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We have a sofa that meets the 1998 Flame Retardancy tests which is about to be replaced. I tried Freecycling it but no-one wants it. I have tried calling the local second-hand furniture charity and they don't want it (too old and tatty for them) so I have two choices – landfill the whole lot or I was wondering if I could strip off the upholstery and then cut the frame up to use as kindling on my log stove. However I don't know it it is likely to be treated with any flame inhibitor which would make it useless/dangerous to attempt to burn. Does anyone know if this is the case or is it just the upholstery/cushions etc that are treated with something to make them pass the regs?
Cheers
I have done this. It burned. In a garden incinerator bin though. If you die it’s not my fault.
It'll be rammed with screws bolts and staples. And possibly a fair amount of ply.
I can't see it being worthwhile.
Joshvegas is right, I'd just phone the council and get them to collect from the kerbside
Makes great kindling especially with some of the fabric and ply still attached to make it more flamable, bone dry. Yes, full of staples but these just get emptied with the ash so not a problem.
Joshvegas is right, I’d just phone the council and get them to collect from the kerbside
Our council charge £41 and are useless apparently - we have a friend with a Transporter so we would just enlist their help if it came to that.
The company I design for makes a large range of furniture, inclduing sofas.
It'll be made up of some or all of the following: cheap timber, cardboard, mill board, OSB, MDF, plywood, foam, fabric, staples, screws and fixings nails.
The frame wont be treated in any way. It's actually just the foam and fabric that make up the fire rating. You don't even need to send down the full item of furniture for testing.
I did this, we had a nice leather sofa that I couldn't give away, so thought I would remove the leather (for another project) and strip it down and burn the hardwood frame in my stove. It really wasn't worth the effort, the amount of staples and foam/cardboard glued to the wood was ridiculous, and it took several evenings to strip down to something that could be burned.
I did this recently, old sofa was too tatty for anybody to want and the council wanted £40 odd to collect it so I took a Stanley knife, lump hammer and hand saw to it so it fitted into the back of my car. Took about 30 minutes and I felt a lot less stressed than when I started 😉
I had a sofa I was given when I moved into my current place (from a charity) so they only accept ones with the flame retardant tag etc for insurance reasons... Eventually I got a new(ER) and the old one was too big to fit in my car so someone I know had it to burn it for me on their land and apparently he lit it with one match and the whole thing went up like it was covered in petrol 😳
Don't know if the flame retardant tags were faked or whatever but certainly glad I got rid of it
@wiggles - it'll be all those years of impregnation with your methane what dun it
thesurfbusI did this, we had a nice leather sofa that I couldn’t give away, so thought I would remove the leather (for another project) and strip it down and burn the hardwood frame in my stove. It really wasn’t worth the effort, the amount of staples and foam/cardboard glued to the wood was ridiculous, and it took several evenings to strip down to something that could be burned.
That's my opinion too. I would add though that my sofa had large feet which I took to be of solid wood. When I burned them in the stove they turned out to be made of some sort of plastic material that burned like rocket fuel. I was genuinely afraid that the stove would crack or set something on fire. I've never seen anything burn like that, so be careful.
Don’t know if the flame retardant tags were faked or whatever
It's flame retardant, it just means it goes up slow enough to give you some chance of hearing a smoke alarm and evacuating. Pretty much everything will burn, particularly if dry.
I keep reading this as 'an old Soda frame'. Nooo!
Save it for bonfire night. They all burn nicely.
@dickyboy - I only had it a few months so I dread to think who had it before me 😳