ReStore Shopping · Summerville, SC
Is it safe to buy used furniture? It can be, if you check it first. Open every drawer, check seams and joints for bed bugs, skip anything moldy or smelly, search for recalls, and anchor every dresser: the federal tip-over standard covers only units made after September 1, 2023. Dorchester Habitat’s Summerville ReStore already refuses ripped, stained or soiled furniture donations.
October 2026 · Dorchester County, SC
Key facts
- Where: the Dorchester Habitat ReStore, 101 Greyback Road, Summerville, SC 29483 · Monday – Saturday, 9am – 7pm; closed Sunday
- Refused as donations: ripped, stained or soiled furniture; particle board furniture; anything with mold; items with strong odors; cribs
- Dressers: the federal stability standard covers units manufactured after September 1, 2023, so anchor any dresser, older or newer
- Sofas and upholstered chairs: covered indoor upholstered seating made, imported or reupholstered since June 25, 2022, must carry a permanent federal flammability label
- Recalls: search the brand and model at cpsc.gov/Recalls before you buy
Buying secondhand stretches a budget and gives a solid piece a second life. Before you load a dresser or a sofa into the car, though, you want to know: is it safe to buy used furniture and bring it home? It can be, as long as you check first. No quick look in an aisle guarantees that a piece is safe, but a careful one helps you spot the problems CPSC and EPA warn shoppers about. Here is what our ReStore already refuses, how to check a piece in the aisle, what EPA says about bed bugs and mold, and the federal rules that changed what a newer dresser or sofa must have.
What the ReStore Already Turns Away: Our Published Donation Rules on Ripped, Stained, Soiled, Moldy, Smelly and Particle-Board Furniture — and Why You Should Still Look
Dorchester Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore is a nonprofit home-improvement store and donation center in Summerville, serving Dorchester County. The “What You Cannot Donate” list on our ReStore page includes these lines, word for word:
- Furniture that is ripped, stained in need of extreme repair or soiled
- Particle board furniture
- Anything with mold
- Items that have strong odors
- Mattress or box springs
- Waterbeds
- Entertainment Cabinets
- Baby Items: Car Seats, Cribs, Strollers
Why a donation list is also a safety list
Rules like these exist because a resale store has to be able to resell what it accepts, safely and legally. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says its laws and regulations “apply to anyone who sells or distributes consumer products,” including “thrift stores, consignment stores, charities and people holding yard sales and flea markets.” And as CPSC puts it, “federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC” (15 U.S.C. § 2068).
Cribs show how strict resale rules can be. CPSC’s Resellers Guide to Selling Safer Products (February 2025) tells resale stores to destroy any full-size or non-full-size crib manufactured before June 28, 2011, unless there is written proof it meets the crib standards the guide lists, and it says no drop-side crib in the used marketplace can meet the standard, “even if immobilized with new hardware.”
Why you should still look
A donation rule describes what a store will accept. It is not an inspection of any single piece, and it cannot tell you whether a drawer sticks, a joint has worked loose or a piece fits your home. CPSC’s resale guidance says consumers “may use the Resellers Guide when buying used products to identify hazardous products and check for recalls.” The checks below take a few minutes and work anywhere you buy used, from our aisles to a yard sale.
How to Check a Piece in the Aisle: Frames, Joints, Drawers, Springs and Surfaces on Dressers, Tables, Sofas and Bed Frames
Bring a tape measure and your phone’s flashlight, and check the piece the way you would use it at home.
Dressers, tables and chairs: frames, joints and drawers
- Rock it. Press on the top corners and rock gently. It should sit flat and feel solid, with no wobbly leg and no sideways sway.
- Look underneath where the legs meet the frame and the rails meet at the corners, for cracks, split wood, missing screws or hardware, and old repairs that have let go.
- Open every drawer all the way. It should slide out and back without dropping or binding. Check the drawer corners and bottoms for cracks, gaps or sagging.
- Sit in every chair and shift your weight. Listen for creaks, and watch for legs or rungs that move.
- Find the label. Look on the back, the underside or inside a drawer for the maker’s name and a model or style number. You will need it for a recall search.
Sofas and upholstered chairs: seats, springs and seams
- Sit on every seat, including the middle. You should not feel a bar, a broken spring or a sag that tips you to one side.
- Lift every cushion, press on the platform underneath and look at the seams there. That is also where your bed-bug check starts (next section).
Bed frames and bunk beds
- Count the parts. Side rails, slats or a center support, bolts and brackets should all be there.
- Hold a bunk bed to CPSC’s checklist. CPSC’s resellers guide lists the safety features a bunk bed must have under the federal standard, including guardrails on both sides of the upper bunk; no openings larger than 3½ inches within a guardrail or between it and the mattress foundation; all screws and hardware in place; and a warning label that cautions against letting children under 6 on the upper bunk. If any is missing, pass.
Surfaces and old paint
Scratches, water rings and a worn finish are cosmetic. Old paint deserves more care: CPSC’s resellers guide notes that furniture produced before 1978 “is more likely to contain lead paint hazards,” and EPA lists “refinishing old furniture” among the jobs that can put you in contact with lead. Before you sand or strip a vintage painted piece, read EPA’s guidance on reducing lead exposure at home. Our guide to restoring outdated furniture can take it from there.
Last, measure the room, the doorways and stair turns on the way to it, and your vehicle. A piece that will not make the turn at the top of the stairs is not a bargain.
Bed Bugs, Mold and Odors: What EPA Says to Look For Before Upholstery or Wood Comes Home
Bed bugs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls bed bugs “great hitchhikers” that can travel “on furniture, bedding, luggage, boxes and clothing,” and it advises: “Check secondhand furniture, beds and couches for any signs of bed bug infestation before bringing them home.”
Where to look. EPA’s guide to finding bed bugs says that around a bed they hide “in cracks on the bed frame and headboard,” and that in a heavily infested room they can turn up “in the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions” and “in drawer joints.” Check all of those spots with your flashlight. EPA’s rule of thumb: “If a crack will hold a credit card, it could hide a bed bug.”
What to look for: rusty or reddish stains from crushed bed bugs; dark spots of bed bug excrement that “may bleed on the fabric like a marker would”; tiny eggs and eggshells, about 1 millimeter, and pale yellow shed skins; and live bed bugs. EPA also notes that bed bugs are “capable of surviving several months to a year without feeding,” so a piece that sat in a garage for a season still deserves the look. If you see signs, leave the piece where it is.
Mold and odors
EPA’s guide to mold, moisture and your home starts with a simple rule, “The key to mold control is moisture control,” and warns that “molds have the potential to cause health problems.” Hard surfaces can be scrubbed with detergent and water and dried completely, but “absorbent or porous materials, such as ceiling tiles and carpet, may have to be thrown away if they become moldy,” because the mold “may be difficult or impossible to remove completely.” EPA’s examples are ceiling tiles and carpet; we would treat a moldy sofa cushion or fabric headboard the same way, and pass. Our own rule is simpler: we cannot accept “Anything with mold.”
Odors work the same way. We turn away “Items that have strong odors,” and that is a good rule anywhere: if a piece smells strongly musty, smoky or of pets in the aisle, expect the smell to come home with it. Writing about homes, EPA notes that you may suspect hidden mold when a building “smells moldy, but you cannot see the source.”
Once a piece is yours, keep it dry. EPA says it is important “to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24-48 hours to prevent mold growth” — worth remembering if an afternoon storm catches your new chair in the back of a pickup.
The Safety Rules That Changed: The 2023 Dresser Tip-Over Standard, the 2021 Upholstered-Furniture Flammability Standard, and Checking a Recall Before You Buy
Two federal rules now set what a newer dresser or sofa must have. Both apply by date, so a used piece may predate them.
Dressers and chests: the tip-over standard, and why you anchor anyway
Under the STURDY law, enacted in 2022, CPSC’s rule at 16 CFR part 1261 requires clothing storage units manufactured after September 1, 2023, to meet the stability standard ASTM F2057-23. The rule says its requirements “are intended to protect children up to 72 months of age from tip-over-related death or injury.” CPSC’s guidance says it covers free-standing units at least 27 inches tall, weighing at least 30 pounds, with at least 3.2 cubic feet of enclosed storage, such as chests, armoires, bureaus and dressers. A covered unit must pass three stability tests, come packaged with an anti-tip device that meets ASTM F3096, and carry warning labels.
So a dresser made before the rule took effect was never required to meet it, and a newer one may have lost its anti-tip kit along the way. The answer is the same for every dresser, chest or armoire you bring home: anchor it. CPSC’s Anchor It! campaign puts it plainly: “Anchoring all furniture with drawers, doors, and shelves to the wall prevents tip-over injuries and deaths.” CPSC’s resellers guide adds that “existing furniture can be anchored with inexpensive anti-tip brackets.”
The Anchor It! site lists the tools (an anchoring kit, a drill and bit, a screwdriver and a stud finder) and the steps: attach one bracket to the wall and the other to the furniture, connect them with the strap, tighten it, and tug to make sure it is secure. CPSC also advises placing a TV only on furniture designed to hold one, and clearing toys and remote controls off the top of furniture so children are not tempted to climb.
Sofas and upholstered chairs: the flammability standard and its label
Upholstered furniture manufactured, imported or reupholstered on or after June 25, 2021, must meet the federal flammability standard at 16 CFR part 1640, which adopts California’s TB 117-2013 standard and, in CPSC’s words, “addresses smoldering fires.” It covers indoor seating with an upholstered seat, back or arm, not bedding, and CPSC lists futons, cushions and pads used on outdoor furniture, certain durable infant and toddler products, and products prescribed by a healthcare professional as excluded.
Covered upholstered furniture made, imported or reupholstered on or after June 25, 2022, must also carry a permanent label: “Complies with U.S. CPSC requirements for upholstered furniture flammability.” Finding it tells you the maker certified the piece to the federal standard. A missing label does not tell you much on its own; the piece may predate the requirement, or the label may be gone.
Check a recall before you buy
CPSC’s resellers guide notes that “children’s and non-children’s furniture articles have been recalled for a variety of reasons, including entrapment, tip-over, suffocation, chemical hazards, and flammability,” and that “millions of dressers have been recalled due to tip over hazards.” With the maker and model number in hand, search cpsc.gov/Recalls and SaferProducts.gov, the CPSC database where you can “search to see if a product is unsafe before you buy.” If something you own turns out to be recalled, follow the remedy in the notice; CPSC’s remedies include refunds, repairs, replacements and new instructions.
Frequently Asked Questions: Is It Safe to Buy Used Furniture?
Is it safe to buy used furniture? It can be, if you check it first. No inspection guarantees a piece is safe, but these checks help you spot the problems CPSC and EPA warn about: test the frame and drawers, look for signs of bed bugs in seams, cushions, drawer joints and bed-frame cracks, pass on anything moldy or strongly scented, search for a recall, and anchor any dresser.
What used furniture should I pass on? Anything with signs of bed bugs, visible mold or a strong odor, and anything broken, cracked or unstable, which CPSC recommends resellers not sell. CPSC’s resellers guide also says most cribs manufactured before June 2011 cannot be resold.
How do I check a used couch for bed bugs? With a flashlight, check the seams and between the cushions for rusty or reddish stains, tiny dark spots, eggs, shed skins or live bugs. EPA notes that if a crack will hold a credit card, it could hide a bed bug.
Do I need to anchor a used dresser? Yes. The federal stability standard covers only units manufactured after September 1, 2023, and CPSC says anchoring all furniture with drawers, doors and shelves to the wall prevents tip-over injuries and deaths.
How can I tell whether a used sofa meets the federal flammability standard? Look for a permanent label reading “Complies with U.S. CPSC requirements for upholstered furniture flammability,” required on covered upholstered furniture made, imported or reupholstered since June 25, 2022.
Where does the money go when I buy furniture at the ReStore? Proceeds from sales go directly toward building and repairing homes for hardworking families in Dorchester County.
Ready to Find Your Piece — and Help Build a Home in Dorchester County?
A good secondhand piece is worth a few minutes of checking. Come see us at 101 Greyback Road in Summerville, Monday through Saturday from 9am to 7pm, and bring a tape measure and a flashlight.
- Shop: start on our ReStore page, and browse our top 10 furniture finds for ideas.
- Donate: see our donate page and how furniture donation and free pickup work. We offer a free pick-up service “for residents living in Dorchester County and for items too large to be transported in your vehicle”; book it through the Schedule a Pickup link on our ReStore page.
- Volunteer: “Our volunteers at the ReStore have a lot of roles to fill.” Volunteer time is scheduled ahead, as we cannot take walk-on volunteers, so start at our volunteer page.
- Questions: reach us through our contact page.
Every purchase does double duty: proceeds from sales go directly toward building and repairing homes for hardworking families in Dorchester County.
This article is general information for shoppers, not professional safety, pest-control or legal advice. Store facts were checked against dorchesterhabitat.org on October 17, 2026, and can change; federal rules and guidance were checked the same day on cpsc.gov, anchorit.gov, saferproducts.gov, epa.gov and law.cornell.edu.