5 ms·

I always wondered whether the wooden spatulas and spoons they sell at IKEA are safe to use. I never know what that wood was treated with or coated with.

by zkmon 11mo ago

vages 11mo ago
Perhaps I’m naive, but buying from an IKEA (in Norway) or another big store feels less risky than buying something handmade. Several people are involved in making every product at IKEA. At least one of them must be an expert in compliance. They can expect scrutiny and product recalls, fines and bad sales if they’re found out. The one person making the hand-made spoon does not necessarily know all the environmental regulations that should be followed.
- xyzzy_plugh 11mo ago
  I had a ceramic coffee mug that I loved and used very regularly. I bought it at a fair from a local potter and it had a very unique glaze, lots of blues and greens. A friend who is a potter saw me drinking out of it and said that the glaze looked suspicious. He said it looked loaded with heavy metals, and that I should probably not use it or at least get it tested. At the time I knew a guy who worked in a lab that tested certain substances for hazardous materials. He was intrigued and brought it in to work one day, and later texted me asking if I wanted it back, because it was very likely leaching cobalt, lead, and cadmium, and it was probably also very mildly radioactive. I feel much better drinking out of mugs from IKEA and other big name stores.
- bluGill 11mo ago
  maybe. Or maybe they are just buying from China and trusting it to be good and not change formula once you accept the sample.
mbrock 11mo ago
I think all wood finishes are "food safe" once they're cured.
- clickety_clack 11mo ago
  That is a terrible assumption to make. Regular lacquer for example does poorly under temperatures commonly encountered when preparing food and it’s basically a mix of solvents.
  - DannyBee 11mo ago
    It's not a terrible assumption - it's a requirement to sell a wood finish in the US/Europe. Under temperature, sure, they differ a bunch. But in terms of food prep, no, they are all non-toxic and edible once cured.
    - mbrock 11mo ago
      Flexner's "Understanding Wood Finishing" has a section about "the myth of food safety" that pretty directly states that food safety isn't a serious concern for fully cured finishes.
  - mbrock 11mo ago
    The solvents evaporate when the lacquer cures, right? A lacquered spatula or spoon could leach some plasticizers when heated up. But who on earth would go to the trouble of spray lacquering a spatula? It doesn't seem like a real concern. Wooden spoons from IKEA aren't gonna poison you!
hammock 11mo ago
Well unless you are getting solid wood utensils (much more $$ and most aren’t) then you are starting with bamboo glued together with adhesives. So at that point if you are worried about the finish I’d be worried about the glues as well I get solid wood (olive wood or other woods ) tools and I don’t finish them. But if I did I might just use beeswax
- ricardobeat 11mo ago
  Cooking utensils are mostly one piece, otherwise wood glue is PVA, same as school glue, that's about as non-toxic as you can get. I'd be more concerned about some kind of supply-chain issue contaminating the raw wood - hopefully they do frequent control checks on the material.
  - hammock 11mo ago
    They aren’t one piece. See the dark seams? https://www.everythingkitchens.com/totally-bamboo-all-natural-bamboo-5-piece-utensil-set-20-2069.html https://www.everythingkitchens.com/totally-bamboo-all-natura... These are strips glued together aka laminated. The binder is not PVA (which is water soluble and not suitable for the task), it’s most commonly a formaldehyde resin such as phenol- , urea- or melamine urea formaldehyde
    - ricardobeat 11mo ago
      That’s plain bambu, the dark areas are the nodes/rings in the plant. I don’t build cutting boards myself, but have never heard of using anything but food-safe PVA glue. Those resins are used for laminating plywood etc, probably not even legal to use in kitchen utensils, at least in the EU.
- snowwrestler 11mo ago
  Ikea sells solid wood spoons and spatulas starting at like $3.
  - hammock 10mo ago
ricardobeat 11mo ago
They are raw wood, unfinished. I usually give them a little sanding and a layer of beeswax - doesn't last very long but makes them feel new for a while :)

I always wondered whether the wooden spatulas and spoons they sell at IKEA are safe to use. I never know what that wood was treated with or coated with.

by zkmon 11mo ago

I always wondered whether the wooden spatulas and spoons they sell at IKEA are safe to use. I never know what that wood was treated with or coated with.

vages 11mo ago

Perhaps I’m naive, but buying from an IKEA (in Norway) or another big store feels less risky than buying something handmade. Several people are involved in making every product at IKEA. At least one of them must be an expert in compliance. They can expect scrutiny and product recalls, fines and bad sales if they’re found out. The one person making the hand-made spoon does not necessarily know all the environmental regulations that should be followed.

xyzzy_plugh 11mo ago
I had a ceramic coffee mug that I loved and used very regularly. I bought it at a fair from a local potter and it had a very unique glaze, lots of blues and greens. A friend who is a potter saw me drinking out of it and said that the glaze looked suspicious. He said it looked loaded with heavy metals, and that I should probably not use it or at least get it tested. At the time I knew a guy who worked in a lab that tested certain substances for hazardous materials. He was intrigued and brought it in to work one day, and later texted me asking if I wanted it back, because it was very likely leaching cobalt, lead, and cadmium, and it was probably also very mildly radioactive. I feel much better drinking out of mugs from IKEA and other big name stores.
bluGill 11mo ago
maybe. Or maybe they are just buying from China and trusting it to be good and not change formula once you accept the sample.

mbrock 11mo ago

I think all wood finishes are "food safe" once they're cured.

clickety_clack 11mo ago
That is a terrible assumption to make. Regular lacquer for example does poorly under temperatures commonly encountered when preparing food and it’s basically a mix of solvents.
- DannyBee 11mo ago
  It's not a terrible assumption - it's a requirement to sell a wood finish in the US/Europe. Under temperature, sure, they differ a bunch. But in terms of food prep, no, they are all non-toxic and edible once cured.
  - mbrock 11mo ago
    Flexner's "Understanding Wood Finishing" has a section about "the myth of food safety" that pretty directly states that food safety isn't a serious concern for fully cured finishes.
- mbrock 11mo ago
  The solvents evaporate when the lacquer cures, right? A lacquered spatula or spoon could leach some plasticizers when heated up. But who on earth would go to the trouble of spray lacquering a spatula? It doesn't seem like a real concern. Wooden spoons from IKEA aren't gonna poison you!

hammock 11mo ago

Well unless you are getting solid wood utensils (much more $$ and most aren’t) then you are starting with bamboo glued together with adhesives. So at that point if you are worried about the finish I’d be worried about the glues as well I get solid wood (olive wood or other woods ) tools and I don’t finish them. But if I did I might just use beeswax

ricardobeat 11mo ago
Cooking utensils are mostly one piece, otherwise wood glue is PVA, same as school glue, that's about as non-toxic as you can get. I'd be more concerned about some kind of supply-chain issue contaminating the raw wood - hopefully they do frequent control checks on the material.
- hammock 11mo ago
  They aren’t one piece. See the dark seams? https://www.everythingkitchens.com/totally-bamboo-all-natural-bamboo-5-piece-utensil-set-20-2069.html https://www.everythingkitchens.com/totally-bamboo-all-natura... These are strips glued together aka laminated. The binder is not PVA (which is water soluble and not suitable for the task), it’s most commonly a formaldehyde resin such as phenol- , urea- or melamine urea formaldehyde
  - ricardobeat 11mo ago
    That’s plain bambu, the dark areas are the nodes/rings in the plant. I don’t build cutting boards myself, but have never heard of using anything but food-safe PVA glue. Those resins are used for laminating plywood etc, probably not even legal to use in kitchen utensils, at least in the EU.
snowwrestler 11mo ago
Ikea sells solid wood spoons and spatulas starting at like $3.
- hammock 10mo ago

ricardobeat 11mo ago

They are raw wood, unfinished. I usually give them a little sanding and a layer of beeswax - doesn't last very long but makes them feel new for a while :)