My Night Stand Came Packed In Spray Foam Insulation
Here's something to break the monotony of your day. Reader Jim sends these pictures of the night stand he ordered from Amazon.com. It came packed not in peanuts, but covered in spray foam insulation. He says it took him half an hour to hack through the sticky stuff to get to the furniture. Weird, yes, but the item did arrive intact... so maybe they're on to something.
I ordered a maple night stand via Amazon.com. It was actually sold/shipped by one of their vendors called Vision Decor. I was surprised when the package arrived. It was HUGE and it weighed a lot -- far larger and heavier than I expected a night stand to be.
It was covered in multiple layers of cardboard and tape. When I finally cut through to the middle I discovered that the entire box had been filled with that spray foam typically used by plumbers and construction workers for insulation. My father-in-law and I spent half an hour hacking through the stuff to finally get to the night stand within. It was tough stuff. And it tended to stick to skin.
Now, I appreciate that my night stand arrived in good condition but I must say that removing the foam insulation was tantamount to carving Mt. Rushmore.
Are you sure that's a night stand and not an alien facehugger pod? Jim? Jim, are you there?
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seems like overkill. but then again i recently had two wooden pieces of furnitiure arrive scratched and dented.
This reminds me of Demolition Man (Snipes/Stallone 1993). Sly crashes a car and the safety device is foam that fills the entire car.
That's funny! I bet it made one hell of a mess! But at least it arrived in good shape!
I'd be worried about putting a big gash in the wood while trying to cut that stuff open. I can't see this being a good idea for most products, but when you're dealing with assembled furniture, maybe it's not that bad.
Maybe if the put a string or wire in it that will slice through it as you pull it, that would help.
Having spent a few winters working as a drivers helper for UPS I can say that this is an excellent way to ensure something makes it safely to its destination. I've seen package delivery people (and not just UPS) throwing packages with total disregard for what's inside. About the only way that night stand could have been damaged is if somebody threw a spear at the package.
That's freakin awesome.
I definitely read this headline and saw:
"One Night Stand Came Packed In Spray"
... and didn't even think twice about it.
I hope that stuff is eco-friendly... or at least no worse than packing peanuts.
On a side note Amazon should be ready to send Demolition Man to your door safely now.
After having a UPS driver throw and break a solid oak chair I don't consider this overkill.
Beautiful, beautiful. Now, if Amazon does this in a huge box for 1 dvd, that would be overkill. For a nightstand, not so much.
creativity points awarded.
First, I hope the furniture was in a bag, and THEN surrounded by foam.
Second, what might have made things easier would have been to fill the carton halfway with foam, let it cure (if they had the time), spray some sort of mold release compound (PAM?), and then fill in the rest of the box with foam, giving you a two-part thing-a-ma-bob. Not perfectly easy to open, but easier.
I would rather just have biodegradeable packing peanuts, then you could always reuse them and they are environmentally friendly.
This is a great idea. To make this even better, how about putting that night stand in a plastic bag, that way the nightstand could be pulled out of the bag, rather than picking the insulation from the stand itself.
"About the only way that night stand could have been damaged is if somebody threw a spear at the package."
Jesus, guy, don't give UPS any ideas!
Dont call me guy, friend.
Just dump some acetone on it and it'll melt away, along with the furniture finish (I think it's acetone...)
That's a nice night stand. Link?
@MercuryPDX: Holy crap, that's the exact same thing I thought of at first. XD. Makes me wanna watch that movie all over again.
That's a lot to go through. As he said though, it wasn't Amazon who shipped it, the company that did package it that way.
I also got to put it out there that Meg Marco is my favorite Consumerist writer. I pretty much read all the posts she makes, the Jim joke at the end is why.
@IphtashuFitz: The UPS driver who does picks ups for my company tells us to "pack everything as if it is going to fall 5' off a truck."
OMG... that is hilarious! Wendy's and McDonalds should start doing this so that by the time you realize they forgot your fries you're three years older.
@MercuryPDX:
haha, thought the same thing...
Yeah, I thought I was history too. What the hell happened? All of a sudden, this car turned into a cannoli.
That stuff is really interesting to work with. There are different systems but it is usually stored in 2 separate 55 gallon drums and it is forced into a nozzle which combines the 2 chemicals to create very cool reaction. You squirt it in and it expands at a high rate and usually you close the box to control the expansion. It isn't biodegradable but the company will take it back and recycle it at your cost. Here is a quote from their literature "Highly compressible, they occupy only 10% of their original volume in a landfill. Instapak foam is biostable. It will not degrade and contribute to air or water contamination."
This is stupid. What if a little old lady ordered this, would she have to get the neighbors to help her ? What if you lived in an apartment and only had a few screwdrivers for tools ?
If this came to my house, I wouldn't even know where to start to get the nightstand out.
Use peanuts and those air bags like everyone else
@surgesilk
"Dont call me guy, friend."
That's the only time in the history of the internet that I have actually LOL'd.
I would be mortified to have to cut through this giant block of hardened foam...wouldn't it ruin the nightstand since that stuff sticks/ruins pretty much everything it touched? Or was the stand shrink wrapped to avoid the foam...?
All of a sudden, my night stand turns into a cannoli!
I used to work a gift shop that sold large fragile stuff and we would use this foam to ship but we would add the foam it in two stages with the item covered in plastic this would allow for the foam to be easily removed. It worked great we never had any thing we shipped this way damaged in shipping.
@garethkeenan:
I have had at least one USPS clerk tell me the same thing, "Package an item so it can withstand a 5 foot drop." She went on to say this was in case the package fell off the sorting belt and also packages drop down in the sorting process.
I'm also really curious as to whether or not the nightstand was wrapped in something else before the foam was applied, since I assume the foam could have a detrimental effect on the nightstand's finish.
@horatio80: Wrapping the item in plastic before spraying it down seems like a much better way to package it.
@mgy: I'm the Jim in the story. You can find the night stand at: Beahm Kristen [www.amazon.com]
PS. They did wrap the nightstand in plastic so it didn't stick to the furniture but it DID stick to all the cardboard. There was an outside "box" - actually a couple of layers of cardboard strips with packing tape. Then there was the foam. Most in the solid chunk you see but also some had penetrated into some plastic bags making weird-looking cyst things.
I'm not so much upset about having to hack through the stuff as I am the total NON-eco-friendly nature of this packaging technique. I thought about dissolving the crap in acetone but wasn't sure that would be anymore environmentally friendly.
@MyPetFly: Would be tough as the nightstand has a lip. Also, the picts don't have any stuff on them.
I doubt it was that filler foam plumbers use b/c I can attest that that stuff sticks to EVERYTHING, especially hands. I have been thinking about using that to ship some wine I have to ship. I wanted to put the bottle in a plastic bag, squirt some into the box, but the bottle+bag in, then after the bottom foam cured, seal the bag and fill the rest. Even if the bottle breaks, the foam is waterproof, as is the bag.
The vendor touts this practice on their website.
[shop.visiondecor.com]
(bottom of the page)
Specialized Packaging - Our packing procedures are specialized for safe delivery of all items, backed by 6 years of experience in the furniture shipping industry. Our revolutionary shipping process ensures an unprecedented no-damage success rate of 95%+. Depending on the item ordered, 1 or more of the below processes may be used in packaging your item.
*Complete 3-step process and 2-person inspection of the item prior to shipping for 100% quality assurance
*State-of-the-art packaging using an ISTA-approved injected foam material for optimum protection
This stuff goes on hot (if I remember correctly), so I'd be worried about it messing up the finish. Other than that, great idea.
The stuff we used did not go on hot.
That's an interesting idea. If only I could use something like that to ship books (though not in a large box like that).
Cheers!
Should have filled the box with molten steel. That would have protected it.
Do they use that stuff on pieces with spindly legs? Sure it might not break in shipping, but I'd be too worried about breaking it getting the packaging off.
I have had UPS deliver more boxes with gashes, punctures, monster dents and various other gory wounds than any other shipper by far. Five-foot drop? More like drop kick. UPS is the General Sherman of shipping: War is hell. No apologies while we burn your possessions.
At least if USPS tortures a package destined for me, they put it in a zip-lock bag and stick a little note on it that says: "Sorry we destroyed your stuff! P.S., have a nice day!" Then they draw a smiley face.
It seems like someone forgot a step in using Instapak. I have ordered allot of DJ equipment, and many lighting effects are shipped in cartons using Instapack. It works well on preventing any movement/breakage on the lenses and bulbs of the effects.
Here is some info on Instapak;
[www.instapakquick.com]
I wonder why the plastic wasn't used?
AT&T should start shipping their empty plastic bags, ahem... iPhones in this stuff...