Curbly

"All you DIY ers"

Let the disdain shine through... Well, you put us in OUR place :)

No worries. It was fun.

Trade my mattress in for a pallet bed??? No way! Use one for a pillow??? No way! I have been known to sleep on the ground before, but I think I'm done with those days :)

I don't think there was a misunderstanding. It's hard sometimes to "get" the tone of someone's typed word, and if I sounded harsh, it was purely unintended. (But I do love me some lively conversation.) No worries here, hope there's none there. --zDavid

Wow! It seems we have a misunderstanding. I would sooner rest my head on a pallett than modly carpet, as well. And, what you say about carpet is true, if it's not cared for. We regularly steam clean our carpet & replace it when necessary. Pallets don't undergo regular cleaning & are exposed to who knows what in shipping and factories and wherever. At least, I have a pretty good idea what comes in contact with my carpet. In fact, I'm fairly certain it has managed to avoid any and all infectious diseases. But, if you are happier on a pallet, be my guest. I don't care where you lay our head. I was just trying to give an alternative opinion so we could all have an engaging conversation. I did get that the blogger was opening this up for discussion but you seemed to be out to convert us all to the magnaimous pallet. Well, enjoy your pallets. In fact, why don't you trade your mattress and your bath towels in for pallets. After all, I don't thinK you take your bed out into those UV rays you are so fond of & who knows what might have happened to it in the big bad indoors.  

It's amazing to me that this thread refuses to die. My 2 cents has been given a fair shake here, but I feel the need to add another penny. Comparing palletes to carpet? I'm not so sure this is at all a fair comparison. In fact, I'm sure it's not a fair comparison. Used carpet is dirty, filthy even. A year or two of tracking in everything from ordinary soil to tiny bits of hair, fur, dander, and fecal matter from everything that moves make a carpet a living biohazard of its own -- this in addition to the array of chemicals used in manufacturing the stuff. I'd rest better laying my head down on a wood pallet of indeterminant origin. And as for pallets being stored outside, I actually think this is a good idea as ultraviolet light will often take care of many molds and bacteria. Yeah, give me an outdoor pallet any day over a moldering carpet that's spent its life indoors.

I think I'm on Nick's side. My boyfriend has his own carpet cleaning company. We know that if a capet is waterlogged for more than 3 days there is bacteria in it that you can not get out, as well, we know that anything with certain kinds of molds must be destroyed. I love upcycling, but I think there are limits to what I am willing to upcycle. This is a soft porous surface, not unlike carpet, that we know can soak up all sorts of things. I have some friends that have serious allergies & I'd hate to have a ruined time at my house because they got sick from something that I didn't know was in my pallett. Though, I do think bleach cleans most things, I'm not convinced that it can reach into the very center of the wood & I know it doesn't kill everything. I think I'll keep my upcycling of pallets to outdoor planters & such. I am not a plant expert, but I wouldn't be surprised if germs & things can effect a dead tree differently than a live tree.

Cheaplike meblog talks about pallets releasing formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, into the air.

http://www.cheaplikemeblog.com/environment/dont-reuse-wood-pallets/

http://www.pallettruth.com/blog/page/2/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumers-at-risk-one-in-six-wood-pallets-in-los-angeles-discovered-with-potentially-deadly-pathogens-96477019.html

So here's my two-cents worth.  I happen to be the owner of a company that manufactures pallets.  We do have a few people purchase them for building things...for inside and outside their homes.  It's just wood.  It's true that some pallets have been chemically treated, but we do not do that at our facility.  Ask for a heat-treated pallet that has not been outside at all.  We store many of ours indoors once they have been built and heat-treated (no chemicals and it kills all living matter). You can purchase used, heat-treated ones as well.  If you pick them up from along side the road, outside of a business, whatever, of course you won't know what's been on them.  I say,  don't sweat the small stuff.  Everything has germs, etc. on it, so you can't spend all your time worrying about that.  I'm pretty sure if you wash them off a bit, a used pallet is just fine for using indoors our outdoors.

My 2 cents to this. If you are that scared of chemicals mold and bird droppings, then never buy a house by any builder. The wood often stands in the rain or gets rained on during the framing, as the roof is the last that gets attached. People spit all the time on the flooring, chemicals from the gluing process in osb boards and other things are always around. Nothing you buy out of a store is even clean, you are supposed to wash things down in soapy water. I always spray my woods with a natural cleaner (white vinegar) and let it dry. They used it in the old days to kill bacteria and other stuff. NOTHING you buy or scanvenge is 100% clean. Get a life

Nick needs to simmerdown and get some perspective.

Bleach Baby!

NIck@Cupboards has made a fine case in what happens when you don't properly clean whatever you got.  I mean, does anyone wear just-bought clothes or do you wash them first?   Lice and flesh-eating bacteria could be all over those things!  Most people who catch flesh-eating bacteria sure weren't dirty humans, and they still got it. 

If possibilities are a concern for you, then go ahead and choose another building material.  Before that, though, look up the USDA standard on insect parts, rat poop, and other stuff can be in/on your food and still be edible... and then compare that to what you were told was on pallet wood.

For me, I will keep on using pallets.  Fearmongering is just that - fearmongering.  I understand that Nick expresses a concern.  But,  Nick's comments at the end of his articule recommends buying a better grade of lumber, which is antiethical to the upcycle/recycle/repurpose spirit that pallet wood construction embodies.  If that suits you, go ahead.  I prefer my upcycle DIY aesthetic

First of all, who uses pallets wo properly cleaning and disinfecting????  DUH!   ALL wood has been exposed to bird droppings, insects, rodents and their droppings, human and other animal waste.  Look out your window next time at the tree's in your yard and I'm sure you'll find a bird's nest, squirrels running up and down, a dog lifting his leg to pee, etc.   Common sense.   Whatever you are going to use to make anything should be properly sanitized before using.

PS....All of your canned, dry and basically all other grocery items, etc have been exposed to the same things the pallets have been exposed to - AS THEY WERE SHIPPED ON THE PALLETS!

I understand the arguement I really do but at the same time the average materials used to build a home containe chemicals also... blah blah
either way i just got done walling an entire room with planks pulled from 80 pallets.
however they were sanded and varnished does it make it any better? i dont know but im happy with it

ive taken on alot of projects reusing what people call trash or non usable materials
with any project comes an amount of time that has to be taken to deam the project safe
all hes done with his rant is bring to light the fact you have to deam the wood unsafe and take steps to make it safe for your use the level of safe is pending what your using the material for.
my 2 cents

This is the post that refuses to die? I think everyone here has some valid points to consider. Honestly for me, I'm not more worried about pallets than I am any other "product" of similar origin. But if I must digress, I actually see very few finished products made of pallets that I'd want in my home any way. Don't get me wrong, I think that are some very creative people out there! Me, I'd rather pull the pallet apart and just use the wood than to use a whole pallet.

I like Michelle's comment. Dead on if you ask me. Wood is wood, lots of natural things are drawn to it, it's no different than anything you deal with everyday. I'm still planning on making a pallet coffee table, and, WHAT? I'm going to add chemicals to it, NO! Say it isn't so. (I plan to paint it, lol) Grow up people, don't play into the hype, think about it rationally and move on and build your projects anyway. :)

I am a buyer for a warehouse and I disagree with the statement of boring insects. There are pallets that are stamped with an "HT" on the corner posts. These pallets are heat treated and protected from insects and mold. This is because product coming from overseas, mainly China, is not allowed to have any type of insects or mold. This would result in a rejecting of the shipment while in Customs. Furthermore Customs sends each pallet through a "Fogger" for added protection from these issues. While Nick provided a good argument, it does not apply to all pallets.

I plan to use my pallets for an outdoor project of a bench and a table.  Here's the thing.. I can get an untreated pallet and then sand it down.  But then to protect it from the elements I am going to put a coating of some kind of chemical on it.  I sit on a coach that is covered in chemicals so that it is stain resistant.  As far the creatures... I live in the country, they are everywhere.  And when our food is being stored in warehouses are we sure that these little pesty little creatures are not running all over the place doing their business on the things that we actually DO place in our mouths.  One more thing that I think we should remember - lumber comes from nature and all the little bugs that bore into our wood could probably be there when the tree is acutally cut down.  In order to get rid of these bugs and make the lumber withstand the elements, we treat it with chemicals.  It seems to be a never ending cycle that seems to surround us everywhere. It will not change my mind and I love to find out all the great ideas that pallets can be made into.