A major challenge for many office ergonomics users is that they've not connected with the importance of materials used to build the furniture in their offices. These materials determine how durable, affordable, and appealing the products will be. So you need to pay attention as we go through this guide. As we show you how Flexispot arrived at this office furniture, you'll also understand the most appropriate environment for each piece of furniture. You have lots of goodies to enjoy here and the only way to get them is when you follow to the end.

Furniture Materials Used In The Manufacturing Of Flexispot Products

We're here to take you by your hand as we walk through the various materials used in the manufacturing of our desks and chairs at Flexispot. We'll also show you how these materials are gotten and how they'll improve your workstation.

Desks

You have a lot of available options to explore anytime your home office or workplace needs a new desk. Apart from the regular ones like plastic and even metal tables, Flexispot has gone the extra mile to give you some luxurious taste.

You can now enjoy desks made from bamboo, chipboard, laminate, solid wood, and fiberboard, among others. We won't like to bore you with the excessive details, so we've selected four materials we use to build our desks. And they're the most durable and comfy.

Isn't that beautiful?

Chipboard

Also known as particleboard, chipboard is one of the top furniture materials we use to optimize our tabletop production. Let's go a bit down memory lane - you can get this material from an engineering process where sawdusts, wood particles, and shavings are pressed together.

After they've been well-compacted, they are extruded and held together by a natural or synthetic resin or any other binder. Then, the wood particles become rugged and sturdy enough to be framed into desktops of different shapes and sizes.

That sounds interesting, right? Of course, it is. Thankful enough, chipboard is one of the cheapest tabletop materials on the market. The reason behind that is obvious - since the material is not gotten originally from wood, it's natural that chipboard products will be sold at pocket-friendly prices.

Talking about the "pocket-friendliness" of chipboard, it's not going to rob you of the quality and strength you're expecting. Yes, you can trust the process to give you sturdy and most quality products. Once we're done with the compression, extrusion, and bounding, you'll be excited to see chipboard products turn out strong and durable.

And that's why they're recognized for delivering tabletops of the best quality and are available in several color variants. Flexispot tabletops made from chipboard are incredibly strong. We can liken it to the strength of natural wood and a carrying capacity similar to that of other materials. For instance, we have the EC1 Electric Height Adjustable Gaming Desk which is a product of chipboard and it has the maximum carrying capacity of 154lbs. Apart from sturdiness, the tabletop has some relishing features. You can also enjoy eco-friendliness from any of our products gotten from chipboard.

First, we ensure that nothing gets wasted - who could have imagined classy tabletops can come out of wood particles? Secondly, it doesn’t require trees to be cut down for production, as only particles of already strewn wood are needed. However, the only downside to chipboards is their inability to be used outdoors, especially when untreated.

This is because moisture destroys particleboards. And where they are left outdoors, moisture seeps in over time. Meanwhile, where the chipboard products are adequately treated and a sealant is applied (as is the case with Flexispot products), you can safely use it outdoors without fear of damage.

Bamboo

You don't have to be an environmentalist to know that bamboo is an eco-friendly furniture material. Bamboo has the lifespan of a cat, the strength of a horse, and the lightweight of a feather.

We call the production process bamboo passes through before becoming finished products carbonization. Carbonization? It involves cutting the material into strands and strips before the strips are pressure-steamed and finally laminated. If you want to have a bamboo plantation to yourself, the harvest period is somewhere between 3 to 5 years and the growth rate is awe-inspiring when compared to the 10-20 years of waiting for softwoods. Hence, this shows why bamboo is one of our favorite materials and we also go by the practice of replacing bamboo plants after cutting them down.

There's a guarantee that products made from bamboo will be very durable. We're not trying to be overconfident here but experts have proven that bamboo has a protective coating that allows them to grow sustainably without pesticides or fertilizers. And this protective coating is known to give bamboo tabletops an elegantly-oiled finish.

Only if you've witnessed where our engineers attached them to their bases, bamboo tabletops have an incredible ruggedness. They are dogged, designed to last for years, and very lightweight. So bamboo tabletops should be your go-to choice if you need large tables. Besides, they'll give you the ease of mobility around your workplace or home office.

Although bamboo doesn’t shrink or swell under diverse climatic conditions, it may not be able to survive moisture exposure. The material starts to depreciate when you leave them in high moisture areas. Molds also begin to form on the fabric when left bare in heavy rain.

So the best way out of this is to be very conscious of the type of environment you expose the products to.

Laminate

Here's another durable material for your office desks. At a glance or afar off, laminate material has a shiny appearance that gives a glossy wood feel. And this glossy appearance seems to be the attention catcher as people tend to go for shiny wood over the natural dull glow of solid wood.

Do you even know that laminate is not an actual wood? Yes, it has no relationship with wood. If that's the case, let's peep into the source. The material is gotten from other synthetic materials like plastic specially melted and bonded together under intense heat and high pressure. The bonding process makes it very sturdy and reliable, and that's what gives you durability in the long run. During the process, the bonded layers or sheets are printed to look like wood or take up and shape. After they've taken forms, they are attached to other essential materials like Medium Density Fiber, to boost their durability. Unlike solid wood or bamboo, you don't have to be worried about laminate retaining scratch marks.

This means that you can feel free anytime you're using laminate products, but that doesn't mean you should be careless. You can also use laminate products for busy settings where the desk will be used frequently for heavy purposes. If you're considering getting laminate products but your budget seems to be saying the opposite, you should know that the costs are pretty friendly. And that's major because the material is not made from real wood. It's very easy to clean and stay hygienic with laminate office furniture. After all, the shiny finish stays intact for years without fading and you have different options of color available.

Solid Wood

Nothing deep to crack here - the name has given us a hint that office furniture made from this material is actual wood. Now, this furniture material works hand-in-hand with a few pieces of lumber which are obtained from natural wood or plywood.

Solid wood has strong fibers that make it the strongest of all tabletop material types and that's what makes it a bit pricey. Little wonder why people on a low budget often go for a combo of wood with other materials, instead of a full solid wood desk or bed frame. But this is a worthy cause you should invest in. It'll surely bring massive returns!

If you're also looking for something unique that'll set your home office or workplace apart from others, solid wood is all you need. Besides, science tells us that trees have different biological makeup, so solid wood office furniture has a special look since the grains are known to form differently in every tree.

Meanwhile, it's very easy to maintain solid wood. All you need to do is dust it down during regular cleanings. And anytime you're free to give it an intensive cleaning, you should always use a cleaning agent compatible with solid wood furniture. On that note, we'll recommend you turn your workstation around with the Willow Pro Solid Wood Standing Desk.

Merely looking at this piece, you'll sense the tabletop's sturdiness and the wood's thickness. And it's available in two super-duper variants - black walnut wood and cherry wood.

Which Is The Best Desktop Furniture Material?

As simple as this question sounds, it's a bit complicated to crack it because all the four office furniture materials above have their peculiarities. So it's safe to answer that what makes the best desktop furniture material rests fully on what you desire in the furniture and the results you'll like to see while using it.

If you want something sturdy and affordable for indoor use, we'll suggest you go for a chipboard material. And if you have a flair for products that are resistant to retaining scratch marks and come in a variety of colors, you should consider the laminate material.

On the other hand, bamboo is your perfect choice for large tables but if you want to make a"once-in-a-lifetime" furniture investment, solid wood should be your ideal choice.

Chairs

Unlike tabletops and desks, we don't have so many material variants with chairs - you either have them in leather or mesh fabric.

Let's take a closer look at these materials and see how they differ.

Mesh

Mesh is an extremely beautiful chair material. The design and contoured shape exude some level of class to any office you place it in. At Flexispot, all our office ergonomic chairs made from mesh products come with the best-rated features and designs.

If you won't take our word for it, then we suggest you take a walk through our Mesh Chair Catalogue on the Flexispot online store. The contoured structure of mesh chairs is what essentially makes them ergonomic.

They are built in line with the body's contours, giving you more support and comfort than other chair materials. Chair products from mesh help with posture improvement and provide relief from body aches and musculoskeletal-related issues. Mesh chairs offer a great level of durability. It's easy to maintain as the material doesn't absorb spillages, heat, or sweat

Speaking of heat and sweat, it would interest you to know that mesh fabric is breathable. Thus even in a hot climate, heat does not get trapped between the chair and your body.

Leather (PU)

This is the most popular material used in the production of chairs and it offers you the perfect durability with its flexible yet firm structure. If you want a chair material that doesn't sag or wane, leather chairs are here for you. Instead of sagging, they act more like memory foam.

The implication is that, no matter how hard you twist and bend while sitting in the chair, the material will always go back to its original form. Another plus you can also enjoy here is that PU leather does not absolve dust and moisture. They remain on the surface and this makes it easy to clean.

Leather chairs are also budget-friendly and they come in several variants.

Which Fabric Provides The Most Ergonomic Support?

For us, it will be the mesh material. Leather chairs are also very ergonomic, but the contoured mold of mesh chairs makes them preferable.

Summary

At this juncture, you have all it takes to determine the best office furniture material that fits your needs. You also have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each material and how choosing either of them will impact your budget.

We are confident that you will make more informed furniture decisions henceforth.