What is rubberwood furniture? What are rubberwood furniture disadvantages? We have all the answers you need in this article.
If you prefer furniture manufactured from actual wood resources rather than engineered wood. In that case, there are numerous materials available on the market today.
Rubberwood is one of the unique possibilities. Rubberwood is currently quite popular in tropical monsoon climate countries. Rubberwood is a low-cost, light wood obtained from rubber trees that generate latex, the primary material used to produce natural rubber.
Rubberwood is becoming more popular in the field of low-cost wood furniture. Looking at the wood’s features, you might be wondering about rubberwood furniture disadvantages. However, Rubberwood has many advantages and drawbacks that need to get investigated more.
What Is Rubberwood Furniture?
Rubberwood gets commonly referred to be an environmentally friendly wood. Rubberwood is a member of the maple family. Maple is a hardwood that gets widely used in furniture and other wood products.
After around nine years, the trees reach maturity. Latex extraction begins until latex production slows, usually when the tree is 25 to 30 years old. It recycles plantation trees that have previously served a valuable and valuable purpose.
Many people prefer Rubberwood over traditional wood furnishings because it is more adaptable and somewhat less expensive than other woods on the market today.
Is Rubberwood A Natural Wood?
Rubberwood became famous as an alternative resource for the timber sector and other wood-based products in the mid-1980s. Rubberwood is one of the most often used types of wood in this business.
Although its name suggests differently, Rubberwood is what most consider natural wood. Rubberwood is sometimes known as parawood or Malaysian oak despite its different look and qualities from oak or teak.
Rubberwood has the qualities of being light, having poor tolerance, having little termite resistance, and is easily warped. Rubberwood gets most commonly used for furniture desks and chairs, cabinets, interior millwork, kitchen items cutting boards, knife blocks, etc.
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Pros and Cons of Rubberwood Furniture
Today, one of the most well-known product lines, Rubberwood furniture, provides buyers with several excellent options. With that said, let’s look at some of the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing Rubberwood for furniture.
Rubberwood Furniture Advantages
Rubberwood furniture offers several advantages over actual wood furniture, including lower cost. Some of the benefits are as follow:
Durable
Rubberwood’s durability is comparable to any traditional hardwood for furniture construction. Rubberwood is long-lasting, sturdy, tough, and resilient.
Because it is a member of the maple hardwood family, it should endure for at least 20 years if properly cared for. Given how flexible this wood is at the molecular level and the tensile strength it possesses, this is not surprising.
Affordable
Rubberwood is also relatively inexpensive compared to other hardwoods because it is not the principal resource in its life cycle.
Sustainable
Rubberwood for furniture is sustainable when trees are grown and harvested correctly. Because the primary purpose of rubber trees is to generate latex, lumber gets often taken only after the tree reaches the end of its production cycle.
Resistant
Rubberwood is entirely fire-resistant due to its natural components, and rubber is resistant to burns, especially if the heat source is a cigarette butt. Furthermore, it is non-toxic and will not emit harmful gases into the air in the event of a fire.
Rubberwood Furniture Disadvantages
Rubberwood has various drawbacks that make it unsuitable for some types of furniture. Some rubberwood furniture disadvantages are as follow:
Perishable
Rubberwood is perishable and has a high degradation rate, and it is also subject to fungal stains and insect attacks. This material must be subjected to extensive chemical treatment to avoid these effects. Chemical treatments are not for everyone, which might turn off for many.
Allergies
Note that this is not a good choice for you if you are allergic to latex. If you do, you may see negative consequences on your skin. Although this problem does not affect everyone, responses to the furnishings may show on your skin.
Wrapping
While we discussed its flexibility in a favorable perspective, it’s also conceivable that this Rubberwood is too flexible, which might lead to unintended consequences when working with the wood itself.
To bear in mind, Rubberwood warps quite a bit throughout the drying process due to its molecular structure and the persistent presence of latex in its grain.
Outdoor Use
Rubberwood absorbs a lot of moisture, and when exposed to the elements, this causes it to decay more quickly. Rubberwood furniture should get stored inside or in a less humid atmosphere.
Stain Prone
Another rubber wood furniture disadvantages include; when Rubberwood gets subjected to chemicals during the seasoning process, it develops a brittle appearance.
It also tends to acquire stains if you clean it with standard cleaning solutions or detergents. In certain situations, these compounds might potentially cause lasting harm to Rubberwood. To avoid such loss, it is best to clean the wood with warm water and detergent and immediately dry its flooring.
Texture
One of the most significant disadvantages of Rubberwood is the variation in texture. Unlike other woods, this timber lacks distinctive wood grains.
Lastly, despite certain disadvantages, Rubberwood became a viable kind of wood. There is still a widespread misconception in the wood business that Rubberwood is hazardous, and however, no investigation or study on the parawood has ever revealed such properties.
Final Thought
To sum up, with the benefits mentioned earlier and drawbacks in mind, it’s reasonable to assume that Rubberwood will create a long-lasting and sustainable furniture material unless you’re allergic to latex.
It is, nevertheless, utilized for furniture since it is inexpensive, can be robust if well seasoned, and accepts stains well. As many have observed, the phrase “rubberwood” is the sole flaw or disadvantage since it leads people to believe that it is neither sturdy nor capable of replacing natural wood.
When, in fact, it is genuine wood derived from trees. With all the information above, now it’s up to you to decide whether you should go for it or not.
