How Do I Store Sheet Laminate?

If this is impractical, the top sheet should be turned decorative face downwards, to prevent surface damage and warping.

Where horizontal storage is not possible or where only small stocks of assorted colours and patterns are kept, these can be stacked on edge in slightly inclined vertical racks with support over the entire surface area and a cover board to prevent sliding.

The recommended angle for such racks is approximately 80° from the horizontal.

Decorative laminates should always be kept in an enclosed dry store together with corresponding substrate materials, backing boards and adhesives, at a temperature of not less than 18°C (65°F). When materials are brought into a workshop from temperatures or humidity levels different from ambient (e.g. after delivery), they should be allowed to stabilise before fabrication. Usually a minimum of three days is required.

Pre-Conditioning

The most important factor in achieving stability in bonded panels is the preconditioning of core materials, surfacing and backing laminates prior to bonding.
Pre-conditioning ensures that the effects of differential movement, caused by the materials’ reaction to changes in relative humidity, are minimised.

The following procedure will allow the laminates to reach equilibrium; any subsequent movement, caused by changes in humidity, will then be equal on each side of the bonded panel and the risk of bowing will be greatly reduced.

Decorative laminates and core materials should be conditioned before bonding so that all materials reach equilibrium and are neither too dry nor too damp, the latter being most important at the time of pressing. Optimum conditions are best achieved in a dry storage area (about 20°C and 50-60% relative air humidity).

The sheets that will form the opposite faces of the same composite board are best conditioned as a pair, with their sanded backs together. Sheets paired in this manner should be stacked, covered, and left for a minimum period of three days in order to reach moisture equilibrium. This will ensure that they achieve near identical moisture contents prior to so that bonding, and any subsequent dimensional movements will therefore be similar in both magnitude and direction on each side of the composite panel.

Wood-based core materials should have a moisture content of around 9%. The moisture content of laminates cannot be measured with a normal moisture meter, but it is essential that the face laminate has the same moisture content as the corresponding backing board.

If the composite boards are to be exposed to constant low relative humidity in their subsequent application (e.g. radiator casings), the laminates and core materials should be pre-conditioned in warm dry conditions for a suitable period in order to pre-shrink the materials and so avoid any subsequent shrinkage stresses.
Panels and boards faced with decorative laminate will nearly always be required to have the reverse side faced with a similar material to counter-balance the effects of dimensional changes that may take place.