Modern furniture manufacturers offer a variety of options for making custom-made furniture. And one of the issues that you need to decide is the choice of material. Today we will compare the advantages and disadvantages of the most popular furniture materials - Chipboard, MDF and solid wood.
Furniture made from chipboard and MDF, in comparison with furniture made from solid wood, has a seemingly undeniable advantage - a more affordable price. But what exactly will this mean once you start using this furniture?
Solid wood furniture - a classic solution for the home
Behind this concept lies natural wood of different species. All parts are cut from a solid barrel, and processed in production and combined into a finished product.
For a very long time, this is how all furniture was produced - there were simply no alternatives. But over time, cheaper options appeared, but nothing more durable than natural wood has yet been invented. The quality of solid wood furniture is best evidenced by museum exhibitions where there are objects hundreds of years old. Moreover, they were made even before the invention of modern chemistry, which further strengthens and protects the material.
The raw materials differ in different countries around the world. So in Russia, carpenters traditionally use oak, pine, birch, maple, and beech. Elsewhere on the planet, mahogany and other varieties unique to the region are used.
Chipboard: advantages and disadvantages
So, chipboard is a material that is obtained by mixing and pressing dried industrial chips and resins.
- Chipboard has two significant disadvantages:
- does not hold screws and nails well;
- environmental unsafety.
As a result, it turns out that furniture made of chipboard, if necessary, will be quite difficult for you to repair: once a screw has fallen out, you will have to screw it in again and again. And by definition, there is a chance that it will fall out - chipboard, in principle, does not “accept” foreign bodies well.
The bigger issue is your family's health. The resins that are used in the production of chipboards tend to emit formaldehyde, which is harmful to your health. For this reason, a very important parameter when choosing a material is the permissible concentration of harmful substances per specific volume.
Unfortunately, cheap, low-grade slabs that do not meet established standards are not so rare these days. This means that there is a possibility that, having saved on buying furniture for the living room or bedroom, you will have to spend a significantly larger amount on restoring your health. Even the concentration of formaldehyde that may be present in a room with low-quality furniture can cause headaches and loss of strength. It is not in vain that slabs of the E1 class (quite popular in Russia) are no longer produced abroad, but only slabs of the “Super E” class are produced. By the way, another important point: in the Russian Federation, E2 class slabs are prohibited from being used for the production of children's furniture, which, alas, does not at all mean that such furniture is not available for sale.
Conclusion:
Chipboard is unreliable and dangerous.
Advantages of solid wood furniture
The advantage of buying models made from natural wood is their durability. The material has a high density, is dried using a special technology, and treated with impregnations for strength. Therefore, it does not deform, does not crack, and can withstand heavy loads well. Other benefits include:
- Beauty. The original texture of the material is preserved, and impregnations help highlight it and give it the desired shade. You can make carved facades and massive figured legs from wood.
- Quality. Items are not afraid of moisture and are not susceptible to insects or mold.
- Durability. As we already mentioned, the item will serve you for decades. It can always be updated and restored if the fittings break or the varnish wears off.
- Safety. Unlike particle board materials, there is no risk that harmful substances and dubious additives were used in production.
Like everything natural, the products are quite expensive. The material itself is not cheap, but thanks to its beauty and reliability, the purchase is worth it in the long run.
What is an array?
Solid wood is a natural material made from various types of wood (birch, alder, cherry, pine, oak, etc.).
Main distinctive features and advantages:
- Environmental friendliness and safety.
- Practicality.
- Long service life.
- Aesthetics.
- Unsurpassed energy.
Kitchens made of solid wood will always be beyond competition for people who prefer classics, although this material can be used to make furniture in any style with the right selection of wood. The fact is that with an illiterate approach, you may not get the result you expected. Thus, a kitchen set made of solid oak will look very majestic in a spacious room, but will steal space in a small kitchen.
Now about the operation. Wood is a somewhat capricious material and will not tolerate being treated “hot” or “wet”, and therefore you only need to place the pan on a suitable countertop and try to promptly remove spilled liquid. If you follow these simple rules and regularly use care products, your solid wood kitchen will last for decades.
MDF furniture - a convenient alternative to solid wood?
MDF is not inferior to natural materials in terms of prevalence on the market. MDF boards are made from natural chips, which are mixed with a binder and pressed. The result is a sheet of the required thickness that can be cut and used.
MDF has several advantages:
- Affordable price. The cost is much lower than that of natural analogues. This allows you to make the purchase of both individual items and headsets much more affordable.
- Beauty. Lamination and veneering are used. Technologies make it possible to convey the natural texture and color of wood of different types.
- Versatility. This option is suitable for the production of most items in the house.
You should always remember that the quality and safety of the material largely depend on the manufacturer and the honesty of the seller. If the supplier is trusted, you don’t have to worry about harmful fumes or unpleasant odors. But if you try to save money and place an order in an unverified place, you may encounter a full range of problems - from swelling and peeling of the decorative coating to the release of harmful fumes.
Pros and cons of MDF
MDF, or medium density fiberboard, is a material that is made by dry pressing wood chips with carbide resins modified with melamine. The cost of MDF is higher than the cost of chipboard. But the material is worth it: first of all, MDF does not emit substances hazardous to health . And the strength of MDF is on average two times higher than the strength of chipboard. This material has another important advantage - it makes possible a wide variety of furniture designs, since it can imitate natural wood, metal, and glass.
Does MDF have any disadvantages?
Yes. This is a highly flammable material, for which the potential risk of ignition is not only contact with an open flame, but also contact with quickly heated surfaces, and even faulty wiring laid next to MDF furniture. MDF boards are often characterized by low resistance to moisture. However, these shortcomings can be eliminated through special production technologies that make the material waterproof, fireproof and bioresistant. But you understand that “special production technology” are words that also mean a higher price. And therefore, the comparison of prices for furniture made of MDF and solid wood becomes not so bright.
Another disadvantage of MDF is its vulnerability to mechanical stress. Of course, you won't break MDF furniture with your finger, but is it possible to rule out stronger impacts with absolute certainty?
Conclusion:
not always reliable, but safe.
Which doors are better?
When we select doors that will remain in the apartment and not change for the next twenty years, we want the best. For some, it is important that the doors are premium, but for others, the simplest doors are enough, as long as they close. It's all individual. Our task is to objectively evaluate the doors and determine which are the best in terms of characteristics.
We will evaluate the technical aspect, since assessing the appearance is quite subjective. It’s up to you to decide which doors are best to choose for an apartment or house, based on your personal preferences and capabilities. We will try to tell you the features of the doors, their pros and cons that you will encounter when purchasing.
Laminated.
MDF doors covered with laminated film are the most budget-friendly on the door market. This contributes to the characteristics - they have relatively low performance. However, proper care and avoidance of mechanical damage will overcome this. Laminated doors have a frame made of solid bars covered with MDF sheets, honeycomb or frame-panel filling - all this adds strength to the structure. The doors are very light; due to this, the service life of the fittings is the longest among doors.
The film has a paper base, so when exposed to moisture, the door swells, and the film coating itself can peel off. This also means that the doors cannot be washed; only wiping with a dry cloth is allowed. It is not recommended to install these doors in the bathroom for obvious reasons.
The difference from laminated doors is the laminate coating - a layered plastic that can withstand exposure to moisture (it simply does not let it through) and does not fade under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Laminate flooring can also be washed with abrasive detergents, making maintenance easier.
Regarding environmental friendliness - when tested, the film showed that it does not emit harmful and dangerous substances even when exposed to high temperatures, so the coating is safe.
If you are interested in which door to an apartment is best among the budget ones, then laminate flooring definitely fits this description.
Not to be confused with plastic doors! PVC interior doors are covered with a film (polyvinyl chloride), which has a number of advantages. Firstly, it protects the doors from moisture, so they can be placed in rooms with high humidity without fear. Secondly, temperature changes do not affect the doors in any way. Thirdly, the doors are not subject to combustion (fireproof properties) and do not emit harmful substances.
The disadvantages of PVC doors are poor air exchange in the room. For good air circulation, additional ventilation of the room will be required. Sound insulation is low.
Kitchen furniture and its purpose
You can find out how much a kitchen made from solid wood costs, and how much from MDF, without leaving your home. To do this, just go to the official website of the Ecofurniture Bio company and view the catalog of models presented for sale. But price is not the only criterion for choosing kitchen furniture. In order for the completed interior to fully meet expectations, even before the renovation you need to understand what will be used for what, and which nuances are more important.
Before deciding which kitchen is better - MDF or solid wood, decide on the following requirements:
- Purpose. The kitchen can be a purely practical room exclusively for preparing food, or it can be a vivid expression of the individual style of the apartment owner. In any case, beauty plays an important role, so the choice of interior style should be given special attention.
- Cooking frequency. Some cook daily in large volumes, and in this case you need to carefully understand which solid wood or other material is better for the kitchen. If the kitchen will rarely be used for its intended purpose and will be more “for beauty,” then you can get by with a minimal set of furniture and kitchen utensils. But the quality of materials must also be given great attention.
- Practicality. If you cook a lot and often in the kitchen, it is better to choose multifunctional furniture. For example, modular design models are suitable, when you can move individual cabinets and change the decor of the room. A good option would be furniture with a large number of drawers or shelves.
Regardless of which style is preferred and what choice is made based on other criteria, when choosing materials, many traditionally give preference to natural wood. This is quite natural, since all furniture created from natural raw materials looks interesting, naturally provides a comfortable microclimate, and is absolutely safe from an environmental point of view. But there are many wood materials on the market, and they differ from each other. That is why you need to first understand how much a kitchen made of solid wood, MDF costs, and what their pros and cons are.
What's the result?
Brief summary: if you look at things realistically, it becomes clear that natural wood is an expensive and impractical material to maintain, which requires careful handling and constant maintenance. Glass and ceramics are poorly studied exotics: not every buyer is ready to experiment with materials at his own expense.
We have noticed that when buying a kitchen, our customers strive to solve several problems:
find a solution that can be used for many years, without the need for repairs;
choose materials that can withstand daily use;
do not overpay for unobvious advantages (it’s just beautiful - not an argument when the budget for repairs is limited within reason).
The logical choice is a kitchen with facades made of MDF coated with PVC film or plastic. We are confident in the quality of manufacturing and assembly, so we provide a 24-month guarantee on all kitchen furniture. It's up to you: all you have to do is choose a kitchen in a classic or modern style and rely on our craftsmen who will carry out high-quality installation.
And let the new kitchen create comfort in your home and promote any culinary experiments.
Plywood
Wood has been used to make furniture since ancient times, but it was a time when wood was available in abundance, and as wood scarcity increased, plywood was invented for those who could not afford teak, walnut or mahogany furniture. Plywood is made from wood, but every piece of wood is used to minimize wood loss. Plywood has many advantages, such as a variety of sizes and thicknesses. It can easily be covered with paint or laminate in any color or pattern. Plywood production minimizes wood waste, but does not eliminate it.
MDF is an abbreviation for medium density fiberboard. Since the shortage of wood prompted the invention of plywood, MDF is another product that was invented as a wood substitute. MDF is made up of small pieces of wood that are broken down into wood fibers and then compressed in a hydraulic press under very high pressure into a board. MDF boards are manufactured in various thicknesses so that they can be easily used in various industries. These slabs have a very smooth surface and the furniture they make is of very high quality in terms of attractiveness. MDF is easily laminated in a variety of shapes and colors, or painted to your choice. MDF boards are made from wood fibres, hence they have very little screw-driving capacity.
We determine by eye
To visually determine what material is in front of you, you need to look at the cut of the slab. On the cut of laminated chipboards one can see a heterogeneous, rough-to-the-touch shavings; on MDF boards there is a dense and fine-grained layer of sawdust. If you are looking at chipboard without a laminated coating, then you can see clear fibers and shavings on its surface, whereas in MDF the entire structure has a uniform appearance.
If the material has a milled or carved surface, then it is MDF. This type of processing is not inherent in the manufacture of laminated chipboards.
What do the name abbreviations mean?
The abbreviation “MDF” in its full meaning means the fine fraction in the manufacture of fiberboard, and “LDSP” means laminated chipboard. The former is characterized by a smaller chip size than the latter. The performance characteristics of a particular material directly depend on the method of manufacturing the slabs. To create MDF boards, sawdust is used, to which paraffin is added and then dried. Due to the finely dispersed fraction, the finished material acquires high density, becomes durable and does not emit harmful formaldehydes during further use.
For the manufacture of laminated chipboards, the main raw material is wood chips, pre-treated with formaldehyde resin. To obtain the finished product, the processed sawdust is pressed and laminated with paper film, which is impregnated with melamine resin. By covering the surface of the slab with paraffin or a special emulsion, a suitable product with high moisture resistance is obtained.
Fiberboard
Production technology: created from steamed and compressed wood dust. Standard thickness is from 2.5 to 12 mm.
| Advantages: | Flaws: |
| + Very low price | — Low strength |
| + The fiberboard composition includes paraffin and rosin. increasing the moisture resistance of the material |
When purchasing products made from fiberboard or chipboard, check with the seller for certificates of product compliance with GOSTs. This way you can be sure that the amount of harmful chemical components used does not exceed the norm.
Stack of fiberboard sheets
Furniture materials used in the production of custom-made furniture
In the production of our furniture, we use all the materials listed in this article. In this article we will talk about materials such as: natural wood, chipboard, fiberboard and MDF. Let's discuss all their pros and cons. We will try to make this clear and concise. Let's start with solid natural wood.
Array
High-quality furniture panels are made from natural wood, mainly oak, while cheaper ones are made from soft wood, which is used in standard furniture. Since oak has a beautiful texture with pronounced annual layers and developed heart-shaped rays, oak is the most resistant to rot and insects. The most important stage in the manufacture of panels and facades from wood is drying, since it is drying that determines the properties of the wood that will be inherent in it upon completion of the manufacture of the furniture panel. Drying goes through three stages - initially it is carried out in an open space, then the wood is dried in special chambers (where it is exposed to temperatures above 100 degrees), and at the end it is gradually cooled after undergoing evaporation processes. After completion of these works, the moisture content in the workpieces should be in the range of 9-11%. Improper drying of wood is the main disadvantage of panels, since most manufacturers of furniture panels and solid wood facades do not completely dry the material. It is better to make individual parts of furniture from solid wood: countertops or facades.
This material is made from wood processing industry waste, shavings, sawdust, which are pressed and glued together with a special formaldehyde resin composition.
The main advantage of such material is that the price of such plates is an order of magnitude lower than the cost of other similar sheet materials. Due to its low cost, compared to natural wood, laminated chipboard has gained popularity in the furniture industry. In addition, this material is light in weight and can be easily processed with any power tool. Let us also add that there are types of laminated chipboard with increased moisture resistance; they are usually used in the bathroom and kitchen. The main disadvantage of cheap laminated chipboard is the presence of formaldehyde resins. They are quite dangerous to human health. The evaporation of this substance can last quite a long time. If you want to buy, it is better to do it in a proven furniture database of a well-known manufacturer. Today, stores also offer paper-backed chipboard and laminated chipboard. A special water-repellent film is used on the surface of such plates. This film has many different textures, colors and textures, it is quite stable when exposed to high temperatures. For example, you can safely place a hot kettle or, for example, a hot frying pan on it. Laminated chipboard is considered more durable. However, some unscrupulous furniture sellers claim that laminated chipboard is laminated, thereby misleading the buyer by selling low-quality furniture.
Fiberboard sheet material. It, like laminated chipboard, is widespread in furniture production and has a low price per square meter. One of the surfaces of the sheets has a rough texture, while the other side is absolutely smooth, covered with plastic or film similar to the texture of wood. Furniture manufacturers usually use fiberboard for the back walls of cabinets, cabinets, sliding wardrobes, children's, office and kitchen furniture. Fiberboard sheets are made from wood fibers, which are then pressed under high temperature. Fiberboard is also used for finishing ceilings, floors and walls in suburban construction, as a covering for wall insulation. It should be noted that this material is quite safe and environmentally friendly for human health. The main disadvantage of this material is that it is too weak and is used only as an addition to some kind of structure.
MDF sheet material. In terms of its price-quality characteristics, it has no equal in our market; it is mainly used for the manufacture of high-quality furniture, and is made in the same way as fiberboard from pressed wood fibers. A special environmentally friendly glue is used as a binder. The advantages of this material include high strength, environmental friendliness, and moisture resistance. The cost of a square meter of MDF will be an order of magnitude lower than the cost of the same square of natural wood, while MDF will last you much longer. Unlike chipboard, MDF lends itself perfectly to fine processing. Due to the fact that this material in the manufacture of furniture is lined with wood veneer, plastic, or film, the prices for it are quite high, and, accordingly, for furniture made from it.
The versatility of the color of the material for furniture
A person quickly gets tired of the interior in which he has to constantly be. However, it is often not possible to change the appearance of a room at once, because the cost of repair work and furniture is too high.
But don’t lose heart, because sometimes it’s enough to change just a few elements of the interior for the room to take on a new look. For this reason, designers do not recommend choosing furniture in bright, flashy colors. Use calm neutral shades, and if you want to add variety, colorful accessories will come to your aid. In addition, in the widest range of natural wood-colored furniture on sale today, you are sure to find an interesting and original option for your home.
Something special: facades made of glass or ceramics
You won’t surprise anyone with a ceramic countertop or glass apron. But in recent years, these materials have begun to be used to create kitchen facades. So far they can be seen mainly at interior exhibitions - but gradually they are penetrating into luxury home kitchens.
unusual aesthetics: glass and ceramics are still rare materials for kitchen facades. The main characteristics make the kitchen unique and focus attention on it;
long lasting color. The glass is painted from the inside, and the ceramics are in bulk, so the paint layer cannot be damaged.
very high price: glass and ceramic facades are attributes of a premium-segment kitchen;
impossibility of repair. If a crack appears (for example, from an impact), the entire sash will have to be replaced. Considering the cost of materials, replacing even one element can seriously hit the budget.
How to distinguish eco-veneer doors from PVC?
PVC film is a film polymer coating, while eco-veneer is a material made from wood fibers and a synthetic binder. The main advantage of eco-veneer is its environmental friendliness, since such doors consist only of natural components and are absolutely safe for health.
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