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honeyhaze

Chemical Scent in IKEA Shelving?

honeyhaze
15 years ago

I'm expecting in February and have been furnishing our nursery for the past several months. SOMETHING in there is giving off a terrible chemical scent. I've tried to narrow it down, but I haven't had any luck so far. Here's what we have:

- Babymod crib. This was the first item put into the room and it didn't smell bad at all. I don't think this is the problem.

- Pressboard moldings. I bought these by mistake and we ended up installing them anyway. They had an odor when I first stacked them in the room and they might be the offending party, but I'm not sure.

- IKEA Poang chair. This thing REEKED when I first brought it home and opened the package. It was the cushions. I aired them out in the sun for a couple of weeks and the scent dramatically faded after awhile. When I put my nose up to a cushion now there isn't any detectable scent coming from it.

- IKEA Expedit shelving. These also had a strong odor when I installed them. What's up with IKEA stuff smelling so bad?

I'm not sure what to do. I know I made a mistake by using fiberboard that likely has formaldehyde in it, but there's not a whole lot I can do now. The moldings are nailed up. The shelving is assembled and I wouldn't be able to pick up anything similar if I sold it and tried to buy solid wood. I've tried washing the surfaces with PureAyee, I've put out bowls of baking soda and other odor absorbents, without much effect. I even filled the room with air purifying plants... one of the plants seemed to get kind of sick in there and I had to take it out (the others are fine).

I've had all the windows open and intend to continue airing out the room for as long as I can. It's been months. The chemical scent has faded some, but any time I close the windows I notice the smell again within an hour or two. Something in there is off-gassing likely crazy. I'm worried that this will continue after the baby is born and I'll have to start disassembling the room so that it's usable and doesn't have a chemical odor.

What can I do? I'm pretty sure it's either the crown molding or the shelving. Aside from removing them, I'll try anything. Different plants? A special type of spray? Some kind of surface treatment? I'll give it all a shot...

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