apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

So does it smell like tar?

What's so much better about this stuff than regular hemp rope? Is it perhaps that it's "authentic"?

Cat scratchin' good!

I would imagine that having it be tarred would be handy on a boat because it would repel water, but why would that be useful in your house?

I think I like the raw hemp in your previous post better, but, alas, I taught my cats to scratch a post of wood covered with hemp, and that post now looks like a bad hair day...

Tar heat = melted tar
Maybe not so good for the steam pipes.

Y'all are aware that tar is highly toxic, right? Tar is roughly the same thing as creosote, so using this decorating trick on hot pipes in an enclosed space will allow you to experience respiratory inflammation, skin blistering, and possible liver and kidney problems, as well as harm to the baby if one of the residents is pregnant.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts85.html

But wendeeee, it's authentic!

Anybody know what Aalto used? Was there tar in it?

I get all my hemp rope at twistedmonk.com

But I don't use it for wrapping steam pipes.

If you read the original post, the pole that's wrapped isn't a steam pipe at all - it's just a support pole so tar fumes shouldn't be a problem (unless they give off fumes even when not heated - I don't know if they do or not).

Tar does have indoor emissions even when not heated (my careless reading in assuming we were still on steam pipes...).

...I'm just amused that we're told that we need water filters on perfectly clean city water, and that household cleaners that have been tested for reasonable safety are too dangerous for use in our homes, but bringing tar -- a known nasty -- into our ambient air is considered a great decorating idea with lots of potential.

I don't think that tar is particularly toxic. It is a common treatment for psoriasis (skin disease), and it is found in anti-dandruff shampoo (Neutrogena T-Gel).

Being an ingredient in commonly used substances -- in small amounts -- is not a guarantee of being non-toxic when used in large amounts in a manner not intended by the makers.

The CDC says tar is highly toxic and doesn't belong in your ambient air. They're experts -- but you certainly don't have to believe them if that doesn't feel right to you. Part of the charm of AT's "green is the future" stance is that it's not about science.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts85.html

Damn straight, wende in phoenix. Surely tar rope off-gassing is at least as bad as the carpet off-gassing that the greenies are always whining about.

The tar used on this rope is "Stockholm tar"--that is pine tar (the stuff used on baseball bats) not coal tar (the creosote that Wende's link is about). I have no idea whether pine tar is a good thing to have in large quantities in your house, but I would be far less worried about it, prima facie, than coal tar.