The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of three different brands of children's hooded sweatshirts and jackets with drawstrings due to the fact that they fail to meet CPSC guidelines. These guidelines (pdf) were were issued in 1996 to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in drawstrings in upper garments.

The first recall is for about 5,740 Raw Blue hooded sweatshirts. These were sold in three styles: smack print, kapow print and comic magazine print. They have style numbers 7FT5655, 7FT5455, and 7FT5515 printed on the sales tag. They were sold at TJ Maxx, Mega Trends, Moonstone Shirts and MP Trading stores nationwide from July 2007 through December 2007 for between $30 and $40 each. If you have one, you should immediately remove the drawstrings to eliminate the hazard or return it to the place of purchase or Raw Blue for a refund. For more information, contact contact Raw Blue by calling (800) 638-1537 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. More Illustrations of the recalled sweatshirt can be found here.


Next up are about 1,200 drawstring hoodies by Request Jeans. The recall involves a short sleeve hoodie (item number 11188SG) and a long sleeve hoodie (Item number 11218LG). The short sleeve hoodie has "Request" printed all over and was sold in olive green and light blue. The long sleeve hoodie has a butterfly design on the back of the hoodie and on the chest and was sold in white and olive green. These were sold at mass merchandisers and other retail stores nationwide from January 2007 through March 2007 for about $36 each. If you have either of these, you should immediately remove the drawstrings or return it to the place of purchase or Request Jeans for a refund. For more information, contact Request Jeans by calling collect at (212) 302-0077 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. More illustrations of these sweatshirts can be found here.




And finally, we have the recall of about 1,200 Bongo Cheetah Girls Jackets. The recall involves style 8N6003 and RN number 119132, which you can find printed on the care label. The jackets were sold in girls sizes 4 through 6X at Marshalls stores nationwide from November 2007 through August 2008 for about $25 each. If you have one, either remove the drawstring or return it to Marshalls or Kids with Character for a full refund. For more information, contact Kids With Character by calling collect at (212) 695-6343 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. More illustrations of these jackets can be found here.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 3,000 Children's Sun Block Jackets and Hoodies due to their failure to meet CPSC guidelines (pdf) regarding drawstring clothing. These hoodies and jackets have drawstrings that can pose a strangulation hazard to children.

The hoodies and jackets were made in China for Coolibar Inc., of St. Louis Park, Minnesota and sold through Coolibar's catalog and online shop from March 2005 through April 2008 (hoodies) and from February 2008 through April 2008 (jackets) for between $25 and $40 each.

The recalled jackets were sold in children's sizes 2 through 12 in tan, stone, bayou blue, crisp blue, white, berry and citrus. The hoodies were sold in the same sizes in teal, kiwi, mandarin, aloe green, paprika, hibiscus, smokey blue, white, sherbet, cobalt, and stone.

If you have any of these clothing items, you should immediately remove the drawstring from the jacket or hoodie, which will eliminate the hazard. Alternately, you can contact Coolibar for instructions on returning it for a full refund. You can reach Coolibar by calling (866) 266-5422 between 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, and Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT, by visiting their Web site, or by emailing them at recall@coolibar.com.

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Millennium Apparel Group, of New York, N.Y., in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is voluntarily recalling their Basic Editions-brand Girls' Clothing Sets. The shirts in these sets have drawstrings at the waist which can get entangled or caught in a car door, resulting in the wearer being dragged and possibly killed. It's been more than ten years since the CPSC issued its guidelines to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled on the neck and waist by drawstrings in upper garments.

The two sets of clothing being recalled have fully tunneled waist drawstrings and two-fer style layered shirts. One set has a light green shirt with "Varsity Club Winning Attitude" printed on it, while the other has an orange shirt with "Paradise University Girls Club" written on it. The shirts came with contrasting colored shorts. They were sold in girls' sizes 4/5, 6/6X, 7/8, and 10/12 at Kmart stores from March through May of this year. They cost between $10 and $13.

To eliminate the hazard, remove the drawstrings from the shirts immediately. For more information, contact Kmart at (800) 659-7026 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. CT Monday through Saturday, or visit the firm's Web site.

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Independent Trading Co. of San Clemente, California, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is voluntarily recalling their Life is good(r) Children's Sweatshirts. The garments have a drawstring through the hood, posing a strangulation hazard to children. The CPSC has just released guidelines to help prevent children from being strangled by drawstrings... Oh, wait, those guidelines came out in 1996. Still, that's barely over ten years ago, and you can't expect these companies to keep on top of everything, can you? After all, it's only a safety issue. It's not like it will increase their profits or anything.

The sweatshirts in question have "LIFE IS GOOD" written on the front in sewn-on letters and were available in light and dark blue. They were sold in children sizes small (6-8), medium (10) and large (12) through the RedEnvelope web site from March of last year through March of this year. They cost about $35.

Remove the drawstrings immediately from these garments to eliminate the hazard and, if desired, get in touch with RedEnvelope to find out about returning the sweatshirts for a full refund. For more information, contact RedEnvelope Inc. toll-free at (877) 733-3683 anytime, or visit the firm's Web site.

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Cobmex Inc., of Lakewood, California, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is voluntarily recalling their Youth Jackets with Drawstrings. Eleven years ago, the CPSC issued guidelines recommending that manufacturers not use drawstrings in children's clothing due to the risk of strangulation. I'm not sure why, then, companies still make them. These jackets have drawstrings. What were they thinking?

These nylon, zipper-front jackets were available in navy, black, green, red and wine colors and have a Cobmex neck label. They were sold at children's clothing and school uniform stores from January 2006 through February 2007 for about $30. Immediately remove the drawstrings from these jackets (or, really, any jackets that have them) or return the item to the store where it was purchased for a refund. For more information, contact Cobmex toll-free at (877) 926-2639 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site.

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Vacation Clothing, doing business as Basix U.S.A., of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is voluntarily recalling their Hooded Sweatshirts and Windbreakers. These garments have a drawstring through the hood which is a strangulation hazard for children. So far, thankfully, there have been no injuries or incidents involving these items.

The recall covers children's hooded sweatshirts and windbreakers in sizes ranging from S to XL. The sweatshirts included were sold in pink, white, light blue, yellow, navy, and gray. The nylon windbreakers were available in royal blue, olive, pink, light blue, and navy. A tag inside the garment reads "Basix USA" and one of the following style numbers is printed on the item's hang tag: PK215, PK218, KPF265, KPF275, or KH185. These articles were sold at discount department stores nationwide from May 2003 through December 2006 for $20 to $50. If you have one of these, immediately remove hte drawstring to eliminate the hazard. For more information, contact Basix U.S.A. at (800) 236-8150 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

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Seena International, of Yaphank, New York, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is voluntarily recalling their Brooklyn Xpress hooded sweatshirts. The sweatshirts have a drawstring running through the hood which could strangle a child. According to the CPSC guidelines, "Drawstrings on children's clothing are a hidden hazard that can lead to deaths and injuries when they catch on such items as playground equipment, bus doors, or cribs. From January 1985 through January 1999, CPSC received reports of 22 deaths and 48 non-fatal incidents involving the entanglement of children's clothing drawstrings." Luckily, in this case, no one has been injured. On the one hand, I am surprised that anyone would sell a garment with a drawstring, ten years after these guidelines were first published, but then, I know of at least one sweatshirt of Jared's that has a drawstring. It won't for long.

These sweatshirts were sold in black, brown, blue, red, grey, white and off-white, with the words "BKLYN Xpress" and "Brooklyn Xpress" and various graphic designs embroidered on the sweatshirts. Only sweatshirts in sizes 8 to 12 are being recalled. They were sold at various clothing stores, including Ross and Gordman's, from September through December of 2006. To prevent injury, remove the drawstring from the hood, or return the garment to the store where it was purchased for assistance. For more information, contact Seena International toll-free at (866) 927-5596 between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm's Web site.

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