Why I Avoid MDF and Furniture Built with MDF (and Think You Should, Too)

I knew most furniture was made with MDF (although not by that name...), but didn't know of the, to me, substantial side effects of owning such furniture...  Has me reconsidering a large desk and bed (110 of each for a Friary about to be built!) purchase!

Thanks for the heads  up!

Friar Don, OBR
http://exposeyourblog.com

Hi Joshua, I'd like to weigh in on this. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen only if your body uptakes a certain quantity of it. Below that point, your body repairs itself far more quickly than it is damaged. Take radiation, for example - bananas are radioactive enough to trigger sensitive Geiger counters (I'm not kidding)! But the dose you get from eating a banana every day is so small it doesn't even matter. For as long as life has existed (all 3.5ish billion years of it), there has been damaging radiation from uranium in the ground and UV from the sun, but in most cases cellular life regenerates faster than damage can occur.

You like to cook and bake, right? Then you know about the brown crust on bread, the savory flavor of seared meat, and the brown color in caramelized sugar. These forms of browning are oxidative, which makes the food very tasty, but also creates free radicals (chemically reactive particles). In effect, you're creating carcinogenic materials when you make tasty food! That's why the antioxidants you find in tomatoes, blueberries, etc. can decrease the risk of cancer because they "take one for the team" and neutralize the free radicals' effect. Are you really increasing your risk of cancer by making yummy food? Possibly, but I wouldn't give up the experience and you probably wouldn't either 😀

Going back to the formaldehyde example, you're probably suffering more from gassing up your car because you're inhaling a concentrated dose of vaporized gasoline (which is made of BTEX - also carcinogenic). But we know from experience that periodic exposure isn't bad - just don't huff the fumes. Any formaldehyde left over in the MDF probably comes out at too-low a concentration to do true harm to your body. If you can't smell the formaldehyde, you're probably okay.

TL;DR: formaldehyde won't kill you unless you huff it. That said, I agree that the non-disclosure part about MDF is B.S.

 As a follow-on,  formaldehyde is also produced naturally in our bodies albeit in small amounts (have to get to bed so I apologize for not digging up a reference).   Formaldehyde by itself is not evil --it's extremely useful in fact as a preservative in histological applications as well as things like vaccines.  It's the dose that matters.

Another similar example is phenol.  It's a super nasty smelling burninating chemical that is used in molecular bio labs and various industrial applications.  It can be absorbed through the skin and will murder your liver. MSDS: http://www.sciencestuff.com/msds/C2221.html

Now, check out the ingredient list on your lip balm...at least on the brands I have kicking around in my purse and house all have phenol.

There are all sorts of substances in our environment that can affect our health adversely when taken together as an aggregate dose.  It's probably a good idea to minimize as much as possible --like avoiding MDF in furniture and sticking with real wood or metal.

The isotope in bananas that is radioactive is potassium - K40. So yes, all humans are radioactive because we all need potassium. So no need to shy away from bananas because all sources of potassium will contain the isotope K40. And yes, soil normally contains three radioactive materials: potassium, thorium and uranium. And the air that surrounds us contains radon. And yes, our cells are constantly repairing themselves from effects of the natural environment.

Just a quick note Potassium aka K40 is just one of the ingredients that cause your heart to beat. So don't shy away from bananas people it just might kill you....not.

"The big question: When did people think it was okay to start producing and selling trash?"   
I think it began with the Industrial Revolution.  

I don't think people necessarily think it's OK. They just want to pay less and this is why these products sell. Everyone complains the food and services of the airlines is atrocious but they also want low fares. If people insisted on buying only the more expensive real wood products, MDF would die a natural death. Of course the quality of MDF furniture is inferior. But it's cheaper!! Can't have it both ways.

I think you are exgaggerating the crappiness of MDF a bit, though I generally agree with you that furniture made from MDF (especially things like desks and bookcases) is junk.  Why is this crap so popular?  Because people are willing to buy it.  The majority of people who are less fortunate do not understand the true cost of things.  They don't realize that buying a cheap bookcase that only lasts a couple years will cost them more in the long run than the expensive one because you will have to buy 2 or 3 or more of the cheap ones to last as long as the nice bookcase.  This is why places like Rent-a-Center and Aaron's are in business.  Is it really worth paying what amounts to twice the price for a TV so you can have it now instead of in a year?  Absolutely not, but people do it all the time because they are impatient and can't wrap their heads around the actual cost of an item.  People tend to not care about their future selves as long as it makes their current selves happy.  This is yet another reason why the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.

That sums it up beautifully: "People tend to not care about their future selves as long as it makes their current selves happy. This is yet another reason why the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer."

Hey, also - I have a Mail Bag submission question that I'd like you to take a look at sometime soon if you could. I think you might be able to add a unique perspective to some of the trials his family is experiencing right now by virtue of your own life experience. I'll forward it to you via email. Don't feel obligated or anything - if you have a few minutes and wanted to include your thoughts, I thought it might help him. If not, that's fine, too.

I have to agree with you Joshua and disagree with Gilvus(below) on this matter. Eighteen months ago I did a remodel in my house and had custom shelving built using white laminated MDF. It was less expensive than the real wood (although I wanted real wood I was talked into the MDF by the builder) Within 2 days of having it all installed I became sick. I have continued to be sick and have gotten worse. I have been in and out of the hospital and my quality of life has really suffered. Most Dr's know little to nothing about formaldehyde and they cannot find a treatment that helps me (my problems are with my heart & lungs as well as headaches. no cancer. . . yet) Even though the built-ins were sealed (after I got sick) and then finally removed because the formaldehyde gas had filled the room so much that you could smell it and feel it when you went in there. The room has been painted several times,scrubbed & cleaned, filtraition systems brought in and it was sealed off from the rest of the house. I have used NASA reccomended plants to "eat" the gas, and tried everything I can to fix it. So I now have an entire room in my house I cannot enter because of MDF! Not everyone is as sensative to the formaldehyde gas as I am, but I do believe that products should have to be marked if they contain formaldehyde/MDF. On a side note this nasty substance is in so many of our daily products now it is almost impossible to avoid it.

If you removed the MDF, and then ventilated and cleaned the air, and it's still a problem, THEN IT WASN'T THE MDF. Assuming it's not coincidental (which it very well could be: people get sick all the time just by luck, even after they've done some remodeling) there's probably something else going on. Maybe the remodel uncovered some mold, or exposed something else that it harmful (or that you reacted to). If you were really that sensitive to it, you'd never have been able to set foot in a furniture store in your life.

Blaming the MDF and doing your best to remove it may have been logical at the start. Continuing to fixate on it is just preventing you from figuring out whatever the actual cause is, and either repairing it or getting treatment.

I worked with formadehyde in a lab for 3 years in a lab did not have a hood vented to the outside. My papers, shoes, purse all smelled like the stuff for months after I left. People would always tell me I smelled like the lab. I did not suffer any adverse effects at the time (of course, long term effects are as yet to be seen). You may have reacted differently to your exposure to formaldehyde. But I am mentioning my example because it is possible you had an exposure to something else around the same time that could have caused your issues. Worth considering.

Joshua; As a furniture manufacturer importing custom product from China, I would like to challenge a couple of your beliefs concerning MDF. The main reason manufacturers use MDF or particleboard (chips instead of strands of wood) is for stability. Solid wood has a tendency to warp when shipped into disparate climates. Solid wood can be used as a core material, as can plywood, with a slight increase in cost. Veneers eliminate the necessity of hand-selecting the nicest grain patterns, and give the panel the appearance that the customer finds most pleasing.
The formaldehyde can be an issue, however, we have used board that does not contain the substance for many years, and most manufacturers now use formaldehyde-free board.
As far as the use of MDF being deceitful, I find that many people are not aware of it's use, just as many are not aware of the use of plastic laminate on the surfaces of many items, or the use of melamine or, for that matter, the guage of sheetmetal used for the body, or the fiber count of the material used on the seats. Although the use of materials does have an affect on the durability and longevity, It fits the needs and the pocketbook of the customer. It would be very difficult to argue that product using MDF and veneers is somehow inferior to solid wood furniture except in the case of repairability. With solid wood under the veneered edges, it would hold up every bit as well.
I am impressed with the availability of all kinds of furniture in the US market, thanks to imports from other countries, and thanks to hand-craftsmen that use only the best materials and shun the use of power tools. Free enterprise is a beautiful thing.

It's really hard to find good, straight lumber these days. So "solid wood" doesn't necessarily mean good quality. The nice thing about MDF is that is flat and straight. On the positive side MDF is recycled sawdust. Hardwood forest is dwindling, and the trees grow slowly. So in an ideal work everyone could have hardwood furniture but that is not sustainable or possible.

Trees do grow slowly. However, most of the furniture in my house, as well as the house itself, is from the 19th C. Yes, a walnut tree was sacrificed to make my bedside table (for example), but in the 125 years since then, there has been ample time for another generation (or two) of trees to grow to maturity.

Will today's MDF furniture still be in use in the mid-22nd century? I seriously doubt it.

Everyone only talks about this cheaply made furniture from places that require you to assemble it at home or large chain furniture stores. MDF can be excellent if properly assembled. I mean really, even a solid wood desk you assemble at home where the only tool required is a screw driver is going to fall apart very fast. I have seen real wood furniture fall apart from lack of glue, nails, screws, etc... It is all in the construction of it. So this blog should be about the poor workmanship and not the poor quality of a good product.

It is like comparing Plywood to OSB. When osb first came out plywood had it beat, now plywood is awful. The layers peel apart and it warps so easily as osb stays straight and together unless exposed to water for a long period of time. I just think your article gives the wrong impression of a good product. Would I rather have solid wood? Of course. Can mdf be as good? It comes very close.

20 years construction experience.

We are a MDF manufacturer. I would say MDF has many 3 levels of Formaldehyde: E0, E1, E2. To build indoor furniture it's better to use E0 MDF and E1 MDF.

Even you use E2 MDF, most cases MDF is veneered with papers or natural veneers, the Formaldehyde emitted to air is very limited.

It's a very good way to save the natural resources to fulfill the greed of the Whole Planet.

To fulfill the greed of the whole planet? Greed is the inordinate desire to possess wealth, goods, or objects of abstract value with the intention to keep it for one's self, far beyond the dictates of basic survival and comfort. whereby, it seems to me, greed can hardly be attributed to the end user, in this case the consumer, because they desire a bed frame, desk, or home that is made of actual wood (vs. wood byproduct). it seems more likely that greed is found in the side of manufacturers who create an inferior product and sell it for the same price to increase the company's profit. its not about natural resources as much as it is about cutting cost.

So maybe you should take a closer look at the comment and allow for the likelihood that English is not his native language. I'm going to say that if you simply sub in 'need' for 'greed' you'll get a better idea of what the poor guy is actually trying to communicate.

btw, this conversation is over a year old and the post you're responding to is 3 months old.

Hmmm.... perhaps that was a typo. I did however read the comment closely, as opposed to brief once-over. The last sentence was a separate thought from everything else. But my point is: The reduction in the use of actual wood and the increase of wood byproduct "quality" furniture is for no other reason than corporate greed. Many of the above posts are riddled with excuses for MDF. And yes, this may be an old post... but somehow, here we are today. 😉

Just looked at my lip balm...Phenol 0.4% and is the #3 active ingredient. I have been using this stuff for 30+ years and still kicking!

Wood & Plywood are tested and tried materials for years and no known health hazards. Why should I go for MDF unnecessarily? Just to save a few bucks??

I agree 100%...that is why I have gone to craigslist to buy all of my nice furniture...I get old Drexel, Henredon, etc and simply wait for what I want and spend 1/10th of new. I bought a very nice looking (staring at it now actually) tv stand....advertised as "solid wood, needs assembly". It does look great, and overa quality is fine. The problem is that is is actually mdf, and the top piece (which feels like it weighs 100 lbs by itself, very thick piece) immediately bowed under the weight of a 50 in plasma TV. THis was for TV's up to 55 or 60 in I believe. The bowing is so significant that the 4 doors underneath do not open/close correctly. I put a support piece under the bottom but no use...it is bowed allready. It sucks that I spent $400 and an hour putting it together, and was actually impressed with the look of the finished product. Of course using the little doll rods and putting screws into the fiberboard just sucks soooooo bad...you know you get one shot and no way its coming apart and then back together again. I got to this page after looking AGAIN for a solid wood tv stand (which I see are actually abot $1300 plus for a fairly nice ornate solid wood one) and see they advertise SOLID WOOD and in the fine print it says "Materials: glass, wood, mdf).

Have you thought about finding a local woodworker to make custom shelves for you? A local custom woodworker could make exactly what you want out of real wood!

I used to agree 100% with you Joshua - until I started picking out cabinets for our house we are building. I thought ALL high end cabinets were made with solid wood. I wouldn't have ever thought there was an option to have that 'pressed wood crap' on something as important as cabinets! Boy did I get educated. I had a quote from a cabinet maker for all wood cabinets. I am going modern, so the doors are slab, nothing else on them, just a slab door. Not shaker style. The bid came in at $60,000. Well over my allowance for cabinets. PLUS - these cabinets came with a disclaimer: The doors WILL warp at some time. I couldn't believe it. So my builder told me to check out a couple cabinet makers that make frameless modern cabinets. I visited those places and learned a lot! Because of my modern style, slab flat panel doors, MDF is the recommended thing. They guaranteed no warping - I loved the style and how they looked. So I totally get what you are saying. It's hard to wrap your head around. There are some top furniture designers that use MDF because they don't want their masterpieces warping! Crazy I know! So at this time I think I'm going with cabinets that use both - solid wood and MDF that will be properly sealed so warping won't be an issue. The price met my allowance and I'm able to use quartz for countertops throughout my house. I think I will love it.

When we were re-doing our house, the furniture companies we worked with told us the same thing about certain designs. If you go with a modern design, especially, it's going to be almost impossible to get most of the layouts you see with wood at any reasonable price, and even then, it will be a mistake most likely because of the warping, which isn't problematic for traditional construction where it is mostly invisible to the eye. Consider the attached picture. The particular cabinet design is so precise that any warping could make it impossible for the other drawers to function, too, plus destroy the entire look. The fact the kitchen won't last 100 years is meaningless because most people redo their kitchens every 10-30 years, anyway. Plus, the MDF used in a construction like this is not ordinary MDF like you find in IKEA furniture, it's a much more expensive, higher quality, advanced version.

So, definitely, a few exceptions exist to the wood-is-superior school. It's a trade-off between longevity and precision/stability. As long as you, the consumer, are aware of what you are giving up in the trade, and are still happy to pay the money, it's a fair deal.

I ended up contacting the company I wrote about in this post, asking them to build the bookcases for me in solid wood, instead. They said they could do it, and it would be a much higher price, but if I wanted the complex use of veneers and finishes on the original, they highly recommended I go with the upscale MDF material core so that it would avoid destroying the veneer, which was grooved into the columns and around multiple corners and joints, when the underlying wood would inevitably warped. That warping isn't a problem on a traditional bed, dresser, or desk, because it's mostly not noticeable. Here, it would be.

I liked the piece so much, I bought it, anyway. I know it won't last 100 years, but it will at least look brand new for the next 25 years.

Most people don't have the luxury of making that decision, though, as they aren't looking at the sort of higher-end MDF you were in your kitchen cabinets or I was in these bookcases; they're comparing something like this IKEA bed to something like this Henredon bed, which is 50x the price but made from solid mahogany with matching swirl mahogany and ribbon stripe mahogany veneers. Those two products are worlds apart. I'd go for the Henredon solid mahogany every single time.

Most of my furniture is 19th century. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any piece that is warped. Of course, it has been in homes, not stored in a barn for 50 years or anything like that.

But I agree with Joshua -- in the end, it's about making an educated decision.

If you worry about warping, you need to first make sure your room has the right temperature and humidity and then use what is called quarter sawed white oak.

Even worse than companies not declaring MDF content, which I do believe they should, you can't always trust product listings. I purchased a "solid poplar" piece of furniture that I could tell straight out of the box was exclusively MDF, due to the heavy paint, lack of wood grain, and bumpy appearance painted MDF can have. It became more evident when I saw part was chipped off, revealing MDF already flaking apart. Something really should be done about disclosing MDF content in all products. Even if it eventually proves not to be dangerous, people buying products they believe are wood are getting a lower quality than expected. Thank you for an informative article.

Quality inexpensive furniture can be assembled using MDF. Unless you just aren't a good maker. We have used MDF on Cruise ships for years with few problems. Fire restrictions pushed us in that direction. Using proper adhesives and fasteners our cabinetry needs to last at least 7 to 10 years depending on a ships refit schedule.

I try to test wood by knocking on it and hearing the sound... How does MDF compare for the knocking sound? I imagine the density and lack of reverberation will make it sound different enough to know it is not wood. {This is helpful when buying Not NEW pieces... or any without declared labels}

On July 7, 2010, President Obama signed the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite-Wood Products Act (9 pp, 144KB, About PDF) into law. This legislation, which adds a Title VI to TSCA, establishes limits for formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products: hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard. The national emission standards in the Act mirror standards previously established by the California Air Resources Board for products sold, offered for sale, supplied, used or manufactured for sale in California.

Nearly 2 years before this article formaldehyde emissions limited so illegal to make, sell, or import MDF and particle board that does not pass these standards.

Obama to the rescue again! Riiiight.

I know this article is old as anything, but you should look into woodmiser, they make MDF that is mold resistant and formaldehyde free. I'm not saying it should be a preferred material, but if the company that makes the shelves you were talking about uses Woodmiser's MDF it won't hold the risks that you fear for your purposes.

I came across the article below while researching MDF and it's interesting because while, yes there is urea-formaldehyde in MDF, it's the parts per million (ppm) that seem to matter. So far, I have not found that it is banned in the U.S.

Q3. What is formaldehyde and where does it come from?

Formaldehyde is a simple but essential organic chemical that occurs
naturally in most forms of life, including people, some foods we eat and
trees. All products made from wood will therefore emit some naturally
occurring formaldehyde. It is widely used in the manufacture of
numerous products including shampoos, plastics, carpets, clothing,
resins and glues etc.

A range of materials found in the home or workplace may therefore
release formaldehyde. The US Consumer Products Safety Commission
provides the following information on formaldehyde on their website .

Formaldehyde is normally present at low levels, usually less than
0.03 ppm,(parts per million) in both outdoor and indoor air. The
outdoor air in rural areas has lower concentrations while urban areas
have higher concentrations. Residences or offices that contain products
that release formaldehyde to the air can have formaldehyde levels of
greater than 0.03 ppm. Products that may add formaldehyde to the air
include particleboard used as flooring underlayment, shelving,
furniture and cabinets; MDF in cabinets and furniture; hardwood plywood
wall panels, and urea-formaldehyde foam used as insulation.

Similar levels are quoted in the World Health Organisation (WHO) report WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: selected pollutants,
published in December 2010. This states for buildings, some of which
contain wood based panels, ‘levels on the average are less than 0.05
mg/m3 (0.04ppm) in homes and about half that in public buildings’. It
is important to note that these levels are from all sources, not just
building products. Website: http://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/faq-mdf.htm.

I work for a firm which, in part, delivers joinery to the high-end
commercial and exhibit sector. Most of the stuff coming out of our workshops
will see years of service at usage rates equivalent to decades of domestic use –
and a lot of it is MDF. Proper jointing, substantial member/sheet thicknesses
and quality adhesives and fixings make for durable joinery regardless of
material.

The problem is what is made at the bottom of the market
generally; poor/flimsy construction and cheaper materials tend to come as a package,
hence the reputation of the material (which may be rendered into perfectly good
and highly durable products) is tarnished by association.

Finishes are again a matter of, well, finishes; if the
joinery has good quality, well adhered and polished veneer or a paint finish
carefully applied to thoroughly pre-prepared substrate then it will look good. What’s
underneath is moot.

Des, you may have a small argument here but regardless of how its coated put it in a high humidity location(such as the gulf coast aka Texas around to Florida) or a place where it may come into contact with the slightest amount of water. You'll soon find out what your missing in this argument. Within days of contact with water or months of humidity the MDF will begin soaking up the water, yes even from the air. The MDF will begin swelling and rotting and growing fungus and who knows what else. This stuff would have to be covered top to bottom 360 degrees around with whatever water sealer you chose to use but of course then the veneer wouldn't stick to it for more than a couple of months tops(I admit I haven't done studies on this just WAG'ing it but I'll stick to my guess as long as I can).

There's moisture resistant MDF, Medex, that's perfectly fine for use in wet environments like bathrooms, kitchens, bars, etc.

I don't like MDF just because it is so insanely heavy compared to woods like pine, red cedar, etc. Heavy boards are just miserable to work with, for somebody who is used to real wood.

TARGET KNOWINGLY SELLS FURNITURE, THEIR THRESHOLD WINDHAM COLLECTION, MADE WITH MDF. I BOUGHT A TABLE AND IT SMELLED HORRIBLY. WE WERE SICK FOR DAYS FROM WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS VARNISH BUT 1000 TIMES WORSE. LOOKED UP WHAT THIS WAS MADE OUT OF OR PAINTED WITH AND IT CLEARLY STATED MDF. IT CAUSES CANCER!!! AND TARGET KNOWINGLY SELLS THIS TO PEOPLE? UNBELIEVABLE! WE TRY TO EAT HEALTHY, EXERCISE, AND GUARD OUR HEALTH AND THEY SELL US THINGS WE BRING INTO OUR HOMES, THINGS OUR FAMILIES WILL BE AROUND FOR YEARS IN CLOSED UP HOUSES, THAT LEACH CANCEROUS SUBSTANCES INTO THE AIR. IM GOING TO PUSH FOR TARGET TO STOP SELLING THIS FURNITURE UNTIL THE MANUFACTURER CHANGES THE MATERIALS AND HOW IT IS MADE.

mdf has virtually no tensile or shear strength. It has great compressive strength. Do not buy bookcases that use mdf for shelves as they WILL sag in short order. the upright portions will work fine. Ask me how I know- Bob

What about NAUF rated MDF? This is the only stuff you can legally buy in Canada. Does that solve the problem? I wonder if you have the same mentality about finishes applied to the surface of all pieces of furniture? Are you concerned with that at all?

Don't forget about mascara aka Bat guano.

Pottery Barn sells this nasty stuff as well. This company would just assume harvest raw materials for building furniture from a nuclear fallout zone if they thought they could make an extra buck.

It's virtually impossible to steer clear of MDF besides cheapie furniture and flooring. It's under kitchen countertops, behind the dash of your car, backing that full-accessory entertainment center... just about anywhere there is a need for a flat, stable surface (let us please choose to ignore the effects of moisture on MDF in our definition of "stable" and stick to the comparisons with real wood products, materials that are dynamic during their entire lifespan in the tree or cut/cured)... you'll find particle board.

The part that I really do not know how to justify, though, within the industries that use the stuff, is how they evaluate the supposed economy. To cut, drill and manipulate wood you need steel-edged tools. For MDF, you need carbide tooling which can cost ten times more than its tool steel counterpart. It also adds to fabrication costs since a reliable bond really can't be nailed, screwed or stapled directly into MDF so are forced to drill pilot holes (well... yes... it IS done, but the bond is weak since those fasteners were designed to wedge between grain or cut threads) or use threaded inserts. So, I must assume a volume manufacturer may get a similar volume break procuring carbide blades and bits but the "casual" designer/builder must invest in expensive tooling just for the few times they must deal with MDF.

But we do kill fewer trees. So... the trees are healthy but the human population must genetically evolve their respiratory system to survive the increasingly-toxic living environment. Perhaps we need to drag all those MDF products outside, live in tents and exhaust the formic levels into the atmosphere? Running out of ideas how to cope, people. Sorry. 🙁

I just ordered a Crate & Barrel bedframe, per the website it is "Solid sustainable mango wood, mango veneer and engineered wood with a clove brown stain with lacquer finish. I emailed C & B and they replied: The only formaldehyde that is in our wood products is what is naturally found in the wood. We follow the highest standards and laws on what is acceptable in those contents. There is nothing else added. My wife is pregnant and I want no potential harm to the fetus. We are considering ordering a metal or iron frame instead. Any thoughts?

Unfortunately, "engineered wood" is a fancy way of saying MDF. Crate & Barrel lied to you.

I was just looking at a piece of furniture and it said "engineered wood". My first thought was "So, another wood for particleboard or that MDF stuff I've heard was best to avoid". It's sad, indeed.

Modern MDF doesn't add formaldehyde. The formaldehyde present (very, very little) is formaldehyde that is already present in the wood the MDF was made of.

Wow. Mindblowing how dangerous MDF is and it's the only wood I've ever seen used in Resistant Material classes in schools.

You are confusing MDF with MFC! Sawdust indeed!

This formaldehyde thing sounds scary, it's poison! Oh wait, there's chlorine in my water, fluoride in my toothpaste, bleach in my cleaning products and somehow I haven't keeled over yet.

Respect to the scientists and inventors (some of them even work for the evil corporations!) that, with hard research and creativity, come up with options that are as good or better than natural wood at a MUCH lower price point.

Except for the fact that mdf is not at all as good or better than natural wood, for most uses. For one, even without the formaldehyde emissions it's a bad idea for kitchen furniture - it will start to swell and deform within at most 4-5 years. It will be slow and unnoticeable in the beginning, starting in the less visible, less well ventilated parts, and increasingly fast and visible as time passes. As parts swell and absorb moisture, they'll also develop mold. I have yet to see kitchen furniture made of mdf or particle board older than ten years. In contrast, there are countless kitchen cupboards half a century old still in use, where I live, made of actual solid wood.

Mdf is useful for low strength parts which need to be cut along complex contours, and won't be used in highly humid places like a kitchen. Having no grain means it doesn't splinter on the edges when cut, and this allows for nice, clean edges without special precautions when cutting. But that's about it. It's way heavier and way less strong than almost any wood. (It's stronger than Balsa and less heavy than ironwood, if you will. Balsa is too soft for making toothpicks, ironwood sinks in water.) It also wears several times faster - a hardwood floor lasts for quite a while, even in areas with heavy human traffic, using mdf for flooring the same place begs for replacing it every year. There are very few use cases where using mdf is cheaper, in the long run, than using actual solid wood.

MDF is way more diverse than you're portraying.

There's Medex for moisture resistance.

There's ranger for painting.

There's fire rated for hot places.

There's ultralight for wall paneling.

It goes on and on.

If you put a Medex walnut veneered door and a hardwood walnut door behind a commercial bar (a VERY wet place) and finish them the same the Medex will last longer and resist warping longer than the solid wood.

It's an engineered product, and y'all should trust the engineers and professional woodworkers when they tell you it's a better product in some cases. It's not a case of some manufacturers gouging, even the most virtuous and skilled craftsmen will state that MDF used properly is a good thing.

And breaking four figures isn't a lot for a bookcase. If you want to make it out of hardwood it's getting closer to 5...

MDX is typically almost twice as heavy as softwood and even more expensive than some more common hardwood, such as white oak or birch. Properly dried and treated softwood still has an excellent moisture resistance and can look great.

Of course MDF used properly is a good thing. MDF was created for a very specific purpose: make it possible to build cheap furniture fast. That's what it's good for. I'm never going to argue with that. However, I'm not aware of a single use case where MDF is preferable to solid wood due to longer service life.

Bars specifically, besides being high wear places, need to change furniture every few years to stay fashionable. MDF is an excellent choice for such places. But I know quite a few old, long-lived pubs, in a few places in Western Europe, that have furniture more than 100 years old - made of solid wood - that still looks good and shows no signs of weakness. For thousands of years ships were made of wood, and meant to sail for decades, with some of them sailing more than a century. (The USS Constitution was still sailing, a few years ago, having passed two centuries of age, and still having a significant amount of the original material.) Show me a single modern ship made of MDF.

To understand why MDF cannot be more durable than solid wood, rot and other biological degradation left aside, you have to look at the physics of tear and wear in wood and MDF. MDF is tiny wood granules kept together by an adhesive. Typically, the adhesive is less elastic and stronger than the wood it binds. Wood, as a material, is weaker than many other materials, such a steel or stone, but has one property that no other material can match: fatigue resistence. Wood takes a few orders of magnitude more cycles than even spring steel. Even rubber takes fewer cycles than wood. In solid wood, this means extremely long life, provided the wood doesn't get damaged by other factors, such as rot. In MDF, regardless of how it is engineered, the different properties of the wood granules and the adhesive cause microscopic delamination to occur at the limit between the wood grains and the adhesive, or even the wood grains to split midway. Changes in temperature and humidity, a heavy truck driving by, loud music with strong low frequencies, all of these cause the process to advance a bit. For good quality MDF, this is a slow process, not affecting the material's strength and geometry for a long time, further slowed down by proper finishing. However, it's exponential, and much faster than similar damage in solid wood. Once grains become loose or broken, they act as levers on breaking bonds for neighboring grains and causing tear to the microscopic, sponge-like mesh of adhesive, and leave gaps for humidity to spread easier to the material's interior, making the process even faster and spreading it into the material's interior. Once the process has become advanced enough, it starts to be visible, and the structural integrity of the MDF board is affected. By the time that this has happened in MDF, damage due to similar factors in wood is barely measurable.

I don't know in other countries, but in Argentina (at least where i live) hardwood (or good plywood) is expensive. The only thing you can get relatively cheap is some pine. So MDF is a good alternative for non-professionals like me that just want to make some functional furniture without going bankrupt. Of course y will LOVE to make some things with real wood, but if i have to spend too much money, it's a no-no situation.

you hit the nail right on the head: ...make it possible to build "CHEAP FURNITURE" , as in cheaply made and unworthy of normal human being....this is why normal 100% wood furniture costs so much. People are just fooled into buying low priced MDF furniture , thus driving price of the real wood furniture up....perhaps real wood furniture would not be so expensive if there were no MDF/particle board "short cuts" allowed....

Cheap doesn't necessarily mean unworthy of normal human beings. Cheap is usually brought about by technological advancements. I didn't say MDF is always a bad choice. If you don't live more than a few years in one place, say because you're a constructor specializing in hydro power plants, or part of the military, MDF is absolutely a convenient choice for furniture - it makes no sense to haul solid wood furniture thousands of miles every few years, and this will surely damage it, in time (probably not break the wood but soften the glued joints). So no, people are fools when they buy stuff not looking whether it's fit for purpose, not when they buy cheap stuff.

I've yet to see any MDF/HDF furniture hold up as well as wood. IMHO, if you're going to use MDF then the product should be fit for the advertised purpose. This is NOT just Ikea/Walmart stuff.

In my book, unfit means:
deformed shelves and weight-bearing structures without adequate bracing
deformation fo structure under its own weight
delamination and swelling of corners from exposure to normal humidity
peeling veneer/faux finishes (i.e. melamine)
crumbling

High Quality MDF furniture is better than low quality wood furniture

Exactly. Sooooo much drama over MDF from people who have OSB for their roofing panels and wall sheathing, engineered fiberglass shingles on their roof, Advantech flooring on their floors, engineered wood products in their flooring systems, engineered hardwood flooring, the list is endless and it makes their homes more affordable, comfortable, less squeaky, stable, and more attractive.

I would like NO PLASTIC in my automobile as well ... except that it will weigh 9,000 lbs and get 4 miles to the gallon.

I have a large table made from a veneered MDF in my kitchen and I've had it for 15 years. It's still doing great with absolutely NO issues. I have no reason to believe it won't last at least another 15 years.

And what's really funny is everyone making claims about off-gassing. 99% of the off-gassing occurs in the manufacturing process. That's just a proven fact (but commenters will claim they know more than anyone because they can find a couple of conspiracy websites on Google).

MDF is flatter, more stable, takes paint better, and if the truth is told, if your home is flooded, none of your plywood or solid wood furniture will make it out in good shape either.

Lose the drama. If you want "solid" wood ... prepare to pay a hefty price.

In case of flooding, you throw away your MDF furniture, but repair your wooden furniture.

It's not getting wet what kills wood, it's staying humid for a long time, or sustaining frequent wet/dry cycles. In turn, MDF getting soaked usually kills it, even if not instantly.

Hint: in flooding, you throw out your wooden/plywood cabinets and furniture too. I've seen it happen well over 500+ times.

Experience always trumps theory.

True that, with experience.

A kitchen cabinet made of wood, owned by a family we've known for ages (small town, everybody knew everybody, and many families lived in the city since centuries ago) survived quite a few floods, and was used for three generations (that I know of - might be older than that).

Another wooden kitchen cabinet, also of painted wood, custom made for my mother by an uncle, stood in the rain once (by mistake), and was still in use twenty years later. Not even the paint was cracked.

How about this? A friend and I we both built book cases for our own use. (carpentry is a pretty popular hobby around here). He used MDF, I used a tiny little bit thinner pine wood. His shelves were shorter. They bent. Mine didn't.

MDF has its place. But there are few cases were it does the job better than solid wood. Use in moist conditions isn't such a case.

"It's an engineered product, and y'all should trust the engineers and professionals ... "
Sorry that's the argument that was put before us with GP's siding. Did great in the labratory and we approved it for use on homes we financed with some apprehension. Then nature in all her glory said "here's real life" and we began receiving calls from concerned home owners of fungus growing on their homes. Next step was a class action suit against GP and replacement of all of the siding on homes under our mortgages.
There are still homes out there with the "engineered" siding owned by folks who were unaware of the class action and its time limitations. Those homes are are slowly disintegrating and not marketable. Lenders will not finance those homes without replacement of the "engineered" siding.
I would doubt that MSD would stand the test of time as has the wood in The Skirrid Mountain Inn, near Abergavenny, Wales. The oldest continuously running pub in Wales dating back to the 11th Century Norman Conquest.

uhhh. 99% of kitchens are built with MDF due to its stability. Moisture resistant? That's what a finish is for - also, they sell Moisture Resistant MDF for like .50 sq/ ft more.

Moisture resistant means the matrix of glue which holds the wood dust together is made of a glue that does not absorb and does not dissolve into water. This won't prevent the wood particles from absorbing and releasing water, however. This, in turn, will cause them to become loose, in time. Once the particles are loose, the glue strains that bind the particles are prone to cracking, if loaded. As soon as this happens, the board starts to decay.

It's not a fast process, and it requires a bit of load. But as long as there are wood particles in the material, there's no way to avoid it, regardless of what manufacturers tell you. Modern kitchens are not affected by this, since they're not meant to last 20 years.

Don't get me wrong. MDF is a useful material, outperforming wood by far in certain classes of applications - like kitchen furniture which isn't meant to last for decades, and where weight is not relevant. But there's a reason why you won't see table or chair legs or boat hulls made of MDF. Or even simple things like cutting boards, where its nearly isotropic structure would be quite useful for avoiding cupping or torsion.

AGREE AGREE AGREE......... I HATE THAT CHEAP "WOOD" EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE USING THESE DAYS. Bring back quality crafted solid wood pieces that can be handed down generation after generation.

MDF veneer is 99% of kitchens and it also it much more stable than solid wood. Solid wood will expand and warp unless the doors are all under 2 feet each.

Agreed. I have never knowingly used MDF, and not because I'm a genius. You see, after WWII my parents, who came from working class poor/Appalachian stock would drive to Pennsylvania Dutch country and buy real furniture.

This was way before "collecting" antiques became a rich person's playground.

All the furniture in the house I grew up in was from a period known as "Early American Frontier" and is an unusual category. If the frontier was Ohio, the local furniture made would be between 1720 to 1830: https://www.amazon.com/Ohio-Frontier-Crucible-Northwest-Trans-Appalachian/dp/025321212X

If Missouri was the frontier the furniture was made between: 1798 (When Daniel Boone moved to Missouri) and statehood in 1821.

As the youngest child, I ended up with all of my parents furniture as my older brother's households had long been established.

I admit to being a bit of a snob about furniture, although I have also made "stitch and glue" wooden kayaks out of 3/8" inch plywood.

The boat, however, does not have kitchen privileges and remains outside.

A recent event has taught me some humility. I became ill, was fired from my job (illegally) and have 0 income. Doing the AIRB&B thing, I needed to put in a new kitchen.

No sooner than I came to that understanding (when my kitchen sink did - sink, that is. Below the shitty countertop). Within 24 hours my upstairs neighbor wrote to me asking me for a "favor". He was going to renovate his kitchen - could I please take the old cabinets off his hands?

I could, and I would (wood?) and I did. And yes, it is MDF with an oak veneer. But here's the beauty part. This "kitchen" was built without a stove on the 4th floor as part of an "in-law" apartment. It basically was installed in 1989 (I helped) and even though folks lived there from time to time, the cabinets look and feel brand new.

No cooking was done. So no grease.

So here's my question to the peanut gallery (my friends!) Do you think these cabinets have off-gassed most of their nastiness in the past 27 years? I'm going to forgo the shelves and use glass shelves given to me by a lovely gentleman having a yard sale.

Best to all - I really dig this blog.

Joshua, you have flashed a pure light (because nothing seems to be pure in the 'profit booking' world of humans today) on a dark corner of 'free' enterprise in which worms and serpents lurk. Is anyone surprised that in my part of the world, India, even global giants specify MDF in their catalogs as 'Solid Wood'!

Ever try to nail or screw this crap MDF stuff. Make you cuss

i drill in put real wood screws in the stuff all the time to make it stronger. you have to pre drill the holes for the screws and make sure they are centers or it comes out badly. also the tv stands or shelf's that are sturdy but over time feel like they will break at any moment the key to strength for them is that cardboard backing. its that backing that gives it is strength its only held on by a few nail or staples and breaks free easy. simple fix is to replace the back with a real wood panel it will remain strong for years to come.

. . . conformat screws

I think you are thinking of particleboard not MDF. Quality MDF holds screws well.

My brother was a cabinet for kitchens used this produce and died of mesothelioma, asbestos..maybe not everyone is a little sick????

Love what you wrote. Unfortunately I got scammed by a furniture company that was highly rated. I specifically asked if it was solid wood, they said yes, it's American walnut wood. I asked if it's veneer, they said no, it's solid. I purchased it at clearance price, I got it delivered, and as I'm unwrapping it, the underside was completely different texture. I called and asked, they said it's real wood veneer, "wood on wood." I asked whats the wood inside? She called the manufacturer and said its high density fiber board and she did its engineered wood, totally great.

I told her I wouldn't have bought it if it was veneer and mdf on the inside. I was told its solid American walnut. I spent 4 figures on an mdf table that I can't return cause its final sale. And I can only get store credit, and everything they sell is mdf with veneer. I got scammed.

You should have gotten their statements in email, or written form. Then you could have gone to a lawyer.

Alternatively, you can try to find out if other people were scammed the same way (because to me what happened to you is plain and simple a scam). If there are many of you, and at least one has an email or something, you might still have a case.

Recently purchased a computer desk manufactured with MDF. Move the sticking desk twice and it fell apart! Screws and connector clips will not hold under any tension and break out the wood. Will never buy another MDF or any particle board product again! MDF - what a waste of money.

I used mdf for years to make speaker boxes in the early 2000s. Thought nothing of it until I made an upholstered headboard and the odor in the bed was so strong I looked for ways to reduce the fumes......And here I am thrown into the realm of MDF and its harmful emissions. I chose it for its strength. For one flat headboard, you cant get anything stronger for the price. It admittedly goes to crap if you join it, drill into it, or get it wet but for a headboard that is not necessary. It sucks that they even sell it if it is as bad as it seems.

i drill in put real wood screws in the stuff all the time to make it
stronger. you have to pre drill the holes for the screws and make sure
they are centers or it comes out badly. also the tv stands or shelf's
that are sturdy but over time feel like they will break at any moment
the key to strength for them is that cardboard backing. its that backing
that gives it is strength its only held on by a few nail or staples and
breaks free easy. simple fix is to replace the back with a real wood
panel it will remain strong for years to come. wood glue go's a long was also. wood glue and wood screws go a long way on this cheap crap!.

I think you are thinking of particle board. MDF holds screws.

I purchased a media cabinet from a High Point manufacturer. immediately smelled objectionable odor. I contacted the manufacturer and was told that the furniture was manufactured in China and that the odor will dissipate I also went into a furniture store that carrys this line and was told that it is manufactured wood. So now I have concerns. I do have an opportunity to return the piece.

If the MDF is painted and cupboard doors only (everything else is plywood) should I still avoid it? Thanks!

Yes. It still breaks down over time and then that stuff is particles in the air. Once it gets exposed to water it's worse. Even if it has a veneer the veneer will start to come away over time exposing the MDF. Yes builders ALWAYS say it's the greatest thing, that's just because it's easier for THEM to cut it into shapes. They don't care at ALL that it's toxic. They will tell you oh it's fine, but they honestly don't give a crap. They just want things easier for themselves. I've finally learned this. It's all about THEM. NOT your health. Please get rid of it.

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