Ikea’s Best Non-Toxic Bed Frames Explained

IKEA tends to be best in class when it comes to non-toxic materials.

They use the lowest off-gassing materials that are available at the time. Many of their beds below are made from metal or solid wood that don’t off-gas at all.

My least favorite IKEA options are made from particleboard or fiberboard as those do off-gas VOCs.

The following classification of materials and their levels of off-gassing is based on common materials as well as the personal perception of the materials by chemically sensitive folks. The categories are approximate.

Fragrance: IKEA stores sell or use fragranced items, but online orders for delivery ship from central warehouses not their store locations.

Please keep in mind all IKEA furniture is considered non-toxic these are just the absolute lowest off-gassing options.

Zero-VOC materials

• Steel, powdered coated/epoxy coated steel
• Hard PET, polyethylene, and polypropylene
• Solid wood (here are low or 0-VOC stains for pine that will work on IKEA’s solid pine)
• Clear acrylic lacquer – while this might have some low off-gassing right after application, by the time it gets to the owner it doesn’t seem to have any off-gassing
• Rattan with clear acrylic lacquer is likely to be 0-VOC

Ultra-low VOC materials

• Polyester fabric – has very minimal off-gassing and can finish off-gassing relatively fast, especially if it can be washed.
• Polypropylene fabric – has very minimal off-gassing and can finish off-gassing relatively fast, especially if it can be washed.
• Polyester wadding – has very minimal off-gassing
• Plywood – plywood made with phenol-formaldehyde quickly reaches non-detectable levels of formaldehyde
• Melamine – melamine typically gives over particleboard. It’s a good block of the formaldehyde from particleboard where it covers it (edges tend to be exposed) and the melamine itself has ultra-low off-gassing
• Acrylic paint and polyester paint – these likely have ultra-low off-gassing, if any, when from IKEA

Low VOC

• Layer-glued wood veneer (slats which are in all their beds except one that has metal slats)
• Laminated veneer lumber

Standard VOC level

• Particleboard and fiberboard both off-gas the glues used to produce them (for more on the levels see this post)
• Polyurethane foam used as padding in headboards and sometimes in the padding of the structure does off-gas some VOCs, but thinner versions and IKEA’s foam are very low in off-gassing.

The Lowest VOC Beds from IKEA

NEIDEN Bed frame is an even simpler version of a solid pine bed, with wood veneer slats, see a review here.

SNIGLAR Bed frame is a kids bed made of solid beech wood. There is a little bit of fiberboard at each end and it has the usual wood veneer slats. (There is also a SNIGLAR crib reviewed here).

KLEPPSTAD Bed frame is made of a metal frame, standard slats, and a fabric that is pulled over the headboard.

MINNEN is an extendable bed frame for kids, it’s all metal except for the slats.

SAGSTUA Bed frame is an all-metal bed frame for adults (except for the slats).

FYRESDAL this all-metal daybed frame, which extends out into a bed – it even has metal slats. This should be completely 0-VOC.

VEVELSTAD Bed frame has a metal frame, rattan headboard, and veneer wood slats.

HEMNES Bed frame is made of solid wood with a white stain and clear acrylic lacquer. I don’t know the VOC levels of their stains but they use water-based products that are very low or 0-VOC.

TARVA Bed frame is their classic solid pine bed, with wood veneer slats.

Corinne Segura is an InterNACHI-certified Healthy Homes Inspector with certifications in Building Biology, Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, and more. She has 10 years of experience helping others create healthy homes. You can book a consult here.