I recently had a vendor hand over a sample of HDHMR, the new magic material for woodwork that is expected to provide a lower cost but better option than plywood. Before I move further let me de-jargonize and explain what HDHMR means. The acronym stands for High Density High Moisture Resistant. Anyone would now ask High Density High Moisture Resistant WHAT?? The what, that no one ever explains, stands for the “Board”. Simply put HDHMR is a superior variant of MDF (Medium Density Fibre Board) that is higher in density (hence HD) and Higher Moisture Resistant (hence HMR) than MDF.
Having seen MDF warp, bend and puff up with even a hint of water on it my first reaction was experiment first hand how the material will behave when exposed to water. So here is what I did.
- Dipped it in water for 2 – 3 minutes and let it dry off. Observed it for any warp, fluff, bend etc. – HDHMR behaved well in this particular test. Firstly it did not absorb much water – maybe due to its higher density. Even the water that got absorbed dried out fairly quickly and did not leave a trace nor an adverse effect on the material. Here are a couple of pics
- Now that the material was standing up to the challenge it was time to put it through some deep stress test. I filled a bucket of water and kept the same block soaked in it for 24 hours. Here is how it looked afterwards.
HDHMR Colour change after dipping in water for 24 Hours
The water had penetrated all through the material changing its colour to dark brown, however the board still retained its structural stability and there was no visible warp or puffiness. It has been over 3 days now and the board is yet to completely dry off….see this
Water drying off HDHMR
What is however visible is that it definitely can withstand more stress and moisture than regular MDF. The tech specifications quoted for HDHMR also state that it has a better screw holding capacity than plywood, that however is yet to be experienced first hand and probably is an exercise for another experiment day.
8 thoughts on “HDHMR – The New Material for Woodwork in Bangalore.”
Would u recommend HDHMR over plywood for complete interior of flat like kitchen cabinets, wardrobes
No, HDHMR is a very heavy material and its use has to be limited to places where its weight will not cause issues.
BTW recently a BWP grade MDF has also been introduced – I am in the process of checking that out too and will post a review once done
Hi Ma’am,
Wonderful Blog at the right time. One of the vendors was suggesting HDHMR for bathroom storage units instead of BWP. Is it advisable? From your blog looks like it should be fine. Please correct me if I am wrong.
HDHMR is fine for Bathrooms. You can also try BWP grade prelam MDF – this is something that has been newly introduced in India for interior applications
Excellent article. I am in the process of finalizing kitchen in my brand new flat. I was toying with the idea of Glass shutters. However, the risk of glass chipping/ breaking makes me worried. And, I did not like Acryglass. Considering brand value and durability, shall I consider Merino Ply Meister (for shutters), which has gloss finish like glass and uses Birchply as substrate? Thank you.
You should look at options in Laquered Glass, but remember that Glass Finish Kitchens are difficult to maintain
Merino Ply Meister on Birch Ply or HDF / HDHMR is also fine to use for the Shutters
Hi Nandita,
In one of the post you had mentioned block board is the best for Slide wardrobe shutters, is it fine to have HDHMR instead of block board? please suggest..
Also, I am planning for 8 ft slide wardrobes, how many doors I need to have?
Regards,
Pradeep
HDHMR id fine for upto 7 feet height shutters. For taller shutters it is recommended to use aluminium frames.
I would recommend keeping the width just a couple of inches less so that 2 regular 4 feet shutters can be accommodated – the limitation really is the standard width of HDHMR panels that come in 4 feet width