Mifold Grab-And-Go Booster Seat

ABOUT THIS PRODUCT

Features

mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat is the most advanced, compact, and portable booster seat ever invented. mifold is more than 10x smaller than a regular child’s car booster seat and it’s just as safe. mifold has been regularly crash tested successfully in certified facilities around the world and meets or exceed the European crash test standard ECE R44-04.

The simple fact is that in Singapore today, only 6% of children use an appropriate child restraint. In taxis and ride-sharing vehicles, carpools, with grandparents or other relatives, on vacations, in rental cars, with three-in-a-row and so on. With mifold there is no longer any excuse. With a compact and portable device, a child can easily keep one with them all the time and drivers can keep spares, without cluttering up a car and losing cabin or luggage space.

With mifold, a child can always be safe no matter whose car they are in - and that is the mifold vision!

• Compact and easily carried by anyone
• Unique fabric that prevents slipping, and is easily cleaned
• Built using tough plastic polymers and aircraft grade aluminium
• Adjustable lap belt guide
• Hard outer case protects the seat
• Quick and easy adjustment that can be done by kids of all ages
• Designed for children aged 4+
• Certified to European crash test standards, ECE R44-04, complies with Singapore Traffic Police seat belt regulations 

Click here for the Video Introduction.

Click here for the user manual.

FAQs

How does it work/compare to a regular booster? 

A regular booster seat lifts the child to be in the position of an adult. mifold does the exact opposite, instead of lifting the child up it holds the seatbelt down. It does this at three points: there are belt guides on either side of the child's hips to hold the lap belt correctly against the bones and off the soft stomach. These belt guides are adjustable to three sizes to make sure that the belt is always held snugly in place. There is a third clip on a strap that pulls the seatbelt chest strap down correctly onto the bones of the shoulder; away from the face and neck. So like a regular booster, mifold holds the seat belt in exactly the correct position on the bones of the hips and the bones of the shoulder, without needing a big, bulky seat to lift the child. In a collision, the child is protected in the same way. mifold simply works to hold the adult seatbelt correctly on a child. 

Why should we use mifold? 

mifold is a revolutionary new car safety solution. There are many journeys where children do not have a booster (in fact we estimate in as many as 25% of all child journeys - and research has shown that 50% of kids in the USA don't have the right booster when carpooling for the school run) we want to eliminate these risks completely. With a compact and portable device, there are no excuses, a child can always be safe no matter whose car they are in. 

How does the shoulder strap work? 

The adult seat belt chest strap must lie on the child's clavicle (collar bone); not on the face or neck and not over the edge of the shoulder. The mifold shoulder belt positioning strap and clip is attached to the back of the mifold seat and goes behind the child’s back. The clip is then attached onto the adult seat belt chest strap and holds it down on the clavicle. The length of the belt positioning strap and clip is adjusted to the right position. 

Is mifold comfortable? 

One of our priorities has been to design mifold to be comfortable as well as safe and easy to use. There are more than 100,000 mifold seats in use and in research. We have had positive feedback about comfort and our users tell us that they really do love it.

The comfort comes from three design and engineering factors: 
(i) We use a unique EVA DenseFoam™(Ethylene-vinyl acetate) to provide constant support at the pressure points. EVA is typically used as a shock absorber in sports shoes and boxing gloves. 
(ii) The foam fabric pad extends to the edge of the seat to ensure there is no hard edge. And 
(iii) the child’s weight is designed to sink the entire mifold seat into the vehicle cushion, leveling out the two surfaces and minimizing the edge effect. This is exactly the same as with a regular booster seat. They only have a thin layer of foam/fabric on a plastic/styrofoam base and most of the comfort comes from the underlying car seat (the same thing happens with a hard-backed book … try it!). 

How is mifold the first innovation in booster seats for more than 50-years? 

In 1963, Dean C. Hunter filed a US patent for the “Safety Seat” … a box that lifted up a child and held a lap belt in place across the bones of the child’s hips. Today, half a century later, boosters are essentially the same ... blocks that lift a child up to meet the adult safety belt. mifold changes this. Instead of lifting the child up, mifold does the opposite and holds the seatbelt down to fit the child. Our patent "Apparatus for adapting a seatbelt for a child" is already granted in one country and pending in 45 others (http://j.mp/mifold-patent). 

Can mifold be cleaned in the dishwasher? 

At this stage, the mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat cannot be cleaned in a dishwasher. We have designed mifold to be easy to clean by washing the surfaces with a mild solution of soap and water. Do not use bleach. Remove the soap by wiping with clean water and after washing then air dry. Although we had hoped that the mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat could also be cleaned in a dishwasher, at this stage we have not tested how a dishwasher may affect components and specifically, how a dishwasher may affect performance and the flame retardant properties of the materials. If there is an update on this issue we will publish revised guidelines via our website and social media channels.

Technical Specs

What are the age and weight requirements for mifold? 

mifold is designed for children aged 4+ years. However, car seat regulations can be quite confusing and are different in each country; they can be based upon age, weight, height or a combination of all three. In the US and Canada, mifold is designed for children weighing from 40 Ibs to 100 lbs (18-45kg) and between 40-57 inches (100-145cm) tall. In the EU the weight range is from 15kg up and until a height of 150 cm. 

How durable is mifold? 

mifold is constructed using aircraft grade aluminium 6061 and a super tough plastic polymer called Delrin® 100ST from Dupont™. It has been successfully crash tested and each component rigorously tested to ensure its longevity even under the most extreme use as a child car seat. 

Where is mifold manufactured? 

mifold is manufactured in China. Our manufacturing partners are world renowned manufacturers that are ISO approved and operate at the highest level of manufacturing and quality control standards. They already manufacture child restraint products for several other well known companies. 

Does mifold work with a latch system or the European Isofix? 

mifold is designed to work without a latch system. Regular booster seats lift the child to be in the position of an adult, mifold does the exact opposite. Instead of lifting the child up it actively holds the seatbelt down, positioning it correctly on the hips and on the shoulder of the child. A latch system does not help with this mode of operation. Also, there is no installation required with mifold, it is designed for 'quick-in-quick-out' usage for every journey in every type of vehicle. 

Can mifold be used by small adults? 

mifold is not designed for adult use and should not be used by adults. Many people do ask this and, in fact, Jon's wife is only 150cm (~5 foot) tall and she often complains about the seatbelt bothering her. Our main market is the child restraint market and that is what we are focussing on in terms of regulatory approval. When we are well established in the child market we will evaluate the feasibility of designing a mifold for adults. 

Can I use mifold with a switchable retractor? 

A ‘Switchable Retractor,' or a retractor that switches from an emergency locking retractor mode (ELR) locks up in the event of a crash to an automatic locking retractor mode (ALR) that will lock the seat belt into the retractor as the webbing is retracted. This locking feature in the ALR mode is often referred to as a “child restraint locking feature” and is recommended for installing rear-facing or forward-facing car seats with internal harnesses. In most vehicle seating positions, the locked mode occurs when the seat belt is fully extended from the retractor. 

This child restraint locking feature or ALR/locked mode is not intended for use when restraining an occupant with the vehicle lap and shoulder belt, including when the lap and shoulder belt is combined with a booster seat. Several vehicle manufacturer owner manuals, including Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen and Audi, specifically advise or warn against using this feature with children sitting in a booster car seat. Child passenger safety researchers also advise against this, indicating that locking the seat belt on a child in a booster seat may not allow enough forward motion of the torso to prevent submarining under the lap belt in a crash or deceleration event. 

Researchers also recommend that children who are not behaviorally or developmentally ready to sit still in a booster would be better protected in a high-weight harness child restraint. 

mifold agrees with the use guidelines and recommendation provided by the vehicle manufacturers and child passenger safety researchers and that the vehicle lap and shoulder belt system should be used as it is designed to be used in the ELR mode. Thus mifold does not recommend switching the retractor into the locking mode in the mifold instruction manual. 

Can the mifold Grab-and-Go Booster seat be used with inflatable seatbelt? 

mifold has revised its recommendations based upon an analysis of vehicle seat belt system testing results. The current Ford Motor Company Inflatable seat belt system (available in Ford and Lincoln vehicles) is approved for use with US, Canadian and EU versions of the mifold Grab-and-Go booster seats with the following model numbers: 

• USA - MF01/US (the model number is on the fabric label sewn onto the Shoulder Belt Guide Strap) 
• Canada - MF01/CA (the model number is on the fabric label sewn onto the Shoulder Belt Guide Strap) 
• EU - MF01/EU (the model number is on the sticker attached to the back of the Shoulder Belt Guide) 

Is the mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat treated with chemical based flame retardants? 

The mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat complies with the booster seat flammability tests required under the NHTSA regulation FMVSS213 for the USA and under the UN regulations: UN ECE R44.04. This flame retardancy is achieved only using compounds that comply with California Proposition 65 and the European Community Regulation REACH (EC/1907/2006). 

Manufacturer’s Warranty

LIMITED ONE-YEAR WARRANTY

CARFOLDIO, THE MANUFACTURER OF THE MIFOLD® GRAB-AND-GO BOOSTER SEAT WARRANTS ITS PRODUCTS TO THE ORIGINAL RETAIL PURCHASER AS FOLLOWS: 

mifold is warranted against defective materials or workmanship for one year from the date of original purchase (or as required by local laws). Proof of purchase is required. The exclusive remedy for this warranty is that Carfoldio will, at its option, provide repair, replacement or a refund for your purchase. Carfoldio reserves the right to discontinue or change fabrics, parts or models, or to make substitutions. To make a claim under this warranty, you must return your mifold to us by requesting a valid "Return Authorisation Number" from the Customer Service Center nearest you.