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Decorative laminate

Decorative laminates are laminated products primarily used as furniture surface materials or wall paneling. It can be manufactured as either high- or low-pressure laminate, with the two processes not much different from each other except for the pressure applied in the pressing process. Also, laminate can be produced either in batches or in a continuous process; the latter is called continuous pressure laminate (CPL).[1]

Overlay paper, which serves to improve the abrasion, scratch and heat-resistance

Decorative paper, which defines the design and is composed of colored or printed paper

which is used as core material and control product thickness.

Kraft paper

Low-pressure laminate[edit]

Low-pressure laminate is defined as "a plastic laminate molded and cured at pressures in general of 400 pounds per square inch (27 atm; 2.8 MPa)".[3]

Type S (standard grade) - The characteristic properties of this grade are hard, virtually wear and scratch proof surfaces, high resistance to impact, insensitivity to boiling water and a number of typical household chemicals, as well as a pronounced resistance to dry and humid heat. The back side of decorative laminate is designed to allow defect free bonding to a substrate such as MDF or chipboard.

Type P (postforming grade) - The properties of this grade are generally equivalent to type S, but is capable of being postformed at fixed temperature conditions according to the manufacturers specifications.

Type F (fire-retardant grade) - The properties of this grade are generally equivalent to type S, but feature increased resistance to fire.

Competition[edit]

The popularity of large format printing using inkjet printers has produced a cheaper alternative to decorative laminates, minus the quality. For most uninformed consumers, the large format printing are similar to laminates, and seem to offer more variety of designs and applications. For example, large format prints can be printed on wall stickers, and then installed on walls. Unlike decorative laminates, there is no special adhesive to be used, and the price may sometimes seem much cheaper comparatively.


However, there are health considerations for large format prints because of the solvent inks used, especially with their relatively high concentrations of VOCs.[12] These health considerations may be alleviated with newer wide format technology that uses Eco-Solvent or Latex inks.

— International Committee of the Decorative Laminates Industry

ICDLI