Formica (plastic) - Product Evolution

Product Evolution

Decorative laminates were made by impregnating large sheets of Kraft paper with phenolic resin, which was then partially cured -- forming a stiff and very brittle sheet. Seven such sheets were laid together, atop a much thicker sheet of highly polished stainless steel. A decorative cover sheet (colored, or wood-grained, or patterned), impregnated with melamine resin, was laid atop that. Further, a protective top sheet of nearly transparent material, also melamine impregnated, was laid atop the cover sheet. Another sheet of polished stainless steel was laid over this entire package.

The process was repeated, until 20 such layers of impregnated paper between stainless steel sheets was assembled. This was known as a "press pack". A considerable number of press packs, with separators between them, would be piled up, making a combined stack several feet high. This was then placed in a large hydraulic press. Very great pressure and heat were applied, tightly compressing the paper sheets and fully curing the resins, to produce finished laminate sheets. During the cure, the protective top sheets became transparent, so that the wood grain or other surface decoration was entirely visible.

A variant was to use a slightly roughened steel sheet atop the cover sheet, producing a laminate with a matte surface. Some users considered this more attractive than the gleaming, absolutely flat surface created by the highly polished stainless steel separators. To make the surface uniform on the matte sheets, they were subjected to a final step of sanding them to a uniform thickness. This had the unfortunate side effect of grinding away (or making very thin) the top melamine coating, at the highest points on the roughened surface. In subsequent use, those thin or sanded-away points could allow oils or juices to soak into the laminate, possibly discoloring it.

This lamination process was extremely costly. It required extensive handling of the individual sheets. Those sheets were more brittle than potato chips, hence easily damaged. Breaking off even a small corner rendered the sheet unusable (and not repairable or recyclable). Yet no better process had been devised, since the inception of the product. After a meeting of the parent corporation's Research Coordinating Committee, Cyanamid's Director of Corporate Development and Planning, Mr. Kent L. Aldershof, suggested a new approach to Formica's Research Director, Dr. Arthur Giddings.

The proposal was to bypass the entire process of making paper and impregnating individual sheets, to be subsequently laminated. Instead, Aldershof proposed making a thick paste of cellulose powder and phenolic resin, to form the core in a single piece prior to curing. The melamine-impregnated cover sheets would be laid atop that, in forming the press packs.

This approach was pursued in the Formica research laboratory, with great success. Thereafter, Formica decorative surfacing was produced with what was termed Unified Core.

A further advantage, beyond the cost savings and reduction of scrap, was that the core material could be impregnated with a pigment, approximately matching the color of the top sheet that would later be applied. Under the earlier process, the phenolic resin turned very dark brown during curing, so that a narrow brown line would show when the material was later used in a countertop. Pigmented Unified Core provided an edge largely indistinguishable from the surface color, giving a more pleasing overall appearance to the product.

An interesting variant of the product was also developed, known as Deep-Textured Formica Surfacing. Use of the cellulosic paste allowed using a deeply textured, or even sculptured, metal press sheet atop the decorative sheet -- producing a formed surface. The researchers overlaid the stainless steel sheets with furnace cement, a material easily sculptured or textured, and able to withstand the high heat during curing. They would carve into this cement an illustration, such as a dragon or a spiral seashell, in negative form. When the furnace cement hardened, and the sheet was used in a press pack, the final Unified Core product would have a raised or three-dimensional image.

It was thought that such an approach would lead to producing large panels, usable for example as wall decor in a hotel lobby or corporate office. In a further development, the researchers used very thin copper sheets in place of the decorative sheet (still overlaying that with the melamine-impregnated top sheet). The overall effect was like a large metal medallion, or a copper sculpture. While some impressive samples emerged from the research lab, the product was never commercialized due to the apparent high costs (of sculpturing the cover sheets), the short lifetime of the sculptured cover sheets, and the apparently small market for such products.

Nevertheless, Formica Corp. had great success with its advanced Unified Core countertop material.