What Is Play Sand?

Sand is a naturally occurring material that has many different uses. However, it is important that you make sure you purchase certified play sand when intending it to be used for children’s play time. Whilst you may be tempted by the cheaper options out there, these are unsafe and unclean for your little ones to play in. Play sand goes through many processes before it can be certified and these make it ideal for sports surfaces as well, such as volleyball courts and long jump pits.

Originally play sand is no different from the other types of sand that you can find. As a natural product it is produced over millions of years as rocks and minerals are ground down into smaller and smaller particles, until we have the grains that we recognise as sand. However, this material is not safe for play areas as it is literally small pieces of rock that, other than not being clean, will have sharp edges that can easily get into children’s eyes and scratch them.

To turn this into play sand that children can enjoy, there are a few steps that are taken. The sand is washed in order to firstly remove any residual iron oxide. The iron oxide causes sand to stain, not only clothes, but also skin. At the same time the sand is blasted with water at various pressure levels. This removes the sharp edges that can be so dangerous to children and it also washes off any other contaminates. The resulting round edged particles are safer as they are easier to remove and cause much less damage if they do get into the eyes.

This is why your play sand should come with an EN 1177:2008 certificate. All play sand provided by Online Sand has such a certificate and a copy can be found below. If you have any further questions about play sand please feel free to get in touch with us.