Plastics surface preparation introduction

Plastic laminated sheets produced in 1913 led to the formation of the Formica Products Company and the commercial introduction, in 1931, of decorative laminates consisting of a urea—formaldehyde surface on an unrefined (kraft) paper core impregnated with phenoHc resin and compressed and heated between poHshed steel platens (8,10). The decorative surface laminates are usually about 1.6 mm thick and bonded to wood (a natural composite), plywood (another laminate), or particle board (a particulate composite). Since 1937, the surface layer of most decorative laminates has been fabricated with melamine—formaldehyde, which can be prepared with mineral fiUers, thus offering improved heat and moisture resistance and allowing a wide range of decorative effects (10,11). 

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