How to Find a Healthy, Non-Toxic, Low or Zero VOC Bed Frame for your Organic Bedroom

When looking for a natural bed frame the term "VOC" may come up. This stands for Volatile Organic Compound. The "organic" part of VOC is not the same as the "organic" you're looking for in your organic certification on food or bedding — it is the chemistry designation of organic, meaning dealing with carbon-containing chemicals. The "volatile" part means it can evaporate easily and enter the air where you breathe it in. This is often referred to as outgassing or offgassing when talking about indoor air quality. Let's address some key questions about VOCs: where do they come from, how bad are they, and what is the difference between low and zero VOC?

Where Do VOCs Come From?

As far as bed frames are concerned, there are two main sources of VOCs: the bed frame itself, and the finish used on it. For the bed frame, the main question is what type of wood was used. The choices are solid wood or engineered wood products such as plywood, OSB, MDF, or particle board. Engineered wood products are made from wood scraps and glue — and the glue contains a plethora of VOCs that will offgas into the air. You may recall news stories after Hurricane Katrina where FEMA trailers built with engineered wood products were offgassing high levels of VOCs, causing serious medical problems for residents. The glue is present throughout the entire board and it can take a very long time for the VOCs to work their way out.

If you are looking to reduce VOC levels in your home, look for solid wood bed frame construction. All of the natural bed frames we offer are made from solid wood.

What About VOCs in the Wood Finish?

This is a little more complicated. Many wood finishes have a solvent used to apply them, and that solvent is designed to dry out. Since VOC levels are measured for the finish as it comes in the can, some finishes can show high VOC levels. It's important to remember that the VOC designation on wood finishes is primarily there to address environmental issues (such as smog reduction) and health issues for the people applying the product — not necessarily the finished consumer product.

What that means is that a high-VOC product can be applied to wood and then dry quickly, leaving very little residual VOC on the finished product. Think of a freshly painted room — the paint fumes can be quite strong, but once the room is ventilated and dried out the smell eventually goes away. If you want to reduce or eliminate the possibility of residual VOCs from the wood finish, there are great alternatives:

• Unfinished — only the wood itself, zero finish VOCs
• Zero VOC finish — linseed oil or hemp oil, both food-safe and nontoxic
• Low VOC finish — reduces the likelihood of residual VOCs in the finished product

A low VOC colored stain can be used under a linseed oil finish for a darker color. Linseed oil or hemp oil can be used as a zero VOC clear coat, water-based clear coats work for low VOC applications, while oil-based clear coats will have the highest VOCs — though they offer higher protection for the wood in terms of scratch and water resistance.

Here is a quick reference of the finishes used by our suppliers:

• Savvy Rest — Available unfinished, with zero VOC Linseed oil clear coat by Tried and True, or with Rubio Monocoat zero VOC finish

All About VOCs

Are all VOCs the same? The answer is no. One of the VOCs on the "naughty list" is formaldehyde. It qualifies as a VOC because it contains carbon and is very small — only 4 atoms — making it light and easy to evaporate. Formaldehyde reacts with proteins in your body, which is why it's used to preserve tissue, but it is not something you want in your home. It gets a lot of attention because it is found in the glues used to produce engineered wood products like plywood and can be found in high levels in new construction.

Not all VOCs are harmful, however. Ethanol — found in wine — is a VOC. Isoamyl acetate — the smell of a ripe banana — is a VOC. The point is that VOCs are not all bad, but some are. In general we don't know all the VOCs coming off any given product, so we try to lower them across the board. We are especially concerned about VOCs coming from glues and petroleum-based products, as these tend to have a higher concentration of harmful compounds.

How long do VOCs persist? VOCs are present in a product when it is produced and slowly evaporate over time. The smallest VOCs move out most rapidly. This is similar to a Douglas-fir Christmas tree — the pine smell is strong when you first bring it in, but as the tree dries out the smell gradually fades. As shown in the figure below from a report by Michael R. Milota at Oregon State University, fresh cut solid wood does contain VOCs, but these are dramatically reduced through kiln drying:

What this means for a bed frame: if you have a solid piece of kiln-dried wood, the VOCs present are less dangerous and in very small amounts. If you have an engineered wood product, VOC levels will be higher and more dangerous — and will decrease with time. This is exactly why there were so many issues with the Hurricane Katrina shelters: the construction was brand new and offgassing was at its peak.

For wood finishes, what about low VOC vs zero VOC? The Federal limit for paint VOCs is 250 g/L for flat finishes and 380 g/L for non-flat finishes. California requires 50 g/L for flat coatings and 100 g/L for non-flat coatings. "Zero VOC" in practice means VOC levels are below the detection threshold of measuring devices — in reality almost everything will have some VOCs, and zero VOC just means they are very, very low.

From: Hardwood Floors Magazine — Wood Floor Finish VOC Guide

The key takeaways are:

• Construction materials contain different amounts of VOCs
• Not all VOCs are the same — glue and trees contain very different VOCs
• The amount of VOCs being emitted depends on how long the material has dried and how much VOC was in the material to start
• There is a meaningful difference between the VOC level in a can of wood finish and the VOC level in a dried, finished bed frame
• VOC standards are set for environmental and workplace safety and do not necessarily reflect emissions from finished products

Finish Specifications

Here are the finishes used on our solid wood bed frames:

Nomad Furniture

Daddy Vans Hemp Oil: Nomad uses Daddy Vans zero VOC finish made from hemp oil. This oil is food safe and completely solvent free — the only ingredient is hemp oil.

Rubio Monocoat: For colored finishes, Nomad uses a zero VOC stain called Rubio Monocoat. It uses advanced molecular bonding technology and requires no VOC ingredients. It is in compliance for food contact — safe to prepare food on wood finished with Rubio Monocoat. Rubio Monocoat SDS

Savvy Rest

Tried and True: Savvy Rest offers a zero VOC linseed oil-based finish called Tried and True. It is zero VOC based on ingredients — modified linseed oil — and complies with FDA standards for food contact surfaces. Fume free, zero VOC, no solvents or petroleum distillates. Tried and True SDS

Rubio Monocoat: For colored finishes, Savvy Rest also uses zero VOC Rubio Monocoat — see above for full details.

Pacific Rim

BeesBlock by Heritage Natural Finishes: Pacific Rim uses BeesBlock, made from non-toxic oils (tung oil and linseed oil) and organic beeswax. Zero VOC and food safe when dried.

Maple Corner Woodworks

Sunnyside 100% Linseed Oil: Maple Corner uses Sunnyside non-toxic pure raw linseed oil with zero VOCs for cherry and walnut finishes. Made with 100% linseed oil — based on the carriage oils of the 1800s. Sunnyside SDS

For maple, due to its dense pore structure, Maple Corner uses General Finish's Arm-R-Seal — a low VOC oil-based varnish containing 577 g/L of VOC. Arm-R-Seal SDS

Final note: These VOC levels are for the finishes as they come out of the can. The finished, dried bed frame will have VOC levels that decrease with time. What is acceptable is a matter of personal preference. If you have a sensitivity to petroleum distillates, we recommend choosing an unfinished or linseed oil-based product.

Originally posted on April 25th, 2016, updated on February 2nd, 2022.