There are many categories of woods in the market, especially when it comes to engineered woods. Choosing the right wood material for your furniture such as closet, wardrobe, or table is important. However, which one is suitable and commonly used for home furniture? In the below part, I will introduce to you the 4 common wood category for home furniture, let’s go through each of them now.
1. Solid wood
When it comes to Solid wood, it refers to the natural wood or lumber which has been directly milled from trees. Each type of solid wood has its characteristics in the way such as texture pattern and color, which is adapted from what types of tree it comes from.
It does not contain any fillers or adhesives to make a solid wood. Although the species of solid wood is varying from one to another and so its strengths, it still generally well known as the strongest wood, more rigid, more expensive, and not susceptible to warpage compare to engineered wood.
Because of its long-lasting-for-centuries characteristics which can be milled multiple times during its lifetime, solid wood has been widely used to make durable furniture.
2. Plywood
Plywood is a type of engineered wood. It is made up of layers of veneer, which bonded together by using the cross-graining or cross-laminate method under heat and pressure with adhesives. This alternation of grain direction would maximize the stability and stiffness, hence provide consistent strength across all layers and direction within the plywood.
Due to its wood structure panel, it is typically stiffer than all of the other types of engineered woods except blockboard. However, plywood tends to bend at the center if it is long in size. Plywood lifetime can last for over 50 years, especially in a dry environment.
3. Blockboard
Blockboard also is a type of engineered wood. It is made up of strips of softwood that joined edge to edge and glued together under high pressure in between two layers of plywood. In comparison with plywood, the blockboard is stiffer and less prone to warp. However, the blockboard is known to retain moisture, which caused it more vulnerable to water damage and also becomes one of the reasons that its life is lesser than plywood.
Also, it is good to know that most blockboard comes in the size of 2440 x 1220 x 30mm. And because of its dimension, which is much thicker than plywood, blockboard is commonly used for building such as long bookshelves, lengthy wall panels, settees, tables, benches, and beds.
4. Medium-density fiberboard (MDF)
MDF is a type of engineered wood that is made up of a combination of hard and softwood fibers that have been applied high heat and pressure with wax and resin binder. MDF is an extremely versatile product, it is used for making furniture such as cabinets, and shelves, but on the other hand, its role to be a decorative wall cladding or partition wall is very popular around the globe.
Its life could be last long for over 10 years in a dry environment, especially if it is laminated, it could last for more than 5 years.
