What Is The Best Bathroom Cabinet Material?

jellykingdom on 05/01/2022 - 16:20

I'm looking at buying some shaving cabinets with mirror doors for my new house, but I'm not sure what sort of carcass I should be looking for. I read online that PVC is the new gold standard, which sounds good to me, but I'm confused by the other option of polyurethane which seems cheaper. I can't find anything much on Google about this for bathrooms, except obviously it's used in kitchens. However kitchens aren't usually high steam areas, except around rangehood I suppose

Anyone know anything about these different products for shaving cabinets? PVC, polyurethane, MDF, particleboard etc

I ASSUME that polyurethane is essentially the same as "painted" MDF or particleboard

Obviously i could just ask but all of these places are on holidays until next Monday

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Lord Fart Bucket on 05/01/2022 - 16:33

    I don't think it matters much. I would advise to consider "floating" cupboards, this limits the bottom getting wet, then rotting from any water on the floor.

    • afoveht on 05/01/2022 - 19:12

      If you dislike the look of "floating" cupboards you can get standard ones but reinforced and float them with the feet raised about 1mm off the floor.

  • AndyC1 on 05/01/2022 - 16:37
    +2

    Have a read of the following:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDF
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_board

    Use Particle_board if you want it to only last a few month.
    Use MDF if you want it to only last a year depending on the condensation in the bathroom
    Use Polyurethane or Polyvinyl_chloride over HMR board if you want it to last a long time, but make sure the edges do not allow moisture in.
    "Paint" is not the same as Polyurethane. Think of Polyurethane as araldite in that it is a two part epoxy that needs to be mixed in the correct proportions and drys very hard and sticks very well to what it is applied to. Paint is either water or oil based and is what you are used to.
    PVC is usually applied in a vacuum chamber and the PVC layer has glue on one side that sticks to the board used. The glue will fail if it gets to hot or you hit the PVC on a join or where it finishes.

    • dust on 05/01/2022 - 20:33

      Use Particle_board if you want it to only last a few month.

      Unless your bathroom has no airflow and you spray water all over the bathroom every day I think you'll find this is a rather pessimistic view of how long particle board will last. That being said, it's definitely not the greatest material for bathroom cabinets.

  • pegaxs on 05/01/2022 - 16:38
    +1

    PVC is Poly Vinyl Chloride.
    PU is nothing like MDF or particle board.

    PVC is basically what plumbing pipes are made of.
    PU is basically what, well, everything from soft phone cases up to rock hard chopping boards.

    PVC is more rigid and not very flexible
    PU is much more flexible and less prone to shattering/splitting.

    For my money, I would get a PU, but I know I'm going to be shouted down by a plastics expert.

  • Dr Prepper on 05/01/2022 - 17:25
    -2

    Vibranium

    Stainless steel like in prison with a good place to stash shanks

    the material they make black boxes on aeroplanes out of

  • bloom on 05/01/2022 - 18:37

    Dont forget the ‘marine grade’ plywood

  • DASHCAM NOW DUDE on 05/01/2022 - 18:55

    Particle board sucks in any location that may get wet.

  • yellowfever on 05/01/2022 - 22:04

    Google Laminex Compact laminate.
    It is suited for wet areas

    MDF is the worse material to use in wet area

  • jellykingdom on 06/01/2022 - 08:23

    I feel like perhaps (most) people have missed my point here a bit

    I know what PVC and PU are. I know what PVC pipes are. I know MDF isn't the same as PU

    What i'm asking. When choosing shaving cabinets + vanities, what does "PVC" and "PU" actually mean, how do they differ, etc? For e.g surely the whole cabinet is not made of PVC plastic sheets?? If it isn't, then i fail to see how it would be much better than any other product, because it would be PVC wrap around some kind of HMR board.

    PU is the most common product in kitchen cabinet doors, but they're generally not suitable for bathrooms (i don't think), so is a PU shaving cabinet going to be a problem?

    Am i just overthinking the whole thing?? Maybe! I just want to spend a bit of extra money now, and have something that lasts 2-3x as long

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