One major mistake we all do , mostly from our “speedy” city lifestyle ( when you are in a continue rush you “don’t think” ) , is that we burn in our fireplaces , whatever wood we find and this is very wrong for our health and environment .

So let’s see a helpful list – mindset of the types of wood you should avoid to burn in your fireplaces , ovens , et.c , no matter what .

1) Shou Sugi Ban wood or half burnt wood .

The Shou Sugi Ban technique is an burning technique to protect your wood’s surface . We burn a little the outside of the wood and we seal it for the outdoor conditions .

I’ve written an article about the Shou Sugi Ban japanese technique , to protect your wood , you can read it HERE .

If you have a shou sugi ban wood piece ( a small piece from a carpentry plan , you don’t want anymore ) , don’t burn it in your fireplace .

WHY ?

Because this wood piece has a protection charred layer in its outside , which doesn’t’t let anything to penetrate it ( moslty moisture ) . But it doesn’t also let the inside moisture of the wood to get out .

So you won’t know how much moisture has your wood piece and how well dried it was before you take it to your warehouse , et.c. . We avoid to burn wet or wood with high moisture levels .

The same applies for the half-burnt wood . If you have a have a half-burnt wood , you don’t know were this wood went after the fire’s turning off .

If it was kept outside , the moisture levels will be high , even if it’s half – burnt .

2) Trash – Randomly found , wood .

You don’t know what wood is this , and most of the times the wood you find isn’t the correct wood to burn . The wood you’ll find in the trash it has many posibilities to have on it , unknown fluids which , when they’ll get burned they will produce poisonous toxic gas .

Even if you don’t see anything in the surface of the wood , these fluids are inside it , in its pores . And the wood which exists in our big cities the variety of those fluids is “endless” .

Chemicals , gazoline , several oils and “countless” petrol products , plastic , food fluids from the trash cans and all these mixed . So never burn trash and street wood .

3) Wood Pallets .

I know that burning street pallets is kind of tempting , because you can find them for free , or with a few bucks , but don’t burn in you fireplace pallets .

For sure they have several chemicals inside their mass , in order to resist the weather conditions .

Don’t forget that they used moslty in the outside for carrying materials and products and they have to be strong in the outdoor wear . So they have usually treated with impregnation and chemicals , in order to be strong for many – many years .

Many people/woodworkers , are using them to make wooden furniture of all kinds(shelves , chairs , small desks outdoor woodworking projects ) , instead of burning them .

You can do the same if you like . You’ll be safer and healthier for sure .

4) Poisonous wood .

You shouldn’t put in your fireplace wood from trees , which are poisonous . These types of trees – wood have inside their mass irritant oils and they produce serious respiratory problems and many allergies .

Some poisonous trees are :

a)Coconuts ( yes we eat the fruit but the wood is dangerous )

b)Strychnine Tree

c) Bunya Pine

d)Milky Mangrove

e)Sandbox Tree

f)Gympie Gympie ( Australia )

g) Namibian Bottle Tree .

h) Poison Ivy .

i) Poison Oak .

k) Poison sumac .

And we aware of this : the most dangerous to burn trees have a very “innocent” look and if you don’t know what you see , just ask for info from the place you’re about to supply it .

5) Greenwood .

Don’t burn wood which is green and it has a great amount of fluids in it . You should burn wood which has the lowest possible moisture and the tree branches and logs which are green has a lot of fluids .

Usually we burn the previous year’s tree branches in our fireplace . We don’t burn in december the wood we have cut in november of the same year .

We burn the wood of the last November , or at least wood which is dried for 8 – 10 months if we don’t have 12 + months , dried wood .

If you go to the wood markets , to buy wood ask as many questions as you like for the storage of the wood and if you can , check yourself the pack of wood .

If you see sap , it’s not a good sign . Ask more questions for the drying process and how long is in the store .

Why we don’t want our wood has great amount of moisture ?

Because the combustion we’ll have in our fireplace will be incomplete and the gas residues would be very toxic .

The carbon monoxide ( and more gases ) would be in the highest levels , making the atmosphere mammoth dangerous and toxic for all .

I’ve written a post for the correct drying process , read it in HERE .

6) Endangered Wood .

Trees which are about to be extinquish from your local forests in your country . Get informed from the local authorities , the forestry , your local nature union and web forums , so you can get official information .

Endangered tree types are many , but the most “common” ones are the :

a) Maple Oak ,

b) Douglas fir ,

c) Red Oak ,

d) California Redwood of course ( it’s the highest 155+ meters and it lives more than 1000!!! years . ) ,

e) ebony ( the darkest wood ) ,

f) Japanese Cherry tree blossom ( extremely protected)

g) all the Rosewoods(they are in the red list of the IUCN as highly protected woods ) .

h) the pink ivory ( the “holy” tree of the zulu) .

i) the purple heart wood .

k) the sandal wood .

l) All the tropical – African wood species .

7) Treated wood .

The stained , varnished , painted , manufactured , glued wood is a very dangerous wood to burn to your fireplace . These have serious toxin in their mass as : copper , chromium , arsenic , several salts we use for impregnation and protect the wood .

The plywood has many kinds of adhesive substances as glue and more and avoid to burn it even if it seems “innocent” and well dried .

8) Driftwood .

Driftwood is the wood you find near the rivers , the sea and it’s washed by the salt water of the sea or the river water . Don’t burn this kind of wood to your fireplace .

You don’t know what it has inside its wood mass and for sure , it has toxic and metal salts . That’s why if you burn it , you see blue flames . Usually it’ll have chlorine , in it and whatever you can imagine .

Remember this wood has been in the coast for who knows how long and it can have all the possible chemicals on it and in it .

From petroleum , tar , gazoline , paint , several glues , melted plastic , to whatever else .

9) Evergreen Wood .

Creosote is the condensation of small half-burnt woodpieces , which goes up to your climney and if you don’t clean it often it can cause serious problems .

If you leave your climney dirty and full of creosote , even small fires inside your chimney can begin .

The evergreen wood of the pines , the cedar , christmas trees , cypress , mastic trees , have resin in their mass and they can create creosote deposits in your chimney .

So avoid to burn these kinds of wood , to keep your chimney clean and healthy and avoid more serious problems , maybe .

10) Oleander / Nerium Oleander .

A small piece of oleander if you eat it , can kill an adult human very easily . Of course it can do the same to the animals . Have you ever seen a sheep , a goat , or whatever else to eat oleander ?

I personally , never .

Nature and animals know that oleander is highly toxic and if you burn it , the smoke will be very dangerous for your respiratory system and you life .

Oleander also can cause allergic problems to your skin if you touch and rub it above you , so avoid it in general and never burn it in your fireplace , even if it’s everywhere and it’s a very “popular” tree .

11) Wet – freshly cut wood .

Wet woodand in general wood with high moisture , is a wood you should never put and burn in your fireplace .

It “gives” incomplete combustion , which means carbon monoxide and extremely toxic smoke .

It’s very dangerous to ty to burn wet wood of any kind and be aware of this also :

When your fireplace’s fire is going to end – finish , the heat temperature isn’t as strong as the strong fire has , it starts to be an incomplete burning / fire .

As you may have noticed , that time the smoke is more intense inside your house and your eyes may have sting themes .

This is also an example of an incomplete combustion and either you should power up your fire , or totally terminate it to end this toxic smoke .

12) Industrial wood : Plywood – MDF – OSB -Particle boards(chipboards) , et.c .

These kind of wood is engineer one , manufactured wood , made in factories . You can have plywood from trees( only one layer ) , but mostly the plywood is made by thin wood layers combined together with adhesives – different mixes of glue .

The other types of industrial wood is made with he same similar ways , using pressure – heat – adhesives to combine them , into boards .

As you an imagine the produced smoke from them , if you burn them in your fireplace , will be very toxic and harmful for your respiration system and general health .

Never burn these kind od wood , even if you can find small – medium pieces easily , because they are very popular wood types .

13) “Dressed”(Impregnation method & more) , treated Timber .

When we want to protect our wood from the outdoor conditions moslty , we use impregnation method and other methods for this .

The presentatives which are several kind of chemicals , salts , petroleum derivatives , tar , et.c are extremely toxic .

They produce very “strange” and unusual smoke and for sure it isn’t good for your respiratory system . The flame they produce is blue , orange , very dark black , caused by the chemicals .

All these are very bad for you and the atmoshere of course .

14) Construction – Furniture Wood .

In the construction field , the wood boards – pieces they used for helpers , et.c , have passed all the difficulties and situations you can imagine .

They’ve been outside in all the weather conditions . They may have above them and inside their mass , all the chemicals – paint – varnish – acids – solvents – petrol , a construction area includes .

They have rust from the nails and scews inside them and even if you put out the pin , the rust is still inside .

They have big posibilities to be moldy and rot . Avoid them , for sure .

Of course you should avoid to burn furniture wood , also .

Many times they have varnish – polishing – glue – paint factors on them , or being impreganted .

15) Cardboard Wood .

Pizza’s boxes , shoes boxes , egg crates , wrappers , cereal boxes , recycable boxes/paper ,are maybe great for packaging and food storrage , but they aren’t good to burn in your fireplace .

They have chemicals inside them , in order to give them the properties we want and they’ve treated with heat and pressure for sure , for shaping .

Many times the chemicals they include are man – made ones and as you can imagine , this isn’t good .

Usually people uses this kind of wood to start a fire in their houses . Don’t . Instread use small wood splinters , small branches , the peel of the trees( birch , beech , et.c) , to start your fires .

16) Magazines – Colored paper .

Magazines have colored paper (pages) inside them and in general avoid to burn in your fireplace . This color is given by ink – pigments and if you burn ink you’ll create very toxic air in your place .

I know hat they are an easy “solution’ to start your fire , but don’t .

ATTENTION : many times we use the classical newspaper , which is black and white and we think that this is correct . Wrong .This isn’t correct for two reasons .

The black colo of the letters are made from ink , also and the paper of the newspapers mostly are made from “cheap” pulp paper .

This doesn’t give you 100% certainty for your health , also . So avoid it , or use it as an “emergency” starting fire “solution , only .

17) Wood Pulp – Shavings .

Wood pulp is made by several kinds of wood , of shavings or whatever else and is a manufactured made one . Good’s quality paper wood – pieces , colored one , recycled one , bad’s quality wood – paper , “dirty” wood – paper , old and dirty pulp from all over the places ,et.c .

All this is combined together with chemicals and we produce more “cheap” paper and wood products .

Don’t burn this kind of wood , its smoke will be toxic and un-healthy .

18) Moldy Wood .

The moldy wood piece , is for sure another kind of wood , you should not burn .

The mold , created by moisture – fluids – temperature and climate switching and in general bad conditions for the wood .

Mold attracts for sure wood bugs and fungi and if you burn it , toxicity is certain .

The presence of mold is for sure a sign that wood’s life and storage weren’t ideal and if you go to the markets to buy wood and you see mold on it , go away .

19) Wood with accelerators – solvents .

Accelarators , lighter fluids , solvents are chemical materials we use to work and process wood . We use them to paint – polish – correct – protect – varnish wood .

They have kerosene , petroleum derivatives and other chemicals .

All these are crucial dangerous for your respiratory and general health . We never burn them in fireplaces , because the produced smoke , is extremely toxic .

They cause serious allergic problems and in general you should be very careful , while you using them .

20) Wood mixed with Plastic .

Plastic and all the plastic items we use are petroleum products . If you have ever seen a burning plastic , the smoke it produses is very – very black and extremely toxic .

Of course we never burn plastic ( plates , spoons , kitchen equipment , cups ) , because the dioxines they have , can cause serious problems and in long terms , even cancer .

Many times , your wood may have above it or inside it , some plastic material ( melted or not ) , even in small pieces .

If you burn it , you won’t avoid the toxic air for your respiratory system .

21) Non – Local Wood .

The non – local wood has the serious disadvantage , that you don’t know what it has inside its mass and if it has bugs , you’ll have serious problems .

In the past the Asia’s beetle , the goldspotted oak borer and more have caused serious bug themes to many people .

Remember that when you’ll buy such wood to burn , you’ll need to storage it and if it has wood bugs , these bugs will be tranfered everywhere .

Your other wood pieces health will be in great danger to be become infected too .

So be very cautious when you buy wood from the markets and ask many questions to the salesman .

22) “Soft” Wood .

The soft kind of wood ( coniferous ones , see a complete post HERE ) , has the disadvantage of burning very fast , so you’ll need more quantities .

It creates more easily , produses more smoke and more creosote deposites for your chimney , as a “result” .

23) Coal .

Coal are a very comfort material to burn , but they have a very big disadvantage for your health . They produce carbon monoxide as they burn and especially when they’re half burned , re-burned or they about to burn out .

They produce very hot fire and if your chimney is full of creosote and deposites , they may cause chimney fire .

24) Rotten Wood .

Rotten wood means , bad health wood .

This wood has low density bonds between its wood fibers and it doens’t produce nice fire . It may also contains several chemicals you cannot see form the rotten spots , or other factors .

For sure it contains lots of water – moisture – fluids and maybe bugs and fungi , so its storage is an issue .

25) Habitat Wood .

It’s very good and ethical to avoid to choose wood for our fireplaces , animals use for their living . Smaller or bigger animals .

Nature is our big home and we should do whatever we can to keep our home safe and good . So try to avoid such kind of wood for your fireplaces .

We should all be more ecology thinkers .

26) Allergenic – producing Brushwood .

You can imagine that if these types of brushwood , is very bad for your skin and entire health , because they cause allergies , what they can do , if you burn them in your fireplace .

The air will be very toxic and they also contains urushiol .

Urushiol is an oil mixture of several organic derivatives and poison ivy and related wood contains it . They cause serious allergic issues and for this is very dangerous for your health .

Never burn this kind of brushwood.

Never stop woodworking giving yourself with tons of happiness .