Opening new furniture for the showroom used to be such an exciting thing. We would all open, inspect and decorate the new room setting. Many times we would marvel at the quality of the furniture as we set it up. I would usually be helping my Dad and, or course, I was the one doing the dusting and polishing. You could see the workmanship that went into building the furniture. I would think about the worker in North Carolina that built the piece and wonder if he had this in his own house. Solid wood, usually Oak or Maple, were the primary woods used in those days. It was made to last, for memories to be made, for families to hand down from generation to generation.
Today I was "unpacking" new furniture for the store. This was furniture from a respectable company that used to be made in North Carolina. The box was stamped with "Made in China" which I was a bit concerned with from the start. When did they outsource to China I wondered aloud. I knew I was going to be assembling the furniture because it was packed in a flat box. The packing was well designed and the furniture looked to be of acceptable quality. As I started the assembly process albeit unexcited as I used to be, I noticed the structure wasn't what it should be. Some of the screws didn't line up. Disgusted, I grabbed a drill and made the necessary adjustments to the piece of furniture. After about 30 minutes I had the chair assembled and I started polishing and detailing it. Noticing the wood looked "different" I began an investigation of the entire set. It turns out they had used several different species of wood to produce this "oak" dining set. Hmmmm, curious to say the least.
Again, let me say this is from a highly reputable company that used to produce quality furniture in the United States. So, here I am looking at this piece wondering what the species of wood used are. I made a few calls and was told they are now using "Asian Hardwood" and very generic term to say the least.
So, here begins my journey. I want to find out the types of woods used in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries that are producing our furniture today. I have a few questions I want answers to and I hope you can help me.
1. Are the woods called "Asian hardwood" as durable as what we are accustomed to .
2. Is it really safe? Will the dining chairs hold up to the weight of an adult?
3. What kind of chemicals are used to treat these woods?
4. Are there pesticides on the furniture?
5. Are the workers in the factories in the Asian countries producing our furniture safe?
I have be researching "Asian Hardwood" online and find nothing but rave reviews from the internet but from my experience it really seems... anything but "hard wood".
