Tulip Wood : Why We Prefer It To Pine

Tulip Wood

If you are looking to buy timber furniture, you will discover that there is a wide choice of timbers to choose from.

In the 1980’s mahogany was one of the more popular types of wood, its rich dark reddish brown often polished appearance graced many peoples homes. 

The same can be said through the 1990’s with Beech and Ash, their lighter tones quickly became the ‘go to’ colours of choice after the darkness of the timbers used in the previous decade.

Now while fashions change with the years, there has been an increasing demand for painted timber furniture. 

For years it has been Pine which has formed the mainstay of painted furniture, its lightweight, relatively inexpensive and easily sourced. 

Furniture manufacturers love it because its easy to work with, allowing them to make virtually any piece of furniture with ease, which is we still use Pine in many of our collections.

Tulip Wood

We do, however, prefer to use a timber known as Tulip wood instead of Pine in our premium Farrow and Ball painted range. This also applies to our Mottis range of furniture.

There is good reason for this. Although we love Pine and make no bones about that, its serviceable, and is a great timber for everyday furniture.

But for our premium hand made pieces we prefer Tulip wood.

For those of you who have never heard of Tulip wood, heres a bit about it.

Tulip wood is mainly found in the US, it also grows in Australia and Brazil.

Most of it is taken from the tulip tree (lirodendron tulipfera). 

It can also be called tulip poplar, yellow poplar, american whitewood, canary whitewood or simply canary wood. 

The reference to the poplar tree comes more from the fact that tulip trees grow tall and straight, they are NOT actually part of the poplar family.

Pine is a softwood, coming from those tall cedar, spruce or fir trees. Softwoods generally come from evergreen trees that usually have needles as opposed to leaves.

Its quite soft, and can easily be marked or damaged, they have a more open grain and textured feel, and usually have plenty of knots.

This makes them perfect for those stained or waxed pieces of furniture that highlight the grain and sheer beauty of the timber, but if you want to paint the timber, you need something a bit better.

Hardwood

Tulip wood is a hardwood, it comes from a tree that sheds its leaves in the winter, These types of trees tend to grow more slowly, which makes the timber more dense and harder. 

Tulip wood is usually whiteish or yellow in colour, it has a close, dense grain structure, and generally has minimal knots.

Its still lightweight at around 490 kg per cubic meter, but is very strong, whats more its less affected by changes in temperature and humidity. 

Pine can have a tendency to move or shrink when subjected to changeable conditions.

This can cause issues with painted surfaces, especially in furniture that is intended for areas of the home where temperature and humidity can vary ( kitchens and bathrooms in particular).

The other benefit of using tulip wood in our premium painted ranges is that the close grained finish accepts paint really well, it provides a smooth surface with no imperfections, and because its more stable, the wood does not move with environmental or temperature changes. 

This ensures that the paint finish stays looking its best for years to come.

It is more expensive to source and use, and that is why we only use it in our premium handmade ranges. 

After all when you are investing in a piece like quality larder cupboard for instance, we want it to look and perform just as good in ten years time as it did the day it left the factory.

Why not come down to our showroom and check out the difference between pine and tulip wood? 

We look forward to welcoming you....

 



from List Posts from Furniture 4 Your Home https://www.furniture4yourhome.co.uk/blog/post/tulip-wood-why-we-prefer-it-to-pine
via Furniture4YourHome

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