Environmental Standards Are Reshaping the Solid Wood Furniture Market

The new environmental limit standard for wood furniture has been fully implemented, strengthening control over harmful substances in paint, splicing adhesives and auxiliary boards for all solid wood products including dining tables, cabinets and beds, reshaping the competition track of the solid wood furniture industry. The new standard greatly tightens the emission limits of formaldehyde, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, requiring all solid wood furniture to be attached with complete environmental test reports before delivery. Solid wood dining tables and children’s solid wood furniture are subject to higher-level testing standards.

Manufacturers have carried out rectification and upgrading simultaneously. Traditional oil-based paint is gradually replaced by water-based solid wood paint, which uses water as diluent without benzene-based harmful substances. It has no pungent smell after spraying and can be put into use immediately, suitable for closed spaces such as home dining rooms and bedrooms. High-formaldehyde industrial glue is abandoned for wood splicing, and plant protein environmental glue is adopted. Even at the splicing gaps of retractable solid wood tables and tenon joints of dining chairs, the emission of harmful substances is far below the limited standard.

Market feedback shows that the market share of low-formaldehyde solid wood dining sets and whole-house solid wood furniture meeting the new environmental standards has risen to 78%. Consumers prefer to check environmental test labels when purchasing, and non-standard solid wood products with high pollution are gradually withdrawn from offline home stores and online e-commerce channels. Industry practitioners said that short-term environmental renovation increases production investment, but it can avoid post-sale health disputes in the long run, establish the natural and environmentally friendly label of solid wood furniture, push the industry from low-price extensive competition to quality and environmental competition, and benefit the long-term sound development of solid wood furniture.