Beware of candles
Candles and lanterns are part of festive occasions. Place candles and lanterns at a good distance from where children will walk and play. Remember that wide skirts, long scarves and flowing capes easily catch fire and burn well if they come into contact with an open flame. The safest thing is therefore to replace candles/open flames with LED candles.
Choose costumes and suits that fit closer to the body. Then it is not as easy to accidentally come across fire. Close-to-body fabrics also do not burn as well, as there is less air available.
Check the materials
Many costumes are made of artificial fabrics, such as nylon or polyester. When polyester and nylon catch fire, they burn more slowly than cotton and often extinguish on their own. Nevertheless, the burns can be deeper, because the substance melts and burns into the skin.
Pure cotton fabrics catch fire easily and burn well. The thinner and fluffier the fabric, the easier it burns.
If an accident occurs, it can be good to know how to extinguish a fire in clothing.
Look for the CE mark
Costumes for children are considered toys and must be CE marked. A general requirement for toys is also that all warnings relating to the product must be clearly visible, easily legible, easily understood and precise.
A warning must be preceded by the word "warning/warnings", and both warnings and safety instructions must be written in Norwegian. If the costume has decorations or parts that may fall off and be dangerous for small children, the product must also be marked with "Forbidden for children 0-3 years".
If you feel that a children's costume is or can be dangerous for children, we would like you to report it to us. In the Dangerous Products database, you can also see which products have been registered as hazardous or potentially dangerous.
Masks, make-up and other effects can also contain substances that are hazardous to health and the environment. On the Norwegian Environment Agency's website, you can read more about which substances should steer clear of.