New bathroom vanity has a chemical smell
Rockykayak
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
I recently purchasd a bathroom vanity made by Bertch. Didn’t expect the chemical smell i seem to get from it.
They say they promote greener products and have certifications that their finishes minimize emissions. However, they do use oil finishes and a conversion varnish. What can I do to off set the smell and will it go away?
Diane B.
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Replies
Hi Rocky (be great for the GBA Q&A community to have a name for you) -
What is the cabinet made of? Many particle boards use the adhesive urea formaldehyde so your source could be the board and not the finishes.
Urea formaldehyde offgasses more with higher temperatures but unlike some other adhesives (such as phenol formaldehyde), it continues to offgas quite a bit over time.
Peter
The doors are made of birch and the other 3 sides i think are plywood, at least that's what i remember being told. They use oil based finishes, a tinted primer, and a polyerethane topcoat which is a conversion varnish. In any way, could the smell be at all due to the adhesive the plumber used to adhere sink top to vanity? That's when i thought i first noticed the smell.
Pipe cement has a potent smell to it. It’s really hard to describe smells with words, but I could see the pipe cement solvent smell being overpowering in a small space. The smell should dissipate pretty quickly, most should be gone within a day if you have some ventilation. Try running your bathroom fan an/or opening a window for few days. Open the doors to the vanity too if there is plumbing contained inside. The idea is to allow air to circulate around all the smelly parts so that smell can dissipate. A small fan blowing into any partially closed compartments will help to speed up this process.
Bill
I have noticed a decrease in the smell, but i still notice it. I have the doors open and use a fan. It has been almost three weeks. I called the Bertch company and they said the doors are birch and the other three sides plywood.