This Widespread Thrifted Merchandise Has a Harmful Design Flaw, However Fortunately There’s an Simple Repair

When you’ve got one at house, you really want to learn this.

Final month, TikTok person @graceful_designs_diy, also called Grace, posted about an vintage cedar chest that each thrift shopper ought to pay attention to to forestall pointless deaths.

The merchandise was made by the Lane Company between 1912 and 1987, and was common on the time. Sadly, the chest design had one flaw. It had a lock that couldn’t be opened from inside. So, when kids hid inside, they by chance acquired trapped, leading to a complete of 14 fatalities attributable to suffocation. The corporate had issued a recall, however an estimated six million are nonetheless in circulation within the reseller market at present.

“Though the U.S. Product Security Fee has made clear that it’s unlawful to resell recalled items, it’s not unusual to see these locks on these classic chests,” mentioned Grace.

Fortunately, the answer is easy for individuals who personal such an vintage. You may simply contact the corporate and inform them that you simply nonetheless have their previous lock and so they’ll ship you a brand new, improved model. Or, you possibly can simply take away the lock by yourself and go away it off or put in a safer one from the ironmongery store.

With so many models of the cedar chest nonetheless obtainable for buy, it’s good that Grace’s video has raised consciousness concerning the hazard of proudly owning this and different recalled items of furnishings. Actually, a lot of her followers solely discovered concerning the security problem due to her TikTok clip.

“You might be saving lives!! We inherited one two years in the past proper when our son was born and had no thought. He’s a toddler now and we might be breaking the lock,” mentioned one commenter. 

One other remark reads: “I actually inherited one in every of these two weeks in the past and had no thought. Thanks!”

A 3rd commenter added: “I’ve one in every of these recalled chests in my house. It’s a lovely piece, and I had no thought it was so harmful.”

For additional details about the Lane Firm’s cedar chest, you possibly can take a look at their product security advisory web page here.