Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring :- Hot Pressed Vs Cold Pressed

Strand woven bamboo flooring, also known as compressed-strand bamboo flooring, is considered as one of the most popular flooring choices due to its attractive pattern, matchless durability and great looks. Being moisture- and pathogen-resistant, it makes an excellent choice to install in both commercial and residential buildings. Strand woven bamboo flooring uses bamboo as its key building material. Bamboo is a type of grass that grows very fast and replenishes itself within 4-6 years of its harvest. Hardwood trees, on the other hand, need 70-90 years to reach their full maturity. Thus, using bamboo plants in the construction projects helps save trees. This, in turn, protects our environment from the harmful effects of deforestation, global warming and green house gases. Moreover, bamboo also provides us with the raw materials in a quick time.

The thin, long strands are trimmed from the bamboo stalks and are woven together with an adhesive. They are then compressed under high pressure and immense heat to produce a product that is as reliable and durable as hardwood flooring with its own style and beauty. Strand woven bamboo flooring is created by utilizing the recycled wood that would otherwise be burned.  This type of flooring is produced by either of the two methods: 1) Hot Press Method 2) Cold Press Method. In this article, we will compare the hot pressed strand woven bamboo flooring with the cold pressed strand woven bamboo flooring to see which one is better for the environment as well as potential customers.

The quality and amount of an adhesive used to bind the strands of bamboo together determine the ecological friendliness of the product. Glue used in the hot pressed flooring is more environmentally friendly than that used in the cold pressed method. Hot pressed strand woven bamboo flooring emits formaldehyde (a highly volatile organic compound that creates health hazards for both humans and wildlife) as low as 0.1 mg/l. The formaldehyde emission from the cold pressed bamboo flooring is 0.4 mg/l. 

The moisture content of the cold pressed  is as high as 12%, resulting in cupping, buckling and warping of the floor in the dry places. The flooring produced with the hot pressed method contains 8% moisture. Thus, hot pressed strand woven bamboo flooring continues to perform well in the moisture-prone rooms of your home such as kitchen and bathroom.

The glue that is used to produce hot pressed strand woven bamboo flooring doesn’t leave glue lines on the boards, thus giving a great look and an aesthetic touch to your home. Cold pressed method leaves the lines when the strands are glued together.

Strand woven bamboo flooring produced with hot pressed method has a rating of 2500-2800 psi on the Janka scale. This means that it can withstand 2500-2800 pounds of extreme force before twisting. Cold pressed flooring has a Janka scale rating of 2500 psi, which is lower than that of hot pressed flooring but is approximately two times higher than those of other hardwoods on the scale.

The density of the hot pressed strand woven flooring is 1.2g/cm3, making it highly resistant to warping and cracking. Cold pressed method, on the other hand, produces a floor with 0.97-1.07g/cm3 density.

Structural integrity of hot pressed strand woven bamboo flooring is much better than cold pressed flooring. Hot pressed method makes use of 4000 tons of pressure with 140 degrees centigrade temperatures. This allows the pressure to spread evenly on the wide board, producing a product that is very hard and durable. The flooring produced with cold pressed method is structurally inferior because of the cold pressed molding shape. Only 2000 pressure is applied without heating to produce a floor that tends to collapse in the extreme conditions.

The strand woven bamboo flooring comes in natural and carbonized colors. Natural compressed-strand bamboo flooring is straw colored flooring whereas carbonized strand woven flooring is darker than the natural flooring and is available in many shades ranging from a deep brown to a honey color. Carbonized flooring is manufactured by a process known as “Carbonization” which involves steaming the strips under controlled temperature. This results in the caramelization of the sugar contents in the boards, giving them a dark color. In hot pressed bamboo flooring, the color variation is controlled by an environmentally friendly method known as “Anderson’s color treatment”. The good thing about this method is that it doesn’t make use of chemical stains to produce the color variations.

Simply Bamboo uses the hot pressed method to produce a floor that is both durable and reliable. Being resistant, resilient and beautiful, our product will continue to perform well in the extreme weather conditions and will add     a luxurious and fashionable touch to your home. We are highly concerned about preserving natural resources and only use fully grown bamboo plants which are immediately processed after harvesting to produce the bamboo floors. Moreover, we use natural oils and low VOC adhesives to make strand woven bamboo flooring even more ecologically friendly.