Overview:
Particleboard is cheaper, denser and more uniform than conventional wood and plywood and is substituted for them when appearance and strength are less important than cost. However, particleboard can be made more attractive by painting or the use of wood veneers that are glued onto surfaces that will be visible. Though it is denser than conventional wood, it is the lightest and weakest type of fiberboard, except for insulation board. Medium-density fibreboard and hardboard, also called high-density fiberboard, are stronger and denser than particleboard.
Comparison of solid wood to particleboard
Particleboard’s selling points compared to solid timber are its price, its availability in large flat sheets and its ability to be decorated with melamine based overlays. However, it has several other advantages, one of which is its stability. Solid wood is prone to warping and splitting with changes in humidity, whereas particleboard is not. This stability enables new design possibilities, without having to take into account seasonal variations. Untreated particleboard will disintegrate, however, when exposed to high levels of moisture. This problem is somewhat mitigated by laminating the particle board on both sides with melamine resin to reduce moisture ingress.
Solid wood has structural advantages over particleboard. It is stronger, particularly in extension (as required for horizontal spans), allowing it to support greater weights as shelves or other furniture; unless braced or built with thick material, particleboard shelves may visibly sag over time or snap near the fasteners.
Fasteners should be designed specially for particleboard; ordinary screws and nails will not provide the correct holding power over time. Threads may strip, portions of the particleboard may "blow out" when subjected to extension stress. In part this arises from the lack of elasticity in particleboard resins as compared to the long strands and compressible voids contained in solid wood, a feature that while preserved in the manufacture of plywood is compromised in particleboard.
The strength of particleboard, in the context of the application and cost, can offer advantages over solid wood. In cabinet carcase construction, relatively thick particleboard is used (typically ¾"). Particularly in the sidewalls of cabinets, where stress owing to support of loaded shelves or appliances is compressive, particleboard can be an excellent choice. In the context of bending strength, which goes mathematically as the third-power of thickness, the greater thickness of particleboard as compared to thinner grades plywood otherwise used for cabinet carcases may provide indeed greater strength for a given content of wood.
Solid wood is more durable than particleboard. Damage to solid wood can be repaired by removing and replacing damaged material then refinishing using known wood treatments that can be matched. Since particleboard is typically faced with by a non-wood veneer, it may be impossible to match the original finish. In addition, damage to particleboard is typified by structural failure and exposure of sizable jagged faults. Damage to particleboard is therefore normally very difficult to repair, usually requiring replacement of the damaged particleboard elements.
The reduced durability of particle board furniture is a consequence of reduced strength in extension. This drawback contributes to damage when furniture is moved; if possible, the furniture should be disassembled to eliminate the possibility of damage in transit.
Most people consider solid wood furniture to be more attractive than particleboard. Recognizing this, furniture makers often cover particle board with real or imitation veneers, in an effort to simulate the look of solid wood.
Furniture Design
Particleboard has had an enormous influence on furniture design. In the early 1950s, particleboard kitchens started to come into use in furniture construction but, in many cases, it remained more expensive than solid wood. A particleboard kitchen was only available to the very wealthy. Once the technology was more developed, particleboard became cheaper.
Large companies such as Freedom and Ikea base their strategies around providing well-designed furniture at a low price. In almost all cases, this means particleboard or MDF or similar. Ikea’s stated mission is to “create well-designed home furniture at prices so low as many people as possible will be able to afford them”. They do this by using the cheapest materials possible, as do most other major furniture providers. As a result, solid wood furniture has become an expensive luxury and particleboard or MDF or similar the norm.
