This past December, Huston & Company made a change to a new green product for our beautiful furniture finish. Trading in our standard, conversion varnish finish and moving to a new, environmentally friendly version, we have further improved our work environment without compromising on quality.
The new finishing product offers exceptional resistance to water and other liquids, cleaning solvents and wear, as did the previous finish. But the new finish is specifically formulated without formaldehyde, to eliminate formaldehyde off gassing concerns during the curing and drying process. The new finish is GREENGUARD Certified too, and free of all Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs).
This is an important change for the health of our workshop employees who work directly with the finish on a daily basis. We build furniture for public spaces such as libraries, colleges and universities throughout the country, so this is also important to our clients and the end-users of our product who have sensitivities to these chemicals. Even shipping personnel will breathe cleaner air when moving Huston & Company furniture about the country; the off gassing process of the new finish is quicker, so it’s over before our furniture is loaded for shipment to our customer.
Huston & Company is naturally greener than many other businesses in our industry simply because of our relative size. As a small business, we use less power and heating oil, we require a lot less transportation for our products; our tools and machinery last longer due to less wear and tear. The method we use to build our furniture is more hands-on, using less machinery and creating less waste. But we still need to do all we can to improve our footprint in any way possible. We’re excited about the new finish, and the new solar panels. These are great steps toward being the best stewards we can be.