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View Full Version : Using MDF for a headboard?



myxpykalix
04-05-2007, 12:52 AM
I was thinking about making a nicely carved headboard for one of my daughters who just had a newborn and I have read things regarding the various chemicals like fermaldyhyde and stuff in MDf and wondered if there is anything i need to be concerned about in using this material around a newborn? Should i seal it someway?

dray
04-05-2007, 01:45 AM
You can seal it with polyurethane. That basically encapsulates anything from ever exiting the material.

robredick
04-05-2007, 02:15 AM
There are several fermaldyhyde free products out there. I would suggest that you ask your supplier which they carry & use it. I know that I sound like a HIPPY, but fermaldyhyde is bad stuff...

cjohnson
04-05-2007, 07:59 AM
I thought that I read somewhere that Trupan was fermaldyhyde free.
cj

foamcarver
04-05-2007, 12:14 PM
Yes we use trupan alot, I think it also cuts a lot cleaner than mdf

Nikki

billp
04-05-2007, 12:51 PM
CJ,
Trupan supposedly has about 5% of the formaldahyde that you'll find in standard MDF products...
Jack,
If you're worried about your headboard being "kid safe" you might consider sealing it with a clear shellac. When dried shellac is non toxic and regularly used on products that are intended for use by children. It's even food safe.

henrik_o
04-05-2007, 01:26 PM
Like Danny said, seal it.

Yes, a small piece of MDF like the one you mention will outgass trace amounts of formaldehyde if the material contains it.

Realistically speaking, it's so little that it doesn't make any difference per se, though if used in a poorly ventilated environment with major outgassing from large volume construction materials it could add to that -- but if so, then you've got a lot more to worry about than that piece of mdf.

Overall, the materials we all work with outgass nasty stuff. It really doesn't matter what we use, engineered or natural, there's always trace amounts evaporating. Some woods are better than others, and some engineered products are better than others, but in the end something always escapes.

We've been back and forth on this issue since we work a lot with old churches where sometimes they have very strict demands on emission levels --antique textiles, wood sculptures and paints can be very susceptible to it. I don't think there is any hard science here, I have had a look at the literature (a very brief one, mind you) and I haven't really found a solution, other than three basic rules:

1) Find the best wood for the application, one that outgasses something that doesn't affect the particular material of concern (for example, certain softwoods for storing textiles with fine metal threads in them, avoiding the hardwoods).

2) Older is usually better (though the reverse is true of a very few species). While microscopic amounts of outgassing probably never ends, due to humiditiy changes influencing the wood's chemistry, the vast amount of the already small emission levels take place within five years. If you have wood that's been dry stored for five years, chances are ~90% of outgassing has taken place and the resins have stabilized.

3. When in doubt, seal it. We usually only seal the side adjacent to the fragile material, and try to construct ventilation flows such that what outgasses on the other side is transfered away, since --over time-- I don't trust the polys to be able to "hold" a piece sealed all around.

Actually, there's a fourth point here as well: use common sense. Yes, there will be emissions, but do they really matter?

I've had customers argue back and forth about the emissions from a certain piece of bed furniture, only to have them pick up a packet of cigarettes from their pocket as they go out the door... I mean, seriously, what's the damn point, you'll have more nasty stuff permanently stuck in your body from _one_ of those cigarettes than you'll get from a _lifetime_ sleeping in that mahogany bed.

Anyway, my 2 cents.