Please Do Not Use Pallets

There is a huge trend that I am seeing using recycled pallets in making furniture, shelves and in crafts. I know you have seen these pallet projects as they are appearing all over in blogs and on pinterest.

But I warn you, I beg you, please do not use pallets in making furniture and home interior items.  I am a big fan of recycling, re-purposing and using found items but pallets are strictly off limits.

Many pallets are treated with some nasty chemicals like methyl bromide, fungicides and/or pesticides. The wood used in constructing these pallets is very soft. Meaning the pallet wood absorbs everything like a sponge and then holds on to it.

here is an article about some of the chemicals used in treating pallets

Click here to go to article.

Then if the chemicals are bad enough, you don't know where these pallets came from and what was stored on them. Pallets are recycyled and reused many times, so there could be a whole nasty mix of stuff on them.  There can be any kind of hazardous waste to chemicals and even the ones used for food transport could have all kinds of stuff on them to make you sick. I have seen pallets used to move spoiled processed chicken to be dumped.  I don't even want to think of all that nasty spoiled chicken juice soaking into a pallet and then that pallet being remade to hold dishes in a kitchen.

if the link above didn't change your mind on reusing pallets, then here is another.

Click here to go to article.

A consumer group tested pallets for food borne pathogens, including E. coli and Listeria. The findings were alarming: 10 percent of the wood pallets tested had E. coli present.

There are better sources for reclaimed or cheap wood.

And that ends my rant for the day.

Please re-post this blog post and pass it on. 

**I wanted to post pictures but didn't want to offend anyone using pallets for craft and furniture or give ideas for projects that I don't support**

Comments

[donna!ee]

so true, so true...thank you much for sharing! :)

[Toni Brown]

YOU! GO!! PATTY!!!!
I've always had some of that in the back of my mind, because I worked for years in restaurants and saw what bled and oozed and leaked onto the pallets that brought the inventory on those big a** trucks. I didn't even want to go read the articles you linked to (though I did). It's pretty, er, GRODY. Thanks for putting this up. I linked a couple of friends to your post because they've been kicking around the idea of pallet furniture for their PLAYROOMS ... ACK! ACK! ACK!!!!!

[colleen]

Wow..who knew? Thank YOU for letting us know..geesh..scary thought..

[Daisy]

My carpenter friend recently suggested I use pallets for new walls on my composting bin. It's made of old turkey wire and bamboo to support the clematis (sweet autumn) I planted . I've been using it for thirty- plus years and wanted something sturdier.

Some instinct told me not to do it. Now I know why. Thank you Patty. I will pass on the info.

[Teresa]

Indeed!!! Pallets can be really gross. That's why you need to get a new "heat treated" pallet. This type of treatment kills all the nastys and makes them never want to live there. My hubby ordered one for us at his work, and we made a great bench with it.