Lesson Learned: Buying Used

I haven't been able to use my computer for about a week. Why? Because my husband bought me an amazing birthday present: a new computer desk! It's an L-shape desk with a hutch, meaning lots of desk space and storage space. The keyboard tray actually pulls out with ease and my fingers don't hit the bottom of the desk as I type! I can cross my legs under the keyboard tray too, because there's actually room to be a human being at this desk! (Can you tell my old desk drove me crazy?) I found this desk for sale and knew I wanted it at first sight. It was very reasonably priced too! But it's used. We bought it directly out of someone's house. I'm not being judgmental by saying this, just observant, but when I walked in the house the first thing I saw was a can of Clorox wipes and a carpet that hadn't been cleaned in years. I don't get around to vacuuming as often as I should either, so I do understand, but it should have been a red flag that this desk was going to make me sick.

I left the desk in the garage for 3 days to off gas and air out. My husband was even bothered by the smell of it at first, and he doesn't really notice smells. I wiped every part of it down in non-chlorine bleach (hydrogen peroxide) about 5 times. After 3 days it smelled a tiny bit, but it didn't seem bad. I really needed my parking spot back because storms were on their way. My father-in-law and husband brought it into my office and set it up for me. It took about an hour before I developed a headache in my office, and then the heartburn and muscle cramps. I knew there was a problem, but I was highly optimistic that with a few more days the desk would stop bothering me. I put lots of little bowls of baking soda all over the desk to absorb the smell and set up my HEPA air filter on full blast.

But that wasn't the only new piece of furniture we bought. Long story short, the only corner in my office where this desk doesn't cover a door or window isn't a true corner, it's got two corners and a diagonal wall. That left space between the desk and the other wall... enough space for a narrow table. So I looked online and found one that fits the space perfectly, then we went out and bought it from another person's house. It was affordable, in excellent condition, the right size, the right color, and the right sturdiness. His home was clean, but he was moving so everything was piled up. I couldn't really detect problems such as cleaners, fragrances, or smoke. We brought the shelf home and I stuck my nose into it in the garage. It had a mild old apartment smell, but after I washed it down with non-chlorine bleach I couldn't smell it anymore. I figured it was safe. Boy was I wrong! We brought it into my office, put it between the desk and the wall, and I set up my stuff on it. It looks and feels great! It's perfect! But the office smelled 2x worse and I was reacting pretty strongly to it for several days after the shelf got moved in. I still only smell the desk, not the shelf, but my reactions were made much worse after the shelf moved in.

I'm not this stupid. Really, I knew better. I was just very excited. I also believed that used had the potential to be safer than new due to the off gassing of formaldehyde from particle board. We couldn't afford a new desk that was made from better material, and the affordable glass desks were actually worse than I what I already had.

So for a full week now I've kept the windows open, my air filter on full blast with a new filter, my salt lamp on, lots of baking soda cups around the desk and shelf, and the door shut. I've left the office alone to detox for a full week.

I'm in the office right now. Without my Vog Mask it's tolerable, but still makes me mildly sick to my stomach with a mild headache after about 15 minutes. With my Vog Mask I've been in here for about an hour. I feel extra fatigued and have a general "gross" feeling on my skin, but the Vog Mask is helping quite a bit. I know I'm doing no favor to my health being in my office, but since it's finally tolerable, I want to use my computer!

If you have MCS you cannot be too careful.
I have a reasonable amount of hope that I can eventually use this desk safely. I think I might go buy some vodka and clean both the desk and the shelf with it. The non-chlorine bleach definitely helped, but vodka can annihilate certain chemical smells.

(Before buying the shelf that is now behind that file cabinet.)