I Finally Found An Ethical + Ecofriendly + Non-Toxic Car Seat: Introducing Clek's Foonf
If you’ve been hunting for a more ethical and less-toxic car seat (like me) I think your search might just be over.
Clek’s new 100% Australian Merino wool car seat (aka the Foonf) is the thing of my mama dreams!
Clek isn’t some expansive baby brand that dabbles in everything from high-chairs to bibs. Instead, Clek does one thing and one thing only—create car seats without any trade-offs. Clek’s car seats mimic the safest best practices used in cars today, all while being ethically manufactured, far more eco-friendly, far less-toxic, and oh-so-chic.
Clek was founded by the Lumley Family. The Lumley’s took their expansive experience in the automotive industry (they originally worked at North America’s largest car part suppliers) before pivoted in a powerful way, to focus more on car seat safety. I love how Clek truly is disrupting a rather passive industry when it comes to transparency, ethics, and the earth.
Brief Foonf Overview
It’s Heck-A-Minimalist | The Foonf is the chameleon of car seats. It’s an AAP approved safeguard for your little one from a mere 5 lbs (just grab Clek’s Infant-Thingy insert) up to 65 lbs.
Plus, the Foonf empowers parents to keep their toddler rear-facing until their little one reaches 50 lbs / 43 inches tall. That means you can keep your kiddo in the safest position (like the Swedes) for far longer—most kids don’t hit Fonnf’s weight/heigh limit until four-ish years old.
When your kiddo does hit the rear-facing limits, then you just switch the car seat to the front-facing position and the Foonf gives you another 15 lbs. or 6 inches of growth before you’d need to buy a booster seat.
Basically, the Foonf aims to be the only car seat you’ll ever need to purchase. Yes, please!
It’s Good For Your Baby | The Foonf is free of the fire-retardant (and fairly controversial) chemicals used on almost all car seats in the industry. Instead, Foonf uses Mammoth Wool—the wool is naturally flame resistant. It’s also hypoallergenic, breathable, odor resistant, and body-temperature regulating (which, if you’re like me and live in an area that experiences all four seasons) is a big deal.
It’s Good for Others | Clek’s car seats are manufactured in North America, where the company can not only manage quality control, but also keep an ethical eye on how their workers are treated. The wool for the Foof seat is ethically sourced. Clek also supports and donates to kid-focused organizations (like SickKids) and each Clek employee receives paid time off to volunteer with a charity of their own choosing.
It’s Good for Earth | The company is still the first (and only) car seat manufacturer with a recycling program—here’s how you can ship you Foonf back to Clek for recycling. Clek’s recycling program takes car seats and disassembles them. Then, the plastic, metal, foam, and fabrics pieces are sent to Clek’s partners who either recycle or reintroduced the elements for use in other products. Clek also gives preference to working with companies with ecolabel certifications, like GREENGUARD and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Did you know a lot convertible car seats on the market today are manufactured in China? Clek’s local North-American based manufacturing also shrinks their carbon footprint. You can also find their Chemical + Sustainability Policies here.
How Safe Is It?
Clek tests their car seats at higher speeds than the US requires, and they conduct extra testing then required too. Clek is oh-so-transparent with all of this info. They are one of the few car seat manufacturers that makes their crash test results public. You can read those results here. You can also delve into Foonf’s safety features and safety reviews here, here and here.
I also compiled a (brief) list of some of Foonf’s unique safety highlights:
Steel Anti-Rebound Bar (here’s some details about why this matters).
Deep wing headrest connected to steel frame.
Steel latch anchors connect the car seat to your car’s frame (most manufactures use plastic anchors).
Aluminum honeycomb fibers that crumple to absorb energy—this honeycomb reduces transferred collision forces up to 40%.
What are some more Pros & Cons?
The Foonf is industry-leading both in an ethical and eco-friendly sense. But what other pros are there?
Nifty magnets (sewn beneath the upholstery) that’ll to hold the buckles on the edge of the seat to clear a path for your kid.
3 year warranty versus 1 year industry standard.
9 year expiration date versus standard 7 year expiration date
It’s super narrow — the widest part is 17 inches
What about the cons?
It’s a true bummer to move. The foonf is a whopping (and sturdy) 36 lbs, so this car seat isn’t necessarily something you want to be carrying between cars or tossing on a plane.
The release button can be hard to reach. To loosen the strap you’ll have to reach through a hole in a slightly-quirky position. Although, this can be seen as a Pro too, since it’s nice to know your little one won’t be able to loosen their car seat straps on their own.
There isn’t a standard cupholder. But you can add one on as an accessory here.
The Foonf can’t be machine washed. Although, it can be disassembled for thorough cleaning (it’s a big of a lengthy process though) and requires chatting with Clek’s customer service to get a rather large list of emailed instructions.
Here’s What the Foonf Looks Like In Our Car:
A few close ups on the wool (it’s not itchy like I first expected) and the steel rebound bar (it comes with a black fabric cover).
I love that I can unsnap the shoulder harness covers to give them a good wash. Baby drool all over these covers is a real thing.
The second pictures shows the buckle that is made of plastic and has a handy drawing on it. The bottom buckle comes with a removable pad (also easy to wash) that helps make the buckled area a bit more comfortable. Oh, and the last pictures shoes a closeup of how the headrest has steel connection to the steel base.
Here’s my hubby demonstrating how to tighten the harness—it does take a bit more effort to tighten than my old car seat (a Chicco Keyfit).
How does it hold my little? Well, so far Baby “R” is just under a year and it really scoops her up—it’s almost nest like. Overall, it looks like it sits far more comfortably than the seat we were using before. As an added bonus, the Foonf also lifts her higher in the car (so she can see out the windows) which is nice—especially on long roadtrips.
*Important Note: Blush, so I’m a bit on the OCD side and I thought “Oh, I’ll just remove the warning stickers on the plastic but keep the warning fabric on wool part of the car seat.” Turns out you need to keep the stickers on the plastic too. Who knew! Anyways, I just chatted with customer service and they are shipping me some new stickers to replace the old ones I peeled off. It costs $5 for the replacement stickers and it’s a Federal Law to keep those on there. So, yep, that’s good to know.
What do you think about the Foonf? Will it be a good fit for you and your family? Do you have any non-toxic, ethical or eco-friendly car seats you’d suggest we try? DM my sister and I on Instagram #CalmandChic with your thoughts.
XOXO,
Lemon
