If you are planning to decorate the interiors of your home, laminates are a great choice. It is available in a wide range of decorative patterns and colours that can give a true sense of aesthetics to home interiors. Apart from that in the current scenario, these form the surfaces of a lot more products than you can ever imagine.
Read on the comprehensive guide of different type of laminates, finishes, maintenance and lot more.
Laminates – A composite artificial material:
Laminates are the most commonly used finishing layer for plywood, particleboard, wooden furniture, wall panels, MDF, and flooring. It is essentially a composite artificial material and is made by pressing together thin layers of flat paper and plastic resins. To make it look alluring, the upper layer is printed with a decorative pattern or colour.
Types of Laminates:
There are basically 5 main types of laminates, check out mentioned below –
Decorative Laminates / Mica –
In terms of greater aesthetic appeal, finishes, and colors, Decorative Laminates can be used for doing ornamental overlays on furniture, wall, and lots more. Furthermore, with the adoption of Zero Finish Technology by laminates manufacturer brands, ex – Advance Decorative Laminates, they have been able to produce absolutely brilliant laminates that can give a whole new look to the interiors.
Decorative Laminates can be further categorized into – 1mm Decorative Laminates & 0.8mm Decorative Laminates.
Maintenance of Decorative Laminates / Mica –
The maintenance of Decorative Laminates / Mica is quite easy and can be done in the following ways:
- Use a mild liquid detergent and wipe gently using a clean, wet, and non-abrasive cotton cloth.
- To remove stains, you could use acetone. Remember to dry the surface after cleaning.
- Avoid dampness as it can leave marks or cause the laminate to warp.
- Avoid varnish, wax, or polish, as it is not real wood.
- For furniture, avoid wet wipes.
- It is advisable to keep sharp objects such as steel scrubbers away to prevent scratches.
Industrial laminates –
These kinds of laminates have higher strength and are more resistant to wear and tear. The special features of the high-performance laminates include: fire retardant, antibacterial, and chemical resistant, and are used for application in hospitals and other industries.
Compact Laminates –
Basically, these laminates are very thin and do not need any kind of support, and do not need to be glued to any other material.
You can also read: The Benefits of Working With Advance High Gloss Decorative Laminates
High-pressure laminates (HPL) and low-pressure laminates (LPL) –
There is very little difference between the two laminates viz., HPL is usually used with plywood while LPL is usually used with MDF.
Post formed laminates (PFL) –
As compared to regular laminates, post formed laminates are thinner and are used to wrap around tables, columns, etc.
Decorative laminates are perfect for everyday surfaces:
As decorative laminates are an inexpensive and eco-friendly alternative to solid wood products, it can be used in the living room or bedroom floor, table-tops, cabinet shutters, etc. With the availability of a wide variety of realistic textures, these have the requisite quality to withstand exposure to heat and moisture.
