That cardboard furniture is an excellent alternative for those looking for ecological furnishing solutions is certainly nothing new.
However, there is a persistent perplexity about the quality and durability of these products which are often seen as a kind of playful imitation of “real” furniture made of wood, plastic or metal. This negative stereotype is connected to the fact that cardboard is a relatively new material and certainly a niche in the world of interior design.
There is also an aspect connected to the concept of cardboard that encompasses a universe of materials, not all of which are suitable for the construction of furnishing solutions. To make an analogy, it is as if we were talking generically about wood, without specifying whether a piece of furniture is made of sturdy beech, larch, or oak boards, or whether it is rather built with sheets of plywood, veneer or chipboard.
As it is easy to guess, all the difference in the world passes between two such products and therefore under the same label of “wood” there can be very fine furniture and low-cost furnishings of low alloy.
The same goes for cardboard furniture: there is a whole universe of furnishing solutions and ranging from the simple DIY cabinet, perhaps obtained from the creative recovery of used packaging boxes and boxes, passing through “light” cardboard displays, suitable only for displaying a few brochures, arriving at huge modular bookcases capable of withstanding a capacity of quintals without problems.
How can these differences be explained? And above all, can the combination of Furniture + Cardboard work, or is it really just a sort of fashion not to be taken too seriously? The answer passes through some basic factors
Cardboard is light and totally recyclable and this certainly makes it an excellent eco-sustainable material.
Despite this, it is mainly used for disposable packaging, when in reality it could be used for many more uses, such as furniture for homes, shops or offices.
Toys, chairs, armchairs, coffee tables, desks, displays and even bookcases can be reinvented if redesigned with a cardboard structure, but here the material comes into play because not all cardboard is the same.
For its products, NaturDesign mainly uses virgin corrugated triple-layer “ship” cardboard. Let’s see what it means and why these characteristics are crucial: ship cardboard is an extremely moisture-resistant material and is used for transport in the hold, hence its name. Let’s come to the concept of virgin cardboard: the fiber used for the production of cardboard can be derived from recycled pulp, or from virgin fiber coming 100% from cellulose (in the case of FSC-guaranteed fiber from forests managed according to environmental sustainability criteria).
With reuse, cellulose fibers have a tendency to lose their original performance, which is why the use of virgin fiber is necessary to ensure a significant capacity. Finally, let’s move on to the triple layer: this cardboard is made up of 4 flat paper surfaces (called “covers”) and 3 layers of corrugated paper that are inserted alternately and bonded together with the use of natural starches (corn, peas and potatoes) that act as glues.
The combined action of the flat covers with the internal flute gives rigidity and resistance to the structure and the triple flute cartons are certainly the ones that have the best performance in terms of flow rate. In short, the type of cardboard used is the fundamental basis for having furniture that is environmentally friendly, but at the same time durable and solid.
NaturDesign is a company that combines technological innovation with a typically artisanal know-how And this means that, at the basis of the success of its cardboard furniture, there are various aspects: the “tailor-made” design allows you to simulate the furnishing solutions in detail, building them precisely on the specific needs of customers; the modern machinery used gives the opportunity to make the most of the potential of cardboard, with precision cuts and waterproofing prints that make the products incredibly solid and resistant to wear; The innovative interlocking solutions are designed to make assembly simple and effective at the same time, without the need for glues (and therefore no formaldehyde emissions).
The last aspect is perhaps the most trivial, but it should not be underestimated: it may seem easy to build cardboard furniture, but we can assure you that, to have a product with high standards, it is necessary to be impeccable at every stage of production, from design to procurement of raw materials, from processing to assembly. NaturDesign can boast decades of experience in the sector and, in order to arrive at beautiful, solid and durable products, it has had to constantly experiment and innovate . At the beginning, some requests really seemed like impossible missions, while now, with years of work behind us and countless achievements around the world, we can say it with confidence: cardboard is a fantastic sustainable furnishing solution… as long as you know it well!
We hope this article can help clarify some doubts and perplexities that often arise when it comes to cardboard furniture. For questions and requests, do not hesitate to contact us and if you are an enthusiastic user of cardboard furniture, help us defeat negative stereotypes by sharing your ecological furniture on social media with the hashtag #solidocomeilcartone!
