Ikea is known worldwide, but especially in its home country of Sweden, as being a leader in distinct but affordable design. But when Richard Walter, who is Swedish himself, bought a lovely Ikea bowl he didn't expect that it would double as a fire-starter.
The mirrored bowl, called a "Blanda blank," clearly has a the capability to create a fire. Walter learned the hard way when he brought some grapes home to enjoy on a nice sunny day, as he told the Swedish Aftonbladt. He soon smelled smoke, and where there was smoke there was burning grapes. Stunned by the turn of events, he went on to test his results with some paper, and as you can see, the bowl repeated itself.
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An Ikea spokesman, Emil Eriksson, told the Swedish english-language site The Local that product safety is paramount for the company, and that after a risk assessment "it has been established that many different parameters would have to converge for the content of the bowl to overheat and that the risk for this to happen is very low. The round design of the bowl further contributes to a very low risk of spreading, in case of any overheated material in the bowl."
While from the video it doesn't like look anything anything unusual is happening in Walter's backyard, the Blanda is one of Ikea's cheapest offerings. If every single one was setting things on fire, chances are it would be a lot more viral. For intentionally odd ways to start a fire, a gum wrapper and a battery is a good place to start.
Source: The Local via Atlas Obscura
David Grossman is a staff writer for PopularMechanics.com. He's previously written for The Verge, Rolling Stone, The New Republic and several other publications. He's based out of Brooklyn.
