From what I discuss with clients daily, I understand that in general there are only three types of materials from which furniture is “made”: solid wood – which “has no death”, MDF – which is something good but no one knows exactly what it is… and chipboard, which represents the worst quality and is something that should be completely avoided!
But still, chipboard (particle board) is the most used material in the furniture industry. Almost everything you see on Pinterest is chipboard!
“PAL” is a generic term, which designates a wide range of products… as is “cheese”, for example. Obviously, just as cheese exists in many specialties and qualities, so too is PAL produced in many types… and qualities.
If you have had unpleasant experiences with the chipboard with which the “craftsman” made your “custom-made furniture”, usually meaning that your edges came loose and that the material swelled in places, I assure you that these problems arose both due to the very poor quality of the material used and its poor processing. And maybe you also remember how happy you were when you paid a low price for that furniture. And if you don’t remember the price, it means that you paid very little.
But let’s try to overcome the fear of PAL!
Produced to modern industrial standards, chipboard has long proven to be the best choice for making kitchen furniture shells, where a special type of chipboard is used, with a variable density, a material that is both solid and light, which ensures load-bearing and provides stability to the furniture body, and also allows for solid mounting of hardware. In the case of kitchens, the shell material is waterproofed and is designed for a minimum of 20 years of use in conditions of humidity, temperature differences and intensive wear.
Chipboard, in its various chipboard solutions, is used as a support for both fronts (doors of furniture units) and for all vertical or horizontal surfaces / countertops. Chipboard can appear in any color, material, texture or finish: it can be melamine, laminated with HPL or Fenix, painted/lacquered or veneered, each of these variants having a very wide range of finishes. In the best quality variants it is provided with an additional layer (bi-lamination) that has an anti-fingerprint role.
Attention: MDF is not superior to chipboard! It is simply a different type of material, used mainly for painted/lacquered panels, which are processed with various milling or profiling.
The latest chipboard finishing procedures are based on the exact reproduction of natural materials, especially stone and wood, the reproduction being faithful in all respects: appearance, texture, gloss level and especially tactile sensation. The edging of the boards is almost invisible in the case of a quality product and you can be sure that it will withstand the test of time and use without problems.
Yes, I know that wherever you go, any salesperson – in any store – will tell you that everything you see on display is MDF, just to give you (…falsely) the image of a superior product.
You can be 100% sure that what you see everywhere is 95% chipboard! But that doesn’t mean low quality as long as the material is of quality and processed to the highest standards.
In conclusion, unlike cheese and its specific smells, which represent its refinement, chipboard and new furniture should not have any smell. The pungent smell of “new furniture” betrays inferior quality and is mainly due to formaldehyde emissions, harmful to health, for which there are still no regulations in Romania. At Binova you can be sure that all materials used are internationally certified regarding formaldehyde emissions and the impact on human health.
Conclusion: don’t be afraid to choose chipboard, but make sure it’s quality. It’s a long-lasting and economical choice, a recyclable and eco-sustainable material, and new technologies give you advantages in choosing the most demanding design.
