Currently, there are 3 types of finish materials commonly used in the interior design industry: Acrylic, Laminate and Melamine. Let’s find out how to distinguish these materials with Livas through this article.
Acrylic Finish Material
Acrylic laminated wood, also called Hi Gloss Acrylic, or high gloss wood, or high gloss Acrylic wood, is a very popular product in modern and luxurious interior styles. The use of Acrylic sheets for interior decoration has become a popular trend in almost everywhere in the world.
Acrylic sheets are featured with bright, luxurious, and modern appearance, environment-friendly characteristics, quick construction with reasonable price.
The surface of Acrylic laminated materials has a glossiness and smoothness that is 2 times higher than that of ordinary paint-coated wood sheets. Thanks to the perfect gloss surface, Acrylic sheets help maximize the use of light, creating a feeling of more open and airy space. Besides, Acrylic material is easy to clean and easy to remove light scratches on the surface. This is also the outstanding advantage of Acrylic sheets over any paint-coated wood products.
Acrylic laminated wood is vividly available with more than 100 colors of all kinds, from solid colors, metallic to luxurious wood grain colors. Especially with the length of up to 2.8m, Acrylic sheets are a perfect choice for interior spaces designed with over height doors or wardrobes. As a result, the room or house will become more luxurious and open.
Here are types of acrylic sheets:
- Crystal Acrylic: thickness of 2mm
- 6H Anti-scratch Acrylic: High scratch resistance
- High Gloss Acrylic
- Standard size:
1.2m x 2.4m x (0.8mm – 1.0mm)
1.2m x 2.745m x (0.8mm – 1.0mm) (for oversized option)
Currently, there are more than 600 different color codes on the market of Acrylic sheets.
Acrylic can be used for all core materials such as plastic, wood, etc.
Melamine Finish Material
When it comes to Melamine wood sheets, we often think of MFC, which means Melamine Faced Chipboard – a type of bonded particleboard. This is a material for furniture production and accounts for more than 80% of the use rate in office furniture, apartment furniture, schools, etc.
The term Melamine is roughly understood as a manufactured (artificial) wood surface, it is created by the bonding of 3 layers: fiberboard core, film layer for wood grain and finish layer for protection. Manufacturers can increase up to 5 layers or 7 layers depending on their know-hows, but basically it will consist of 3 main layers. Currently, there are about 300 color codes for Melamine materials on the market.
Today, Melamine has been an overlayer for most engineered wood sheets, including Melamine gravel boards, moisture-proof Melamine MDF, Melamine HDF and Melamine plywood.
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Laminate Finish Material
Laminate has the scientific name of High Pressure Laminate (HPL), which is a finish material that is water resistant, fire resistant, impact resistant, colorful with many outstanding features, often used for decoration as a substitute for natural woods in the field of interior design and household furniture such as shelves, tables and chairs, partitions, wall partitions, wooden floors, etc.
Laminate is also rich in colors, from solid colors, wood grain, stone grain, to metallic colors, 3D or custom designed patterns with various types of surfaces such as matte, smooth, gloss, embossed, scratched, etc. There are almost no color patterns or surface types that Laminate can’t do.
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Laminate structure consists of 3 layers:
The top layer is a transparent Melamine film, which stabilizes and hardens the surface, helps the surface to be resistant to fire, water, scratch, impact, fade, invasion of bacteria and termites, chemicals, and is easy to clean.
The middle layer is an art film layer, using special film paper with colors or patterns printed under pressure at high temperature (220oC), making a durable and clear surface.
The base layer is a fiberboard core, pressed tightly together under the action of pressure at high temperature. Depending on the required thickness, the amount of fiberboards can be increased or decreased accordingly. The fiberboard is mainly made of pulp and additives under cyclic pressing at high mode (300kg/cm2 and temperature of 125 degrees), so it is durable, tough and rough, usually brown or gray with a weight of 50-135 g/m2.
The standard size for a laminate sheet is 1.2m x 2.4m, 0.6~0.8mm thick for plain sheet and 0.5mm thick for bendable sheet. Currently, Laminate sheets are available with more than 1,000 color codes, with various types of surface: matte, satin, scratched, embossed, lumpy, glossy, etc.
The disadvantage of Laminate when designing kitchen cabinets or interior furniture is its low gloss. Under lights, the surface will look blurred and scattered, causing lack of aesthetics. In contrast, with high-gloss acrylic panels, your kitchen cabinets or wardrobe can resonate with the lights, adding depth to the space.
