Smelly new mdf shelving

[mickb]

May have made a bit of tactical error fellas, classical bloke style. Thought I would optimise a spare room in the house, rarely used, with some regular bunnings metal frame/mdf type shelves to store some manstuff. Looks great after wards... however those shelves have a bit of an industrial odour to them. Have I stuffed the room up gents, it does actually have a guest bed in it. Will this smell wear off a little? ...Wondering if next week I unload everything, pull the panels out and seal them somehow, maybe paint them etc. Maybe worried too early, has only been a few hours since I installed them...

https://www.bunnings.com.au/pinnacle-18 ... id=2581012

[Oldbloke]

Most likely formaldehyde. Not particularly good for you. It's in a lot of stuff. (Plasics, leather, glues)

It should slowly dissipate over a few weeks. Leave the window open to help dilute it.

[No1_49er]

I very much doubt that I'd be putting 200 kg (max) per shelf on MDF shelving. 9 mm ply, maybe. But MDF, nope.

[mickb]

Yeah I havent got anything like that sort of weight on them. Mostly some camping gear, camera tripods, backpacks and similar crapola that doesnt stack well elsewhere.

[Faedy]

Hey, as an indoor restoration bloke, if your smelling the off gassing, and its annoying you, grab a fan or 2, and ventilate the s**t out of it.
bit of warmth, plenty of air flow, and it will settle down quickly.
The s**t is turned over so fast these days, it hardly dries before it hits the shelves.

[on_one_wheel]

Hey, as an indoor restoration bloke, if your smelling the off gassing, and its annoying you, grab a fan or 2, and ventilate the s**t out of it.
bit of warmth, plenty of air flow, and it will settle down quickly.
The s**t is turned over so fast these days, it hardly dries before it hits the shelves.

100% correct on both points

I bought a stack of treated pine not long ago, it was still very damp, no way should it have been for sale.
Most of it twisted badly as it dried.

Obviously these huge companies couldn't care less about quality control , I've learnt my lesson and won't be accepting damp wood in the future, if there's no option I guess I'll be strapping it together and allowing it to finish drying.

[Oldbloke]

Hey, as an indoor restoration bloke, if your smelling the off gassing, and its annoying you, grab a fan or 2, and ventilate the s**t out of it.
bit of warmth, plenty of air flow, and it will settle down quickly.
The s**t is turned over so fast these days, it hardly dries before it hits the shelves.

Air flow is the key. Window and door is even better.

[Bugman]

Yes. I too bought some of those metal shelving kits from Bunnings. The mdf had a stinky odour. Blew the budget and bought some plywood, cut it to size and used that for the shelves. Disposed of the mdf rubbish. Lesson learnt.

[Oldbloke]

I bought the "wire" version about 12 months ago.. Looks like I did the right thing.

[shoot2eat]

If the smell persists, paint it with a shellac based primer / sealer such as zinsers BIN primer. (They are meant for covering up smells)
The sub floor of my whole housed smelled bad. I sealed it with a BIN primer several years ago, and no more smell. The primer smells really strong for a day or so, but quickly subsidises.

[mickb]

Thanks all I ended up getting some shellac based sealer shortly after I posted. Will paint them up this week.


I had previously bought wire mesh shelf versions but I needed certain width and shelf depth requirements this time and the MDF was the only one that met it. In a fairly rural spot so have to buy what's in stock in town too. . Will see how it goes

[mickb]

This is the product I applied, BIN shellac based sealer/primer. Wow very successful. No smells now, the old shellac is a very hard sealer. https://www.bunnings.com.au/zinsser-946 ... l_p1561796

Thanks shoot2eat for the suggestion