You actually only wanted to buy a wooden table and now you are confronted with technical terms that are sometimes incomprehensible to laypeople. Sure, furniture is often made of wood – but what is the difference between furniture made of solid wood and veneer, chipboard or even MDF? We explain the terms and give you an overview of possible types of wood for your furniture.
Furniture made of solid wood – high quality and classic
Furniture made of solid wood is made of so-called “pure” wood. They are available with finger-jointed or continuous slats. In the case of a finger-jointed slat, the wooden bars are connected lengthwise by wedge-shaped teeth, which interlock and are glued in an extremely stable manner. Shorter pieces of wood can be joined together to form a longer piece of wood. Continuous slats, on the other hand, are made up of wooden bars that are continuous in length. This makes them look more even and calm. To see murals for the bedroom, please check necessaryhome.
Are you sure you know the phenomenon of wooden furniture cracking? This is due to the ability of wood to absorb moisture from the air and release it again when it is dry. The wood deforms and a cracking noise is produced. In order to minimize these natural dimensional changes and generally protect the solid wood, you should ensure a good indoor climate. More precisely, this means that constant temperatures between 18 and 23 degrees and a humidity of 45 and 65 percent are ideal for solid wood.
What else you should pay attention to so that your solid wood furniture retains its beauty for a long time:
- Protect the surfaces from moisture and heat
- Avoid intense light exposure that can bleach wood
- Avoid contact of the surface with chemicals, alcohol or other aggressive substances
- Oil the surface (max. 2-3 times a year) to maintain it
Real solid wood is the classic for dignified wardrobes or solid dining tables .
Furniture with veneer – uniform lightweights
A veneer or real wood veneer is a surface made of whole sheets of wood that is glued to a carrier board. These carrier boards can be chipboard or MDF boards. Veneers are therefore not the main material of a piece of furniture, but only form its surface coating.
Typical types of wood for furniture with veneer are, for example, maple, oak or mahogany. The veneers are very thin and are firmly attached to the backing boards as these contain no solid wood to work with. The wooden sheets can be placed on the carrier board in such a way that a continuous grain is created. Veneer furniture therefore often looks like it is made from one piece. Regardless of the type of wood used in the veneer, furniture with veneered surfaces is significantly lighter than solid wood furniture.
Furniture made of chipboard – cheap and sustainable
A chipboard consists of glued together and pressed wood chips. In this way, wood that is not suitable for the production of solid furniture can still be used in furniture production.
This makes chipboard the material that protects our natural resource wood the most. Chipboard furniture is often either plastic coated or veneered. However, they can also have other coatings – such as leather or fabric – and are therefore well suited for chairs or benches , for example .
Plastic coatings are applied in layers to the panels in the form of foils. A wide variety of color effects can be displayed, but different types of wood can also be simulated for the furniture. Plastic surfaces are particularly easy to care for and, if they are of the right quality, extremely robust – so they are also well suited for furniture in children ‘s rooms, for example .
Furniture made of MDF – unbreakable and versatile
“MDF” is the abbreviation for “medium density fibreboard”. In principle, it is similar to chipboard, because here too, the wooden components are glued together to form a panel.
The difference between chipboard and MDF, however, is that MDF furniture does not use wood chips, but finely defibrated wood that is glued together and pressed into panels. As a result, these panels have a particularly high breaking and bending strength. MDF furniture is usually plastic-coated or veneered, but can also have other coatings.
Other popular materials for furniture
In addition to various types of wood, many other materials are used for furniture. It is worth mentioning, among other things, glass, from which particularly aesthetic table tops, cabinet doors or showcases are made. Concrete is also often used for furniture that is exposed to year-round weather. Cardboard, which can be produced more sustainably and has a low dead weight, is being used more and more frequently in furniture production.
Which material or which type of wood is best for your furniture naturally depends entirely on your furnishing style and your requirements.
