Industrial & Compact Laminates — Chemical, Fire and Moisture Grades

Grades produced

Where each grade is used

• Washroom and shower cubicles — compact grade at 12 mm is the standard worldwide, because the panel is waterproof through its full thickness and cannot rot at the floor.
• Laboratory benches — chemical resistant compact stands up to acids and solvents that would strip an ordinary melamine surface.
• Hospital and clinic surfaces — anti-bacterial grades with a non-porous face that can be cleaned with hospital-grade disinfectant.
• Lockers and changing rooms — humidity that destroys board-based furniture has no effect on compact.
• Balcony and facade cladding — exterior compact grades are UV stabilised and hold colour outdoors.
• Electrical panels and machine guards — insulation grade sheet for switchgear and industrial equipment.

Working with compact laminate

Compact behaves like a dense board rather than a sheet. It is cut on a panel saw with a fine-tooth carbide blade, routed with standard woodworking tooling, and drilled normally — but it is abrasive, so tooling wears faster than it would on timber.

The cut edge is usually left exposed and simply polished. On a black-core sheet that dark line around every panel has become a design signature rather than something to hide. Colour-core sheets, where the core matches the face, are available where a monolithic look is wanted.

Allow for movement. Compact expands and contracts with humidity across its width more than along its length, so cubicle and locker fixings use slotted holes rather than tight ones. Fixing a panel rigidly at both ends is the usual cause of bowing months after installation.

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