What is Pressboard and Pressed Wood?

Pressboard and pressed wood are both manufactured wood substitutes. These terms are not interchangeable with particleboard, and the product made from these two processes is actually slightly stronger. Pressboard is made from recycled paper scraps, and pressed wood is made from wood scraps. The primary difference between these products and particleboard are that the pressing process applies heat and adhesive instead of the extrusion method used for the latter.

The layering process utilized in the construction of pressboard and pressed wood incorporated wood veneers, which is the name used to describe thin sheets of wood. While each veneer is not very strong on its own and is typically only 3mm or 1/8-inch thick, these thin sheets are glued and pressed together to form much stronger boards. The advantage to using pressed wood and pressboard is that they are cheaper. While they are stronger than particleboard, this type of material will usually require the addition of a skin or laminate to cover the irregular texture of the wood. However, Kerf style cabinets could be constructed by leaving the raw wood exposed.