Let\u2019s face it: not all drawer faces are made the same! But they can be placed into broad categories, based on the material they\u2019re made out of, so let\u2019s take a look at the advantages and drawbacks of each.<\/p>\n
Particle board is basically sawdust glued together and pressed into a mold. This makes it cheap, and\u2026 well, cheap. That\u2019s it, pretty much.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t hold a very good finish, thanks to the random arrangement of particles and little strips of wood. It also doesn\u2019t hold fasteners very well, because it\u2019s full of voids and gaps, like a sponge\u2014ever have the screws that hold a drawer face, or even the drawer pulls themselves, strip out and just spin and spin as you turn them? Well, that was probably a particle board drawer face. Heck, the stuff even tends to disintegrate when it gets wet. You don\u2019t ever use any water<\/em> in your kitchen, <\/em>do you? Yeah, we thought so.<\/p>\n So, we don\u2019t use the stuff. Ever.<\/u><\/p>\n Now on to the real materials.<\/p>\n Plywood is great stuff! We use it all the time \u2026 for our box frames, that is. Its many-layered design of criss-crossing grains make it hold fasteners like nothing else, and make it strong and long-lasting, and even warp-resistant. But it also makes for a bunch of straight lines at the edges of the drawer fronts, which you can either cover up with strips of veneer that are doomed to start to peel off in a few years, or with paint, which will never look perfectly smooth with the gaps between the plies being so porous. Well, not without a whole lot of coats, anyway, and that comes with its own problems.<\/p>\n Next!<\/p>\n This one\u2019s a no-brainer. Hardwood is pure wood, cut from a tree other than pine and its many relatives. It is a little bit susceptible to warping in a warm, humid environment like a kitchen, but with careful design, other elements can hold it flat for many, many years. Its natural wood grain makes it exceptionally beautiful, even on the edges<\/a>, whether flat or beveled, when it\u2019s stained. It\u2019s durable, because underneath that smooth-finished grain surface, if you happen to get a dent, ding, or cut in the finish, there is, you guessed it: more hardwood.<\/p>\n We love it! We use it in almost every cabinet line due to its superiority and its popularity, even if it isn\u2019t technically the best for certain applications\u2026<\/p>\n Wait, what? Isn\u2019t fiberboard just glorified particle board? Well \u2026 kind of. Yes, it\u2019s made of particles of wood, but in MDF and HDF, those particles are made carefully and on purpose, out of genuine hardwood. The particles are all the same size and shape, so they pack densely and evenly, unlike particle board which is full of voids and gaps. Then they\u2019re cured under extremely high mechanical pressure, using much more carefully-engineered binding agents. The result is that medium density fiberboard has a density and strength on par with hardwood, and high density fiberboard is actually heavier and stronger, which is why it\u2019s commonly used in commercial and industrial applications.<\/p>\n The downside to these engineered materials is that they have no grain pattern. This means you can\u2019t stain them, unless you put a thin sheet of wood veneer over them. But painting \u2026 ah, painting is another matter. Fiberboard sands down to a glass-smooth finish, and the porosity is perfectly evenly distributed. This means no need for layer after layer after layer of grain-concealing paint, no bumpiness in the final finish, just one satin-smooth painted surface<\/a>, in one flawless coat.<\/p>\n Have more questions about kitchen cabinets? Our new e-book will help you avoid pitfalls and mistakes, keep you from getting ripped off, and even comes with two bonus guides on our very best kitchen design ideas, and the easy way to survive in style while your kitchen is out of commission during its remodeling. It\u2019s called The Consumer\u2019s Guide to Kitchen Cabinets<\/a>, and it\u2019s available now, for a limited time. Click that link and we\u2019ll see you there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Drawer faces are one of the most stand-out parts of your cabinet. Particle board, plywood, hardwood, MDF, HDF? What are yours made of?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[1878,1075,414,1848],"amp_validity":null,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5964,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions\/5964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Common \u2013 Plywood<\/h3>\n
The Best for Staining \u2013 Hardwood<\/h3>\n
The Best for Painting \u2013 Fiberboard (MDF or HDF)<\/h3>\n
Avoid Kitchen Makeover Pitfalls<\/h3>\n
![even on the edges<\/a>, whether flat or beveled, when it\u2019s stained. It\u2019s durable, because underneath that smooth-finished grain surface, if you happen to get a dent, ding, or cut in the finish, there is, you guessed it: more hardwood.<\/p>\nWe love it! We use it in almost every cabinet line due to its superiority and its popularity, even if it isn\u2019t technically the best for certain applications\u2026<\/p>\nThe Best for Painting \u2013 Fiberboard (MDF or HDF)<\/h3>\nWait, what? Isn\u2019t fiberboard just glorified particle board? Well \u2026 kind of. Yes, it\u2019s made of particles of wood, but in MDF and HDF, those particles are made carefully and on purpose, out of genuine hardwood. The particles are all the same size and shape, so they pack densely and evenly, unlike particle board which is full of voids and gaps. Then they\u2019re cured under extremely high mechanical pressure, using much more carefully-engineered binding agents. The result is that medium density fiberboard has a density and strength on par with hardwood, and high density fiberboard is actually heavier and stronger, which is why it\u2019s commonly used in commercial and industrial applications.<\/p>\nThe downside to these engineered materials is that they have no grain pattern. This means you can\u2019t stain them, unless you put a thin sheet of wood veneer over them. But painting \u2026 ah, painting is another matter. Fiberboard sands down to a glass-smooth finish, and the porosity is perfectly evenly distributed. This means no need for layer after layer after layer of grain-concealing paint, no bumpiness in the final finish, just one satin-smooth painted surface<\/a>, in one flawless coat.<\/p>\nAvoid Kitchen Makeover Pitfalls<\/h3>\nHave more questions about kitchen cabinets? Our new e-book will help you avoid pitfalls and mistakes, keep you from getting ripped off, and even comes with two bonus guides on our very best kitchen design ideas, and the easy way to survive in style while your kitchen is out of commission during its remodeling. It\u2019s called The Consumer\u2019s Guide to Kitchen Cabinets<\/a>, and it\u2019s available now, for a limited time. Click that link and we\u2019ll see you there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drawer faces are one of the most stand-out parts of your cabinet. Particle board, plywood, hardwood, MDF, HDF? What are yours made of?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[1878,1075,414,1848],"amp_validity":null,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5964,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions\/5964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/RTA-Kitchen-Cabinets\/richmond-kitchen-cabinets\/Richmond.jpg\"){kind=link}
![satin-smooth painted surface<\/a>, in one flawless coat.<\/p>\nAvoid Kitchen Makeover Pitfalls<\/h3>\nHave more questions about kitchen cabinets? Our new e-book will help you avoid pitfalls and mistakes, keep you from getting ripped off, and even comes with two bonus guides on our very best kitchen design ideas, and the easy way to survive in style while your kitchen is out of commission during its remodeling. It\u2019s called The Consumer\u2019s Guide to Kitchen Cabinets<\/a>, and it\u2019s available now, for a limited time. Click that link and we\u2019ll see you there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drawer faces are one of the most stand-out parts of your cabinet. Particle board, plywood, hardwood, MDF, HDF? What are yours made of?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[1878,1075,414,1848],"amp_validity":null,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5964,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions\/5964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rtacabinetstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/rtaproducts\/sample\/arlington-linen.jpg\"){kind=link}