Macbirch,

Where would I find formaldehyde in my house?

(I'm almost afraid of this answer.)

Jackie

MDF and particleboard, no-iron sheets, probably other things. It's one of the hazardous indoor air pollutants. The level of it in MDF varies. Western countries have standards that the manufacturers have to follow. I think some countries even have no formaldehyde MDF. Really annoys me that it's in sheets. I don't lie awake at night thinking about how crumpled my sheets are, and since the packaging often says pure natural cotton I'd rather it really was as pure and natural as possible.

I guess it's getting away a bit from the reduce reuse theme of this forum but I saw it mentioned on a thread in the Kitchen forum and since things seemed a little quiet here I thought I'd start a new thread. I tend to see all these health, environmental, sustainability, pollution, OH&S, etc, issues as being interlinked.

I think the easiest way of reducing this in your house is to buy used stuff. Most of the used stuff has outgased already.
We have three places in my city where you can buy used house parts (one historic, one for low income people, one for people with average houses)
I LOVE it! You can get great used house stuff at all these places.
I just picked up window shutters. HOwever, they have almost new looking kitchen cabs ect, millions of doors and windows and even furniture.
Buying from places like these help us in so many ways!
Also, buying a "pre-owned" house is smarter.
Carpets have alot of carcinogens in them (wall to wall carpets). It is much smarter to get wood or tile floors. these are easier to keep clean also.
I personally don't worry about formaldehyde off-gassing too much. My house was built in the 1800's and most of my furniture is inherited. I am very lucky. When we do renovate or repair things our first stop is the house parts store. I never buy new unless I have too.
When we do buy something new I do alot of research to make sure it will last and last! I don't buy things out of a whim or things that are "trendy".
My fave. place to shop is the amish stores. Their furniture is both beautiful and long lasting AND it is made locally !!

I was unaware sheets have formaldehyde. I haven't really looked into that. I only have 100% cotton sheets and the wrinkle, so hopefully I am safe.

I actually did buy sheets once that were so stiff and stinky (chemically) that I had to wash them at least twice until they were soft enough to use. They had a LOT of dye in them.
Formaldehyde?!? Never would have suspected THAT! THey were sheets that I put on my son's bed. Scary!

Scryn,
I love the idea of a household item reuse "store". As for buying used, it seems to more often be better lasting than buying new.
My husband and I found that its cheaper to buy wood furniture (tables, dressers, etc. ) from an antique store than to buy the crappy particle board made stuff from a retail store.
Jackie

Scrin - what area do you live in that has these wonderful places? I'm also in Zone 6 New York - the lower Hudson Valley. Am I close?

Just noticed the part about purchasing furniture from the Amish. You should be aware that they are among the worst - if not THE worst - perpetuators of puppy-mills in the country. The horrific onditions under which they force these innocent little creatures to live is reason enough for me to have long ago vowed never to purchase anything from the Amish.

Formaldehyde is also in about every soap, detergent, household cleaner shampoo and cosmetic on the market, under various names (like urea) as a preservative. I'm allergic, so I use castile soap, Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies, natural shampoo and detergent.

Urea isn't another name for formaldehyde. The glue in many pressed wood products uses urea-formaldehyde as a resin. Tom

Hi hi,

I have been trying to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals in my home, and this guide has been very very helpful:

http://www.lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?

There are also many links to other resources, including "skin deep" which I have been using extensively.

Happy greening

Hi, I live in Rochester Ny so Hudson valley isn't very close.
However, I bet you that you have similar stores nearby. They are becoming more and more popular.
as far as puppy mills and the amish. I have heard this is a problem. I do find this sad (i actually have two adopted dogs myself) however The stores I go to do not sell dogs and I don't think that all amish people do this. It is unfair to say that. Some of the furniture we purchased was from craftsmen in local areas. So, even if you refuse to buy from the amish there are many non-amish furniture makers out there that use similar crafting techniques. When we ordered our dining room table the chairs came from a person in PA and the table came from a man that was about 2 hours away. Neither were amish, they were just independent craftsmen that sold their furniture through a larger store.
I was looking into organic cotton the other day. It is far to expensive for us to purchase -sigh
-renee

There's a wonderful book called:
How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office

Put the title in Amazon. It tells you which very easily found houseplants will absorb formaldehyde and other chemicals.

Ashita