do you buy furniture at Goodwill etc?

[raelize]

are you ever worried about roaches? i was planning to go and get dd a new dresser and some smal end tables and my mother freaked me out telling me that roaches can live in the joints of the furniture and then infest your house.

am i being totally OCD about this? have you ever had this experiance?

[writteninkursive]

I have never bought furniture from GoodWill, but we do buy from Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and we have never had a cockroach problem other than moving into a home with roaches already present.

http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx

ReStores are incredible, cheap, and there's a ton of options!

[annekevdbroek]

Bedbugs I think can live in cracks in furniture. I don't think roaches will. Now - doesn't that make you feel better?

Actually, I have bought furinture at Goodwill and thrift stores and I've never had a problem. The only thing that I would not buy would be a mattress.

[HeatherAtHome]

Ditto.

I love buying interesting second hand pieces and fixing them up.

[raelize]

good heavens, i would NEVER buy a mattress second hand, and would hesitate with lots of second hand upholsterd furniture, but i always figured that wooden peices were fine. i have bought stuff before and would much rather buy second hand and fix it up. i am amazed at the stuff peope throw away. but i never thought about it till my mom mentioined it.
thanks for your posts.

[philomom]

I buy wooden stuff that can be hosed down in the yard with Pine-Sol. I do this on a warm summer day so the furniture has time to dry before bringing it back into the house. Never had an issue with bugs.

[Pariah]

Originally Posted by HeatherAtHome

Ditto.

I love buying interesting second hand pieces and fixing them up.

I love doing that, too.

I've been buying furniture from thrift stores for years, including couches, and I've never had problems.

[jennlyn]

I've only purchased wooden furniture, not upholstered , from Goodwill and have never had a problem with bugs of any sort. I live in an area where palmetto bugs ( a nice name for roaches) do make their way into the house whether you like it or not. They don't last long as the cat catches them rather quickly.

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by rachel_eva

are you ever worried about roaches? i was planning to go and get dd a new dresser and some smal end tables and my mother freaked me out telling me that roaches can live in the joints of the furniture and then infest your house.

am i being totally OCD about this? have you ever had this experiance?

We buy furniture all the time from thrift stores and we have never had an experience with either bedbugs or roaches.

[Pepper44]

We buy used stuff and all kinds of things from Goodwill. I've never had an issue with bugs except for one time.

We got a record player with a radio and 8 track player built in for $3. Set it on the shelf in the living room and a huge black roach crawled out. The record player had a swift evacuation from our house.

[KayleeZoo]

I love buying some furniture 2nd hand, but won't buy couches or mattresses. Anything with fabric and foam is a no-go for me, because even with a steam cleaner, you can't get foam 100% sanitary. Can't stand the thought of our family putting our faces on someone else's couch, mattress, etc *shudder*

[Ruthiegirl]

I have always bought furniture second hand and have never had a problem. I am sitting on my second hand couch with my feet on the second hand ottoman on our second hand rug. Goodness, don't I ever buy anything new?!?

Anyway, no roaches.

[PrettyBird]

We've been very lucky and gotten tons of things second hand. Never a problem with roaches until we moved to a super humid climate. However, I never find good deals for furniture at thrift shops. Too often it is crappy particle board stuff going for $70+. I must get there after the good stuff gets sold.

[texmati]

I can't think of any reason roaches would be a probelm in thrift store items, but not in new, warehouse-stored items?

[mouso]

Originally Posted by rachel_eva

good heavens, i would NEVER buy a mattress second hand, and would hesitate with lots of second hand upholsterd furniture, but i always figured that wooden peices were fine. i have bought stuff before and would much rather buy second hand and fix it up. i am amazed at the stuff peope throw away. but i never thought about it till my mom mentioined it.
thanks for your posts.

I will only buy non-upholstered stuff. I am too afraid of bedbugs. I know 2 people who have spent months fighting them and it is miserable.
And I've seen what mattresses that are "cleaned" still have in them. *shudder* Not worth it.

Wood furniture is fine, I think.

[iamama]

I love goodwill/yardsale/dumpster finds!! Treasures abound!

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by texmati

I can't think of any reason roaches would be a probelm in thrift store items, but not in new, warehouse-stored items?

The issue I believe is that if someone had bugs that got into their couch and gave that couch to Goodwill, in theory you buy it and introduce the bugs to your house. In a new warehouse presumably the warehouse doesn't have bugs, furniture is wrapped, less chance of carrying bugs into your house.

I know someone who brought a used couch into her house turned out the thing had bedbugs and she ended up with a real problem that resulted in tossing out everything and eventually moving.

I used to get secondhand furniture like couches, but since bedbugs have made a resurgence (problematic on my area) I no longer will buy such items.

[Jaesun's Dad]

Originally Posted by Pepper44

We got a record player with a radio and 8 track player built in for $3. Set it on the shelf in the living room and a huge black roach crawled out.

Many bugs, but roaches in particular, seem to often be attracted to electronic devices. I'm not sure anyone has a definitive answer why but it's a very commonly reported occurrence.

If roaches were my concern I'd be more circumspect of used electronics than wooden furniture. Although I would certainly inspect the wood furniture for signs of termites, wood beetles, carpenter ants and other nasty wood eating critters that you probably don't want in your house.

[HeatherAtHome]

Originally Posted by shayinme

I used to get secondhand furniture like couches, but since bedbugs have made a resurgence (problematic on my area) I no longer will buy such items.

I agree. We buy second hand couches but we don't have a problem with bed bugs around here. In Montreal, it seems like it was always talked about on the news etc as being a huge problem. My sister has/had bedbugs but they came with the apartment. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun.

[Crafty]

I will only buy non-upholstered stuff. I am too afraid of bedbugs. I know 2 people who have spent months fighting them and it is miserable.

It is. Trust me on this one. We didn't know it, but the apartment complex we moved into has bedbugs. We're trying to buy a house, and now we'll have the added expense of all new furniture when we move out, because there's no WAY we're taking any of this stuff with us. I refuse to have bedbugs in my house. Everything we do take with us will be thoroughly inspected and steam-cleaned. Moving is going to be AWFUL, but it'll be worth it to get out of this place. *shudder*

Bedbugs are NOT something you want to deal with.