What Is The Difference of MDF Vs HDF?

Do you know what is the MDF(Medium Density Fiberboard) and HDF(High Density Fiberboard) and their difference?

Medium density board (MDF) and high density board (HDF) are two commonly used artificial boards, both made of wood fiber as raw material and made by hot pressing gluing, but there are significant differences in density, performance and application

MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard)

Basic features:

- Density range: 640-800 kg/m³ (international standard)

- Raw material: Wood fiber (cork or hardwood) + synthetic resin (such as urea formaldehyde glue).

- Production process:

1. The wood is crushed into fiber;

2. The fiber is mixed with adhesive after drying;

3. Pavement hot press molding

Advantages:

✅ Smooth surface: suitable for directly pasting, painting or laminating, widely used in furniture surface.

✅ Good processability: easy to cut, drill, not easy to break the edge (more delicate than particleboard).

✅ Moderate price: Cost performance is higher than solid wood and high-density board.

Typical use:

- Furniture (cabinet doors, desktop substrates);

- Interior decoration (skirting lines, decorative lines);

- Stereo box, display props.

HDF (High Density Fiberboard)

Basic features:

- Density range: ≥800 kg/m³ (some ultra-dense HDF can reach more than 1000 kg/m³).

- Raw material: Finer wood fiber + high strength resin (such as phenolic glue).

- Production process:

1. Fiber grinding more fine;

2. High-pressure long-term hot pressing (up to 5MPa)

Advantages:

✅ Extremely high strength: Static bending strength (MOR) is more than 1.5 times that of MDF.

✅ Wear and impact resistance: suitable for high-frequency application scenarios (such as floor substrates).

✅ Good stability: not easy to deform, humidity changes have little impact

Typical use:

- Laminate Flooring (e.g. laminate flooring);

- High-end furniture (load-bearing parts);

- Door core, ship interior.

- Key specifications comparison

- How to choose MDF or HDF?

Select MDF:

- Limited budget, need surface fine processing (such as engraving, skin);

- Furniture or decorative items for dry environments.

Select HDF:

- Need high strength or wear resistance (e.g. floor, workbench);

- Humid environment (such as bathroom cabinet substrate, with waterproof treatment).

With these informations, i think you can know clearly the difference of MDF and HDF and how to choose them

MDF production

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