Team 7 Materials

 

TEAM 7 exclusively uses a non-toxic wood finish of natural oils and waxes. TEAM 7 does not use any paints, stains or lacquers on the wood. The wood is finished only with herbal, non-toxic oils and waxes like walnut, olive and lavender oils and beeswax, and does not off-gas any toxic VOCs. Read all about the natural components of Team 7 furniture oils......

TEAM 7 uses only non-toxic, formaldehyde-free white glue.

To fully bring out the beauty of the wood grain as well as to minimize wood waste TEAM 7 uses the quarter sawn technique for the cutting of our wood boards in TEAM 7’s own saw mill in Hungary. TEAM 7 controls the production chain of its furniture, from the cutting of the wood to the board production in TEAM 7’s on board plant, the design of its furniture to the final manufacturing.

Wood is a natural material that breathes and moves. Due to TEAM 7’s long experience with wood working and their exceptional care in the preparation of the wood, there is hardly any danger of warping or cracking. After it has been delivered, the wood rests for several weeks to dry naturally and very slowly. Then it is kiln dried to an internal humidity level of 30 %; at this level the wood reaches its maximum stability. The quality of TEAM 7 hardwood is so exceptionally high that ‘left-over’ wood is sold to premier US piano manufacturer Steinway.

Promoting the use of low VOC, recyclable materials is a fundamental element of our philosophy at TEAM 7. Steel and aluminum are used in the furniture programs because all scrap material from the manufacturing process is recyclable, and at the end of the product lifespan the material is still recyclable.  Furthermore, we design our furniture for easy disassembly.

The glass TEAM 7 uses is tempered safety glass. The high quality flat glass is made of natural and plentiful occurring materials (sand, soda ash, limestone and feldspar) and is recyclable. Glass is inherently very low in VOCs. The paint TEAM 7 uses for its colored glass are water-based and also very low in VOC emissions. We don’t use any acrylic glass, as acrylic is a plastic and made of petroleum, a non-renewable, scarce material. Acrylic glass also scratches very easily and has higher VOC emissions.

TEAM 7 also offers an opti-white glass option for some of its table models. This glass options has no natural green tint and is available in a gloss or matte finish. View options...

Strick-Tex, the innovative material of the MAGNUM chair cover (trade name: Trevira CS), is a polyester fiber that is fully recyclable. Strick-Tex is tested for harmful substance according to the German Oekotex Standard 100 and meets the very stringent health and safety requirements established for baby articles. Strick-Tex is inherently flame retardant and therefore not treated with PBDE; a health and environmentally hazardous chemical commonly used as a flame retardant. For the MAGNUM chair cover the fiber is knitted (not woven) with different tension points and than pulled over the chair with no additional screws, so it is very easy to dismantle. The knitting technique also allows for a semi-transparent, breathable seat cover with superior ergonomically seating comfort. View options...

TEAM 7 promotes the use of leather because leather is a renewable material and a‘left over’ from the food industry that otherwise would go to waste. Also, leather is much more durable than conventional upholstery fabric and, when properly taken care off, can last for a very, very long time.

The supplier of TEAM 7 leather, Car Trim GmbH (Weida Leder) uses a chromium tanning process for quality reasons. The leather TEAM 7 uses as upholstery material is semi-aniline dyed, that means it has a thin protective coating on the surface for better water and stain resistance. The company has its own fully biological water treatment plant for effluent as well as a process for closed loop chromium recycling. Nevertheless, in the medium term our goal at TEAM 7 is to replace the chromium tanned leather with a chromium-free tanned leather.

Furthermore, TEAM 7’s leather manufacturer is ISO 14001 certified and has an Environmental Management System (EMAS) in place with regular audits taken place to ensure the most stringent care regarding the environment. The leather supplier is a German company that also manufactures in Germany and, therefore has to comply with the very strict German environmental regulations regarding product and emissions standards as well as with the regulations from the European Union.

All of TEAM 7 leathers are free of PCP, CFC and forbidden Azo compounds.

 

View leather options...

TEAM 7 uses only first-grade hardware with main components made out of high quality steel. Minor hardware components are made out of plastic. TEAM 7 does not use any PVC plastic at all.

TEAM 7 drawers and sliding doors are equipped with a shock absorbing mechanism so that they close in absolute silence, especially parents will value that feature.

Furniture handles are available in a selection of wood, glass or stainless steel styles.

TEAM 7 uses a CMHR (Combustion Modified High Resilient) polyurethane upholstery foam that conforms to the California Bureau of Home Furnishing Technical Bulletin 133 regulations regarding flammability standards. Additionally, the foam complies with the German OEKOTEX Standard 100, and meets the very stringent health and safety requirements established in this standard for baby articles.

For upholstery foam applications TEAM 7 uses water-based glue. The glue consists of a solvent-free dispersion of acrylic resin and synthetic rubber in water (trade name: SIMALFA, a technical data sheet is available per request).