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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Ikea Furniture, Woodchip Furniture and Mould in Tropical Climates.

Just a word of warning: Kuala Lumpur is a humid city and this can cause all sorts of mould to grow on your Ikea furniture or any furniture with wood chip backing.
Get you furniture treated or varnished before moving here or before installation in your home.

Pictures below of the havoc the mould can wreak without any damp spots, simply because of the humidity in the air.



Solution: treat the wood chip or have it covered in a mould resistant varnish.

6 comments:

  1. That's so true Erika. Glad you pointed this out. We are indeed in a humid city ;-) The drawers of my Ikea warped (the base) after a while.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Stephanie,
    Want people to know so they are prepared and also don't feel embarrassed. Mould and warping of furniture is all to do with humidity and not hygiene. Would be good too if Ikea take this into consideration when designing furniture for humid climates.
    On another note: Love your article on Shamrock- so befitting for St Patrick's day today!!
    Cheers,
    Erika

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello! I stumbled upon your blog while researching on moldy ikea furniture. I have the exact same problem as the picture in your post right now!
    What "mold resistant varnish" would you recommend? Will wood varnish from Nippon Paint works ?

    Hope to receive your advice as I'd like to treat my ikea wardrobe soon!

    Thanks!

    Cheers, Deena

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Deena, Unfortunately the varnish I used worked only temporarily and the chipboard still had mould grow back on it- albeit more slowly. I ended up throwing the whole thing away because it was a losing battle. Waste of money therefore, better to get everything varnished before the mould attacks. If you go to any hardware store they will be able to advise you. Also if you have aircon on most of the time- you will not get this problem. Good luck!

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  5. Hi Erika

    Thank you so much for your reply! My PAX wardrobe is too new to throw away so I'm caught up in a rut now. IKEA would need their contractor to dismantle my wardrobe and reassemble it after i get rid of the mold myself. I wish I had read your blog before investing in this wardrobe.

    I suspect it's the air con that caused the mold as my air con unit is directly facing the wardrobe.

    Thanks for the luck, Erika. Need lots of it ;)

    Cheers, Deena

    ReplyDelete

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