With wooden pallets we can create original, simple and cheap furniture that will give our home a unique style and rustic. But we must prepare the wood properly to avoid surprises at the end.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW…

• Pallet: Pallet wood is almost manufactured, but is usually a very hard wood.
• Applications: pallets are used in nearly every industry and are used to move heavy loads easily mechanically.
• Wood pallets are made ​​from a type of wood that is environmentally friendly, since forests managed in a sustainable manner.

To get our pallets, a good idea is to visit some industrial area and ask if we can take some. Currently the pallets are fairly traded, but there are always companies that discard deteriorated and these are what we have to ask.

Clean and sand the pallets

The first thing we need to do to prepare our pallets will be disinfected with a fungicide product , as they are often stored outside and they do not know what kind of load have been or what countries have been.

We should note that the wood they are made ​​is little manufactured, so we’ll have to sand the pallets ,  preferably an electric sander helping to leave them with a fine, splinter-free finish, and that hand would work too hard. In addition, this sanding will serve to remove surface grease and dirt residues that may lead.

A perfect finish for pallets

Then, we will review that are all nails well finished and are not bent or rusted. It may be good idea to change those who are in worse shape, so we will give a better cosmetic finish and strength to the structure of the piece.

And finally, we can apply a transparent varnish or color we want to pallets. But if you prefer, you can also leave naked and with their natural wood color. We will have prepared the raw material to begin developing our furniture; the only limit is our imagination.