We did a series of posts on how to evaluate a quality sofa about two years ago, and judging from the questions we get from people, we thought it might be time to re-post these! The 3-part series is divided into evaluating a sofa frame, cushioning materials and fabric (of course!). Herewith, the first post: …
California has approved a new flammability standard for residential furniture that is receiving widespread praise among environmentalists. But we’d like you to examine, with us, some details about the new standard that you’ll need to know to keep you and your family safe from these extremely toxic chemicals. California is the only state in the …
Buying a sofa is a big committment: it dominates the room, costs a lot, and should be presentable for at least 10 years. So let’s say that you’ve cruised the stores, sat in the sofas, lifted them, pushed and probed – and decided on a version that looks and feels right. And you’ve made sure that …
If a fabric is identified as 100% “cotton” – or even 100% “organic cotton” — it’s important to remember that processing the fiber, and then weaving it into fabric, is very chemically intense. One-quarter of the total weight of the finished fabric is made up of synthetic chemicals, so it’s important to know that the …
Design decisions influence our health –so your choice of a sofa fabric could influence you and your family in ways far beyond what you imagined. Our children start life with umbilical cords infused with chemicals that affect the essence of human life itself – the ability to learn, reason and reproduce. And fabric – which …
We’ve looked at the frame, suspension system and cushioning on a sofa; next up: fabric. We consider fabric to be a very important, yet certainly misunderstood, component of furniture. It can make up 40 – 45% of the price of a sofa. So we’ll be breaking this topic up into several smaller bite size portions: …
A current theme in the blogosphere is that organic sofas are expensive, so let’s see what that could mean. We often hear that organic stuff costs more than conventional stuff, and that only the rich can take advantage of the benefits of organic products. That is true of food prices – organic food typically costs …
In my last post I explained that polyurethane foam (polyfoam) has a plethora of problems associated with it: The chemicals used to manufacture the foam have been formally identified as carcinogens; and the flame retardant chemicals added to almost all foams increase the chemical toxicity. These chemicals evaporate (VOCs) and pollute our indoor air and …
In an upholstered piece of furniture, the cushions need a filler of some kind. Before plastics, our grandparents used feathers, horsehair or wool or cotton batting. But with the advent of plastics, our lives changed. You will now commonly see polyurethane foam, synthetic or natural latex rubber and the new, highly touted soy based foam. …
Each week for the next few weeks we’ll look at the components of sofas, and discuss what makes a particular component “green” or “safe”. We hope this will help you to better understand the claims of sofa manufacturers, and enable you to decide whether you want to support their products with your dollars. We hope you don’t need …
OEcotextiles 