Manufactured in Europe? No :-( - China - see below
What's it made from? Hair, skin, clothes, wheat bag: 100% organic cotton (certified OCS 100 - Organic Content Standard); stuffing: 100%-recycled polyester petro-plastic (certified Global Recycled Standard); wheat: 100% organic wheat grown in Sweden
What's it packaged in? Cardboard box
Shipping packaging from manufacturer to us: Cardboard only
Plastic-free? 100% free of virgin plastic - which is really good - only recycled plastic is used, because other materials don't allow your little friend to hold their shape and personality over time
Vegan? Yes
Animal-cruelty-free? Yes
Reused upcycled or recycled? Yes - polyester filling is 100% certified recycled; cardboard box is recycled; organic cloth outer layer and wheat are new

Feel great about where it goes after you've used it:

Biodegradable / compostable? Box, outer cloth and wheat - yes; polyester filling - no
Reusable / refillable? N/A
Recyclable? Yes 100%

Feel great about you and your child using it:

Great for ages: 0+
Shelf life: Indefinite
Awards: TBC - it just launched!
Safety standards met: European Toy Safety Standards (CE-marked)
Solvent-free? Yes
Gluten-free? Not sure - the wheat bag is made from wheat! If the child has a strong allergy, the conservative answer is, don't buy this product
Peanut-free? Yes
Soy-free? Yes
Lactose-free? Yes
Easy to wash-off clothes skin? N/A
Improvements we're working on in this product: We love everything about it, except its toy-miles (China is 22,000km away) - see below
Care/use instructions: Machine washable up to 30°C, best to let dry naturally but you can tumble-dry at low heat only

Why we're stocking this product despite its high toy-miles:

Materials are 80% of a regular toy's carbon footprint; toy-miles the other 20%. That's why we focus on toys with sustainable (natural or recycled) materials and low toy-miles (made locally in Europe?. But soft toys are difficult...we can't find anyone making affordable-and-eco soft toys in Europe? So we've made an exception to our 'locally-made' rule for this toy, because:

We want to support eco-pioneers like Rubens Barn. They are pioneering sustainable materials in soft toys (where the majority of others are highly unsustainable). And hopefully in the future they'll find a clever way to reduce toy-miles also. Their hearts are in the right eco place!
Better to buy this 80%-eco toy than the 100%-unsustainable soft toys that sadly dominate most toy shops.
Rubens Barn toys production in China is personal, by a family they've been working with closely for years.

...Love to hear your feedback and suggestions! Thank you!

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