Read ahead to learn how to paint furniture the non-toxic way, and fill your home with plants that can absorb airborne toxins.
For about 10 years now, I've been extremely sensitive to the fumes of many different chemicals. I love to embark on all sorts of projects, and many of them involve painting or staining. When I decided to refinish dining room table a few years back, I quickly discovered my sensitivity.
Just a whiff of any stain, even water based, makes me nauseas and results in a nasty headache. Sometimes I even feel slightly feverish and weak. Needless to say, I do not use traditional stains anymore. I've been experimenting with the fabric dye Rit, and have had great success using it as a stain for wood. It's not as straight forward a process as using traditional stain but it's well worth the effort.
Wood stains made with petroleum and chemical based solvents are quite harmful. As they dry, these stains emit VOC's which are volatile organic chemicals. VOC's are particularly harmful in closed spaces such as our homes, and can result in serious health issues. People may have skin, eye, and lung irritations which may compromise breathing and cause headache. Longterm exposure can cause cancer, damage to the nervous system, and liver and kidney damage.
If people do wish to use these high VOC paints and stains, they should wear an organic vapor cartridge fitted mask. It is also very important to open windows or take the project outside where the chemicals won't get trapped in the home.
Common VOC's:
Benzene
Benzene is a solvent that's quite common and present in paints, oils, inks, gasoline, rubber and plastics. This is of concern because many products in our home were manufactured using benzene, that now off-gas VOC's into the surrounding air.
Trichloroethylene (TCE)
TCE is a potent liver carcinogen used by many industries such as printing inks, paints, varnishes, lacquers, and adhesives. The dry cleaning and metal degreasing industry use over 90% of all TCE.
Formaldehyde Formaldehyde is an extremely common VOC present in almost all indoor environments. So many types of furniture incorporate particle board or pressed-wood products which contain formaldehyde. Urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins are used to treat facial tissue, paper towels, grocery bags, and waxed paper. Many house hold cleaning products also contain formaldehyde. UF resins are also in wrinkle resisters, permanent pressed clothing, carpet backing and the adhesive binders of floor coverings. Even cigarette smoke and cooking fuels contain formaldehyde. It's almost impossible to avoid a life without formaldehyde, but interaction can be minimized with serious attention and effort.
There are many plants that actually absorb and sequester VOC's from the air. It is best to simply avoid products that omit VOC's altogether, but this isn't always possible. Plants aren't the total solution to VOC's but they can definitely be part of the clean up crew. Placed throughout the home various types of plants can absorb many harmful chemicals that might be circulating.
Areca Palm or"Butterfly Palm"
The Butterfly Palm was named one of the best air purifying plants, after a scientific study was completed by Wolverton and Nasa. It is the best plant known to remove xylene and toluene from the air and an easy plant to care for, great for low light rooms. It does enjoy humidity but doesn't require frequent watering.
Bamboo Palm
The bamboo palm is extremely effective in removing formaldehyde, one of the most prevalent VOC's in the home. The bamboo palm releases water vapor and is wonderful at increasing the humidity of dry homes. This plant can also absorb the chemical benzene which is another insidious VOC present in all sorts of household plastics and rubber.
Rubber Plant
This easy to grow plant is excellent for removing formaldehyde from circulating air. Add this plant to your home to help mitigate those chemicals.
Dracaena “Janet Craig”
The Janet Craig plant has been tested to clean close to 78% of benzene from the air within a 24 hour period. It also is one of the most efficient plants that remove TCE- trichloroethylene from our air.
Peace Lily
The Peace Lily plant can remove a mixed bag of organic compounds from the air including alcohols, acetone, benzene, TCE, and formaldehyde. As with the bamboo palm, the Peace lily also releases water vapor thereby increasing humidity in the home.
There are many other plants helpful at reducing circulating VOC's, but the ones mentioned above are quite easy to maintain and particularly effective. Everyone can easily increase the indoor air quality of their home by simply adding plants to every room. We still don't know all of nature's secrets but many answers to our problems can be solved with simple, natural solutions.
Here is my first video of a 2 part series showing chalk paint application, followed by Rit dye for a shabby chic distressed look for oak furniture.
Part 2 of the video showing application of Rit onto oak furniture.
Note: I only show this to inspire people and show what is possible with a little creativity. I cannot say for certain if this will work for you or your specific project.
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