The Toxic Truth About SPANX

This is a rant. You have been forewarned. Buyer beware.
The ink on the tagless labels inside SPANX's Bra-llelujah can cause painful, itching rashes where it comes in contact with your skin. I discovered that painful phenomenon this morning when I woke up and found the proof.
Other than that huge obstacle to wearing the bra, this has been the most comfortable bra I've ever worn. I was considering replacing my entire arsenal with these. Though I'm going to see if the company will sell any without the labels inside.
I googled the issue to see if I was the only one that was going through this; apparently it's been going on since 2008 with SPANX intermittently denying/conceding that it doesn't/does happen to some people. The label says they're made in China.
The medhelp website I was linked to after googling said that SPANX response as of November 2008 is:
"We have confirmed with the manufacturer of our heat
transfer that the product has been tested and certified for
no harmful ingredients and for safe use against the skin.
We have also confirmed that the heat transfer does not
contain any type of metal (including lead), Latex or PVC."

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Katelyn

Katelyn Williams * SPANX, Inc.
3391 Peachtree Road * Suite 300 * Atlanta * Georgia * 30326

404.321.1608x224; * 678.904.2824 (direct) * 678.500.1300 (fax)


I'm sorry (no, I'm not), but your "tests" can say whatever you want them to. You aren't a medical company, how strict are your control groups, WHAT IS IN THAT INK that is making my skin react to it in such a way? Oh, and - you're wrong. They aren't safe against the skin.
I'm annoyed. I want to wear these bras - they're comfortable and I usually can't wait to take them off.

On that same website, a manufacturer of tagless labels chimed in with his/her comments on the thread:
generally speaking there are 2 kinds of tagless labels... Latex is not one of them... I do not know of any labels currently being made with latex.

One is a plastisol type, which is the same basic material that the large designs on the front of t-shirts is made of... the ink is a PVC blended into a Phthalate... at a certain temperature the PVC melts and the 2 components form a solid... that solid is transferred to the shirt with heat and pressure... this type of ink is on the way out as phthalates are now being classified as hazardous... residual phthalate from not fully fused ink is what is most likely causing the reaction.

The other type of ink is a solventborne polyurethane that is post cured via a catalyst... typically a polyisocyanate... this ink can have 2 possible irritants... small levels of formaldehyde in the urethane or residual polyisocyanate that is left unreacted...

We have seen these problems with competitors labels and we are working on an alternative... our goal is a label that is 100% waterbased... curative free, pvc and phthalate free, and latex free... not only would the inks be non toxic but the production would be 100% "green"... we are looking to complete R&D on these in the near future... hopefully price doesn't cause a stumbling block to market pentration... unfortunately as with all things... money talks... if Carter and Gerber and the likes realize the demand and people are willing to pay an extra 25 to 50 cents more for "hypoallergenic" labels then it may come to pass.


I'm about to email SPANX and try to convince them to send me a bra without the tagless label inside it. On a related note, tagless labels have also been under fire in infant clothes. So maybe my skin is just like a baby's. They don't have the immune system to tolerate the chemicals in those tags. Pull them off the market! Bring the other tags back - give the option to cut the damn things out instead.
I'm done. I need to do something besides complain. I need some steroids for my back too.
I've also been informed by my lawyer (slash brother-in-law) that there aren't enough damages to warrant a class action suit for product liability unless there are at least 20 other consumers who have medical bills, etc. So if there's anybody out there..
I'm not looking for money. (Well, my money back would be nice, these undergarments aren't cheap...) I just want a resolution. Where I can wear the product and not have the side effects.


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Unrelated, but AWESOME time-lapse miniature-style film. Check it out if you love things that are amazing. (Music is lovely too.) Found it via Tim's twitter.