Ikea furniture - HELP!

[Guest guest8040]

Sorting out completing the paperwork for our shipping company and there is an Aus customs form we are completing and we are currently having an issue over Ikea furniture. We have a lots of pieces that are essentially what appears to be bare pine (having checked them on the Ikea website the descriptions vary). The guy who came to quote for our shipping said they would be fine when I specifically asked, his reasoning being that Ikea are a world wide company and probably treat the wood with something. The lady I am corresponding with at their office now says no, the wood must be varnished or lacquered.

Given how popular Ikea is surely we are not the first people to query this and I wonder if anyone can help me work out whether we can take the stuff or not, and if the latter I wonder what the hell we will do as we have a lot of this stuff in the house (bought specifically because I like the look of the wood - argh!!!)

 

Here are a couple of examples of bits we have;

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/75305709/

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00102452/

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60178887/

[Guest BrummieCris]

There is an Ikea store here in Adelaide - you will see it from the aeroplane window as you arrive - perhaps their website will give you insight to what type of wood it is and if and what it is treated with. as also you will get some more info from other users here PIA later on in the day.

[Guest BrummieCris]

otherwise, you may have to get the brushes out, and varnish it with a Aust standard varnish, if you want to bring it with you.

[Guest magicsprout]

i had one item of bare wooden furniture when i came over that i wasnt sure about, i gave it a once over with some furniture wax n stain a shade darker before i shipped it and it passed though ok

[Guest guest8040]

Have looked on uk web page and it doesn't help. Can't be arsed with varnishing it all as there's a lot and assuming you would have to seal every part of the wood so therefore take it apart etc which we just won't have time to do. However don't really want to leave it either as we'll have to buy stuff to replace it on an ever decreasing budget! Might try the wax trick though, shippers are going to check with their Aus counterparts to see if they can advise. Thanks both of you

[Guest magicsprout]

could try emailing aquis and ask advice, i dont think its much of a problem, sofas have wooden frames and you cant tell me they are all varnished inside. They are more on the look out for cane type furniture than wood. Like you though i was paranoid about issues and tried to minimise risks, i even declared all my wooden cooking spoons , which probably caused a bit of mirth. Just declare everything, one of my duvets is a feather one which i declared and thought yikes im gonna lose it but it went through fine as well

[flossybeth]

could try emailing aquis and ask advice, i dont think its much of a problem, sofas have wooden frames and you cant tell me they are all varnished inside. They are more on the look out for cane type furniture than wood. Like you though i was paranoid about issues and tried to minimise risks, i even declared all my wooden cooking spoons , which probably caused a bit of mirth. Just declare everything, one of my duvets is a feather one which i declared and thought yikes im gonna lose it but it went through fine as well

 

I panicked over my wooden spoons too and left them - but I forgot about my daughters in her play kitchen and they came through fine....

 

As to the OP in that first link it says "untreated" which probably means you ought to varnish, stain or seal in some way but if they're just packed as IKEA shelves without reference to what type they are they'll probably make it through OK. Choosing what to bring and how fussy customs are is such a big deal until you've unpacked at this end and then you sit there saying "we could have brought that" or "I wish we'd wiped that over and chucked it in".... good luck with it all.

[Guest guest8040]

Haha I wouldn't have even thought about wooden spoons and the sofa frames is a very good point. Am going to see what shipping company says and will share the response - thank you!