IKEA has a reputation for affordable housewares and pretty tasty meatballs, but it also has a reputation for poor-quality items that degrade faster than other houseware brands. Recently, a woman took to TikTok to vent her frustration after two of her new glasses that she purchased from IKEA exploded randomly.
TikToker Bee (@ye.yeehaw) garnered over 179,000 views and more than 15,000 likes as of this writing.
What happened?
Bee filmed a short 21-second clip after she said a second IKEA glass exploded unexpectedly. With her legs “covered in glass,” she shows users a shattered, empty IKEA glass sitting on her counter and explains how “this is the second one” that’s randomly “blown up.”
Thankful that she wasn’t holding the glassware when it exploded, she advises her viewers to either return their glassware to IKEA or just avoid it at all costs.
Why would IKEA glass explode?
In a review of the top 12 items to never buy at an IKEA, USA Today explains that “most of their glassware,” as well as some glass top furniture, “are prone to breakage.”
According to Conservation-wiki, the most common reason tempered glass—the type used for glassware—”spontaneously breaks” is due to chips, nicked edges, and thermal stresses. The site reports that “glass cookware made with heat-strengthened or tempered glass can unexpectedly shatter due to thermal stress resulting from temperature changes during reported normal use.”
@ye.yeehaw what do they usually say? 3rd times the charm? #almostlostaneye #ikeamusthaves ♬ original sound – bee
What did the viewers think?
Some viewers explained to her how a heated glass breaks upon contact with a cold surface.
“If you put a hot glass on a cold surface upside down it creates a vacuum as it cools, potentially breaking the glass. Same with pot lids on a glass stovetop,” a user said.
“Never put boiling water into glass unless there is a spoon in it to diffuse the heat,” another added.
Bee responded that both glasses were at room temperature. She reportedly put “water and two green onions” in the first and “soda” in the second glass.
Others shared their own experiences of IKEA glass randomly breaking.
“This happened to my IKEA glass shelf. The glass exploded randomly one day,” a user said.
“I’VE HAD AN IKEA GLASS EXPLODE IN MY HAND BEFORE,” a second said.
“Omg, this is making me feel so validated!! I have the brown ones and 2 of them exploded on me within the last month. i thought i was doing something wrong lol. And it was always when I turned my back!” a third said.
“I may or may not have worked at IKEA. This happens to all glass. They don’t care and don’t think it’s a safety issue. It could happen days or years into owning them. Tell IKEA and they will refund,” a fourth advised.
The Daily Dot reached out to Bee via TikTok Comments and IKEA via email.
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