Sisal? Jute? Manilla?

[Roo]

Hi all.

I can't find raffia twine for toy-making in my corner of Vermont (what, Martha Stewart goes to jail and it gets taken from the shelves?!:aiwebs_01). The hardware store has assorted sizes of sisal, jute, and manilla ropes and twine. Are any of these ok to use? There's no mention of pesticide or lack thereof. The bird sites I've gone through on line don't seem to carry any rope products like these.

So, are they safe? I'm pretty much using it to make hanging toys and to put together branches for play trees.

Thanks!

[Monica]

Sisal rope is fine, though from my understanding, rafia is not (if its that dried grass, it could be bad). I don't know about manilla, though I remember hearing something about jute (can't recall right now). Cotten rope is fine as well if you could get some.