Manufacturing Polyurethane Involves Diisocyanates: How Dangerous?
You almost can't escape from it. In one form or other, it is nearly everywhere. What is that? Polyurethane. We will focus on polyurethane in furniture refinishing. Then we will discuss its manufacture, and how its manufacture is so dangerous. Furniture Refinishing Before Polyurethane When I was young, I assisted my father in refinishing furniture. First, we'd strip the old finish off. Then, we'd rub the piece with fine very sandpaper. But that wasn't good enough. So we followed that up by polishing the surface with clean, dry, soap-less steel wool. Next, we'd apply a choice stain with a cotton rag such as an old torn T-shirt. Once that dried, we'd apply a coating of shellac. Once that was completely dry, we varnished. However, a coating of varnish produced to…