Looking for the best furniture for your home? – Don’t forget that it should not only be beautiful and comfortable, but also environmentally friendly! After all, only environmentally friendly furniture will benefit your home and preserve the health of your loved ones. This is especially important if you have children growing up at home.
Don't know where to get these items? home environment? – You have already found them. You can buy environmentally friendly furniture from us - at a competitive price and with a quality guarantee. So, you can choose and order from usWiemann bed for only 27.7126 rubles to ensure healthy environmental situation in your bedroom, or for 29,159 rubles. Most other companies offer such furniture at significantly higher prices.
Why should you choose eco-friendly furniture?
As you know, furniture is made from various wood materials. This can be not only pure wood - very often semi-synthetic materials made from wood chips, including artificial fillers, are used. Such furniture has an attractive appearance and good performance characteristics. However, when in indoors it is capable of producing toxic fumes. And even if the percentage of their content in the air inhaled by a person is negligible, over time this can affect the health of those living in the apartment in the most negative way.
Such factors have a particularly detrimental effect on the health of children, causing them allergies and a tendency to diseases of the upper respiratory tract. And therefore, it is better to refuse to purchase such furniture in favor of options that are more suitable for a person.
Features of eco-friendly furniture
Eco-friendly furniture is produced using natural materials, mainly - pure wood. However, in the production of furniture, in any case, it is necessary to use various adhesives and varnishes - otherwise the products will not have an attractive appearance. In the production of environmentally friendly furniture, the use of such substances is permitted, but with great restrictions. Thus, only those materials that do not produce toxic fumes and cannot harm human health can be used. normal conditions exploitation in any other way.
We only sell this type of furniture. A considerable part of our German-made samples have a Blue Angel certificate, which indicates the highest degree of its environmental friendliness and suitability for use in any apartment and children's rooms. Such furniture not only has good external qualities - it will under no circumstances harm your health or the health of the younger generation of your family.
Furniture – with health benefits!
You may not believe it, but using good, eco-friendly furniture can help improve your well-being, and even your overall health. If you use just such furniture in the interior of your home and get rid of the old one, the content of harmful substances in the air will sharply decrease, and you will very quickly feel how much easier it has become to breathe in the apartment. You will no longer be tormented by allergy attacks, headaches will stop, and you will even catch colds less often. Your children will delight you with increased academic performance and physical activity. After all, they will receive more oxygen and significantly fewer harmful substances. And this is very important for them full development, both mental and physical. With such furniture, your children will grow up healthy, and you will not have to constantly take them to doctors and look for the causes of their next ailment.
Eco-friendly children's furniture is really important!
When caring for the well-being and harmonious development of children, it is important not to lose sight of providing them with a healthy, environmentally friendly environment at home. Especially in the children's room. By purchasing eco-friendly furniture for your child, you will provide him with the opportunity to breathe clean air, and harmful substances will not enter his body. But if we talk about children, it is important to mention not only the fact that there are no toxic fumes, but also the safety of the material itself. After all, kids can allow food to come into contact with pieces of furniture, and even just try to taste them. At the same time, eco-friendly furniture will not harm them at all.
In addition, perhaps you yourself have repeatedly felt that products made from natural materials have their own warm aura, good energy. Children feel this too, but even more acutely than adults. They feel that such furniture is truly alive, that it breathes and does not get cold. The child feels in a comfortable environment, feels a beneficial atmosphere, and can develop harmoniously.
The best furniture
Thus, eco-friendly furniture is superior to conventional furniture in many respects. And it will be useful in any apartment, bringing joy to life to both children and adults.
Eco-furniture Furniture made from environmentally friendly natural materials (wood, stone, glass, leather, bamboo) that do not contain toxic substances harmful to human health.
Harm
Harmful substances in furniture
Almost all furniture sets made of wood, including solid wood, can emit significant amounts of free formaldehyde in the living areas of houses. Typical materials, used in the manufacture of furniture include chipboard, MDF (fibreboard) and plywood, the production of which uses formaldehyde resins. For wooden products these resins are used as internal adhesives.
Phenol is extremely toxic. It is very quickly absorbed by the skin, through the upper respiratory tract it easily penetrates the human body and its gastrointestinal tract. Phenol is concentrated in the liver and kidneys. It destroys the immune system, has an irritating effect on the mucous membrane of the mouth, nasopharynx, upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract. Such exposure leads to a runny nose, dizziness, headaches, insomnia, vomiting, and shortness of breath.
Inhalation of phenol causes severe irritation of the mucous membranes, its contact with the skin leads to burns, and chronic poisoning leads to damage to the liver and kidneys, subsequently to pathogenic changes in the blood.
Most of the sales wooden furniture made from wood materials using urea formaldehyde resins. They are especially noticeable where fiberboard and chipboard are used - which are the main materials on which plywood or veneer (or, in the case of inexpensive furniture, a laminate based on paper or plastic) is applied.
Almost all wood composite materials are created by hot pressing of prepared waste. The binder in this process, as a rule, is a phenol-formaldehyde alcohol-soluble resin, which tends to subsequently release free formaldehyde, which doctors call a “chronic toxin.” This volatile substance can adversely affect human health.
Formaldehyde vapors irritate the mucous membrane of the eyes and upper respiratory tract (nose and throat), have a harmful effect on the skin and all kinds of allergic reactions. Prolonged inhalation of its fumes can lead to:
- Headaches
- Insomnia
- Atypical fatigue
- Depression
- Asthma
Due to formaldehyde poisoning, the following symptoms appear:
- Mucous, watery nasal discharge
- Irritation and infection of the sinuses
- Nosebleed
- Cough and salivation
- Sore throat
- A rash appears
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Diarrhea
- Chest pain and abdominal pain
- Menstrual irregularities
- Unnatural Thirst
In most apartments, the level of formaldehyde exceeds the norm - instead of the required 0.04-0.06 ppm, its indicators are 0.07-0.09 ppm. Only bathroom or kitchen furniture can raise the level of formaldehyde in a living space to 0.10 ppm or higher, especially if it is new.
Benefit
Eco-friendly furniture
In the manufacture of environmentally friendly furniture, only natural wood (pine, beech, ash, birch, oak) and environmentally friendly PVA-based glue are used.
The production of eco-furniture from solid natural wood is accompanied by high-quality wood processing.
Upholstery options for natural, non-electric textile fabrics - organic cotton, bamboo, linen, silk, soy. No pesticides or other chemicals are used in their cultivation. The production of environmentally friendly materials of this textile must have OEKO-TEX, Organic Exchange or GOTS certificates, confirming that the material does not use harmful chemicals and azo dyes.
Leather upholstered furniture painted with eco-paints lasts the longest.
Cork is quite in demand today, lightweight and pleasant to the touch, environmentally friendly safe material. Used for floors and walls. Excellent noise absorption, which is especially important for a children's room. Unlike wood cork covering does not rot, and also does not burn, without releasing substances hazardous to health into the air.
You can lay a mat (matting) on the floor. It is woven from environmentally friendly natural materials- from cane, flax, coconut fiber. The mat not only protects the floor, but also improves the microclimate in the room.
From natural stone they make a countertop in the kitchen, which is very practical, but quite expensive. The most common materials are marble and granite. Less common are onyx, travertine, slate, and limestone.
Also environmentally friendly are ordinary ceramic or today’s fashionable glass tiles or mosaics.
Environmentally friendly materials for furniture
To protect yourself from harmful effects chemicals that harmful furniture evaporates, carefully inspect all your furniture - all scratches and cracks noticed on it should be covered with PVA glue, or furniture varnish, polish or paint. Ventilate rooms where chipboard furniture is located more often. Distribute chipboard furniture so that there is no accumulation of it in one place - this can reduce the concentration of toxic substances in the atmosphere of the home.
In order to save money, unscrupulous manufacturers leave chipboard exposed in areas invisible to the eye (bottom of countertops, internal partitions near cabinets, inside bedside tables, etc.). Manufacturers who care about the health of their customers are sure to cover all surfaces and edges of chipboard protective film or veneer, that's all drilled holes sealed, which at least partially protects from harmful fumes.
When choosing furniture made from chipboard, fiberboard or MDF, make sure that the veneer evenly and airtightly covers the furniture around the entire perimeter. But even the highest quality chipboard tables and cabinets may develop cracks and chips on the surface over time. Chipboard releases poisons for a very long time - at least 10-15 years. Furniture made from MDF is considered safer. MDF is about 13-15% more expensive than chipboard.
Formaldehyde is found not only in wood, but also in plastic furniture. Furniture made from plywood and solid wood, or entirely solid wood, can also be a significant source of formaldehyde. IN in this case they are the oxidizing finishing (paint and varnish, etc.) materials used in its manufacture, containing urea-formaldehyde, which are actively released into the environment, especially during the first six months after use. Once most of the volatile formaldehyde has been released (usually a reduction of 50 percent or more), indoor levels may be a fraction of what they were when the products were new.
Natural wood furniture solid wood 10-25% more expensive than MDF (including due to the labor intensity of production and processing complexity). In most types of wood, the natural formaldehyde content is only slightly lower than in chipboard, but in some varieties it reaches 12 mg100g. In the production of solid wood furniture parts, glue, varnishes and stains are used; all these materials contain formaldehyde, phenol and other chemicals.
Thus, the statement that furniture made from natural wood is absolutely environmentally friendly is not entirely true. Even solid wood furniture is a source of formaldehyde (it completely evaporates only after 7-12 years). Although a significant reduction is expected, the problem does not disappear, as one might think. Significant continuous release of formaldehyde may occur as the polymer resin undergoes hydrolytic degradation. For this reason, the release of free formaldehyde from products containing formaldehyde resins may occur for an indefinite period.
Many consumers believe that wooden furniture is completely environmentally friendly and safe, but if the processing technologies for natural wood (alder, pine, etc.) are not followed, the quality of such boards leaves much to be desired, despite their natural origin. In this case alternative option Eco-furniture can be made by making furniture boards yourself from wood (pine, beech, alder, birch, oak, etc.).
It can be concluded that in terms of environmental safety furniture made from MDF or chipboard is not significantly different from furniture made from solid wood, and the price is much cheaper. The main difference is to which “emission class” of free formaldehyde they belong. Chipboard and MDF have the same mechanical strength With natural wood. MDF according to some mechanical properties may even surpass it, and is better able to retain its shape under conditions of variable humidity than solid wood products.
The ideal emission class for eco-furniture in terms of formaldehyde emissions is considered zero (E0), but such furniture is difficult to find. One (E1) is an acceptable option, two (E2) is average, and three (E3) is hazardous to health.
At the time of buying upholstered furniture Avoid products with foam rubber - over time it decomposes, which leads to the release of harmful substances.
When purchasing eco-furniture, give preference to upholstery made from natural, non-electric fabrics.
Today, environmentally friendly furniture is quite difficult to find, but more and more people are doing eco-renovation and are interested in materials that are safe for health, although the prices for eco-friendly furniture are an order of magnitude higher than for mass-produced low-quality furniture that emits toxic toxic substances.
The environment at home plays a significant role in maintaining and preserving human health. Wall and floor decoration, furniture, textile materials can cause serious complications and exacerbations chronic diseases, if harmful components were used in their production. IN modern world many manufacturers focus on production environmentally friendly furniture, which is in increasing demand among buyers who prefer a healthy environment in their home.
Pieces of furniture are bought for more than one year, so even a slight content of harmful impurities in the materials, varnishes and paints that were used in their manufacture can cause harm during prolonged contact with a person. One of the most dangerous substances used in furniture production, is formaldehyde. Even a small concentration of it in the air can provoke allergies and asthma. Therefore, when buying furniture, especially for a child’s room or bedroom, it is important to purchase environmentally friendly products.
Why you should choose wooden furniture
Give preference to furniture from natural wood – right choice, because wood contains beneficial phytoncides that are released even when the product has been in use for several years. In addition, it is no secret that trees have positive energy. Do not think that furniture is made from solid massif not affordable for everyone. Domestic producers They make excellent products from inexpensive species - birch and pine.
In addition, the tree fits perfectly not only into, but also into almost any.
Furniture made from wicker - an eco-furniture option for home and garden
Beautiful and practical furniture wicker from wicker is in increasing demand. Originally intended for country houses, it has successfully taken root in city apartments. Elegant tables, cabinets, armchairs and especially beloved rocking chairs are made from rattan, willow or bamboo. It also occurs combined options with glass or steel. Such items, despite their elegance and apparent fragility, can last up to 25 years. They do not require special care, are easy to clean with a vacuum cleaner, and the only drawback- They are afraid of rain.
How to check if furniture is environmentally friendly
- When purchasing, ask the sellers for an environmental certificate. The presence of a certificate guarantees that the product does not contain, for example, cadmium, used in paints, or lead.
- If New furniture publishes Strong smell, it is worth thinking about its environmental friendliness. Despite the fact that, according to GOST, the smell should disappear in no more than 2.5 months, such a purchase can result in an unnecessary headache. After all, your well-being largely depends on the air in your apartment.
- When choosing a bed or sofa, avoid products with foam rubber - over time it decomposes, which leads to the release of harmful substances.
- Give preference to upholstery made from natural, non-electric fabrics.
My home is my castle! This phrase can often be heard from people trying to make their home as safe as possible from external enemies. However, we do not always think about the internal security of our home. Meanwhile, invisible enemies can easily attack us and harm our health. It's about about the toxic chemicals in our internal environment, which do not contribute to our health.
The fact is that at the moment there is a wide variety of furniture on sale that is beautiful and comfortable. However, in the process of a competitive race, manufacturers often do not focus on the safety of their products, but rather think more about how to sell them better and faster due to beauty, functionality, and a cheap price. In such cases, the consumer has to learn to navigate the peculiarities of the furniture market on his own.
Let's figure out what materials it's made from. modern furniture and determine the most suitable ones for use in our home.
Solid wood.
It is usually considered the most environmentally friendly furniture. Such furniture is made from pine, birch, oak, walnut, mahogany, alder, etc. It is the most expensive on the market and often lacks trendy appeal (in the form of print, color, design), and in order to to meet your needs - most often made individually, to order. It is more durable and safer from the point of view of releasing hazardous substances. However, even in it there may be some danger from the point of view of the environmental friendliness of the adhesives used in its manufacture, varnishes, paints, as well as special additives for treating surfaces against pests and water ingress. Such furniture must be ordered only from reliable manufacturers with quality certificates for their products.
Chipboard.
Woody - particle board made from sawdust and chips that stick together special resins, alas, most often containing formaldehyde, are then sanded and painted with enamels, which may contain phenol. After the production of the boards, they are usually laminated - covered with a paper-resin film, and then the material acquires the name laminated chipboard.
Typically, such a film prevents the release of harmful aldehydes into the air. Therefore, if you have furniture made of chipboard, then check its integrity on the surfaces, and, if necessary, seal these places with PVA or varnish. Also ensure that all edges and seams exposing chipboard material were intact, this will reduce the concentration of dangerous resins that may be released through them.
Fiberboard.
Fiberboard is made by pressing wood fibers with the addition of binding elements, which also most often contain phenol and formaldehyde, etc.
MDF.
Medium-density fiberboard is made by dry pressing fibers and gluing them together using paraffin and lingin (natural wood glue). Thus, MDF boards safer for our health, but only if they high quality workmanship, since manufacturers can use instead of natural adhesives epoxy resins, chemical adhesives, which also release formaldehyde.
Plastic.
Plastic furniture is safe only if it is manufactured in accordance with quality standards and is used in rooms without temperature changes, outside the influence of sun rays and heating (batteries, next to gas stoves etc.) In this case, the risk of release of polymer compounds (styrene) is quite low. However, you should not abuse its quantity in the interior, because over time, the outer covering layer is imperceptibly destroyed and harmful substances are released.
Furniture made from other natural materials
: vine (branches of shrubby willows), rattan - palm vines, reeds meet all environmental requirements and will add pleasant variety to your interior.
Whatever furniture you choose, always ask for an environmental safety certificate from the seller, which will indicate the formaldehyde emission coefficient: E 0- perfect option, E1 is an acceptable option, E2 is an average level, E3 is a dangerous option.
Thus, the safest for furniture are natural materials and MDF, provided they are made of high quality.
By buying very expensive things, or household goods that are completely free of harmful impurities, you automatically become an eco-consumer. Eco-furniture – is it really safe? Which upholstery is better to buy and which to refuse?
It is useful to purchase things that are safe for both the buyer and the manufacturer; only then can they be considered completely environmentally friendly.
Eco-friendly furniture: truth and myths
Wooden furniture has always been considered environmentally friendly. Is it really? It turns out that the cleanest array is treated with oil or wax.
But natural solid wood will not always be environmentally friendly pure material. You should not purchase a bleached array, since chlorine-containing substances are used during processing to achieve this effect.
MDF or chipboard, what to choose? Is chipboard really that dangerous?
- Chipboard should not be placed in the sun or near heat sources - on a heated floor or near a radiator; it can emit harmful substances.
- You should also be afraid of chips and scratches.
In all other cases, chipboard is quite safe, but it cannot be classified as an environmentally friendly material.
MDF is safer, but not ideal, because it is not a natural material. Both materials must be varnished or laminated. Here it is important to pay attention to what kind of varnish or composition the MDF is coated with.
Only water-based varnishes do not emit harmful substances, but they will also last less.
Is the filling of upholstered furniture fraught with danger?
Do you know what your sofa, pillow, chair is filled with? Is your mattress dangerous? Do not know? And completely in vain! can be dangerous, and the pillow can cause allergies and various diseases. How to determine what to buy?
Let's start with polyurethane foam, the most common material in everyday life today.
You can only buy polyurethane foam without freon, which should be written on the product tag. This means that the inside is made of synthetic fibers, or processed down or feathers. But even here there are skeletons in the closet; some manufacturers treat down and feathers with chemicals. So that they don’t settle in them dust mites. It is better when processing is done using sterilization. Such goods are marked with a green tag.
Dangerous cotton - non-hazardous flax
Are you sure that cotton is an environmentally friendly and safe material? Do you know how it is assembled? Even during harvest, cotton is subjected to chemical exposure. To make the leaves fall off and expose the cotton boll, the plant is sprinkled with detergents. But that’s not all - the cotton is then processed using bleaching, lightening and dyeing with synthetic dyes.
But flax is not afraid of insects, it is easier to collect - flax is not treated with chemicals. Are you looking for a completely safe, eco-friendly material? Choose unbleached linen.
What clothes are safe for health?
Choose clothes that wrinkle. Uncomfortable? Be prepared for an unpleasant filling: to prevent the upholstery from becoming wrinkled, it is treated with a mixture of resins that contain a very unpleasant cocktail of formaldehyde and glyoxal. To make cotton white, it is impregnated with special substances that contain dioxins. Alas, environmentally friendly products are available only in the elite segment; everything else is fiction. For such products, raw materials are collected by hand, without using chemicals. And then coated with beeswax, paraffin or oil. How do you know if a product is safe?
Look for a tag with the "Green Cotton" icon
Upholstery with a surprise
If your sofa upholstery or mattress cover is washable, don't be happy - it contains chemicals that help the cover not shrink, and is often treated with artificial resins, which can easily contain formaldehyde.
So, so as not to be afraid your own sofa and upholstery, choose upholstery that can be dry cleaned only.
Another option is to purchase sofas upholstered in organic wool; look for the following inscription on the tag: Wolle organic wool. Organic wool is not subject to any impact. But you should know that the price of such wool is enormous, as it is rare.
Silk upholstery is quite safe for humans, but since chemicals are used to speed up growth, formaldehyde and substances that disinfect can sometimes be found in it. To make silk heavier, solutions of metal salts and silicates are used. It is not dangerous to humans, but when disposed of it is very harmful to environment, which is why silk is not considered a completely eco-product.
Eco-style often uses cheaper materials made from primary raw materials; usually you can see three twisted ribbons on the tag.
Can you call skin environmentally friendly material? Yes, leather is completely environmentally friendly, even though natural acids and chromium salts are used during processing - all these substances are safe for humans. But colored leather can be dangerous, because it is not clear what dyes were used.
