Homedeco Direct - What are our products made of?
What are our products made of?
Alabastrite
Alabastrite is Homedeco Direct's product line name for polyresin items. Alabastrite is a stone-based material which can be intricately molded producing great detail, and will allow paint to adhere. These items may be cleaned by dusting, however, they should not be washed with water as they are painted with water soluble paints.
Bone China
White clay with bone ash added. Bone ash content must be at least 25% by U. S. guidelines. Fired at 1800 degrees. The translucent material is finished with a glaze or underglaze (matte). Lighter, stronger, more expensive than porcelain.
Porcelain
Fine ground white clay, molded and fired in an oven for eight hours at 1200 degrees. Finished with a glazed, underglazed, or "bisque" finish. Glazing produces a high gloss; underglaze produces a matte finish. Bisque is a matte finish without glaze. After finishing, the item is "cooked" for six hours at 800 degrees.
Jade Porcelain
Jade porcelain is a type of porcelain made with a finer clay. Usually no glaze or only a colorless glaze will be applied at the final firing to show off the very smooth surface and to preserve the translucency. Jade Porcelain is used for night lights because of its high degree of translucency when lit.
Stoneware
White clay with fine ground stone. Working with stoneware demands great expertise, and is in fact becoming a lost art. Stoneware is safe to use in microwave and conventional ovens.
Patchwork Items
Unique fabric or paper prints are applied to the surface of porcelain, dolomite or polyresin items. After application, 12 layers of lacquer are added and the item is hand polished to a high gloss between each layer.
Cubic Zircon
The most successful simulated diamond. Properties such as refraction, hardness, and specific gravity are remarkably similar to diamonds. Cubic zirconia are very hard to distinguish from diamonds; sometimes a jewelers loop will be needed to see the difference.
Diamond
Extremely hard, highly refractive colorless or white crystalline of carbon. Diamonds, like all gemstones, are judged in terms of Carats, or weight (different from Karats, as in gold purity).
Gold
The ultimate precious metal. Virtually indestructible, amazingly malleable, doesn't rust or tarnish. Graded by purity; in the U.S. a scale of 24 is used, so 24 Karats (24K) is 100% pure. 18K is 18 parts gold and 6 parts alloy (other metals), and so on. 10K is the legal minimum for Karat-graded gold. The word "Plumb" indicates the exact purity of the piece.
Gemstones
Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and amethysts, often treasured as birthstones, fall under the category of gemstones. Gemstones are priced and graded by Carat weight.
Pearl
A smooth, lustrous, variously-colored deposit formed around a grain of sand in the shell of a certain mollusk. Pearls may be formed naturally or "cultured" through an artificial implanting process.
Sterling Silver
To qualify as "sterling" a given piece must be composed of a least 92.5% pure silver.
Hong Tze
To closely emulate a special stone found in China which is known for its deep red color, these items are created using an alabastrite polyresin. Hong Tze pieces are highly polished, further bringing out the intense, deep red color.
Frosted Acrylic
Acrylic items are given the French Lilac process, (used on glass), to achieve the distinctive frosted look. The drama of frosted glass without the weight.
Gypsum
Gypsum is a white mineral which is usually used to make Plaster of Paris.
Dolomite
A magnesia-rich, sedimentary rock resembling limestone, dolomite is either gray, pink or white in color.
Monkey Pod (Rain Tree)
Rain tree (Samanea saman) is easily recognized by its characteristic umbrella-shaped canopy. When grown in the open, the tree usually reaches 15–25 m (50–80 ft) in height with a canopy diameter wider than the tree is tall. Rain tree is most important in the Pacific as a shade tree on small farms, along roads, in parks and pastures. The wood could be developed more widely as a commercial timber, comparing favorably to black walnut. Rain tree naturalizes freely almost everywhere it has been introduced and is considered an invasive pest in Vanuatu and Fiji. In many other places naturalized rain tree is not considered a problem but a useful wood source as in Thailand.
In Asia, Monkey Pod is mainly grown in the Northern provinces along the neighboring borders providing a bountiful yet limited (time wise) source of larger wood for the carving industry. Harvested correctly the trunk is left in place and larger limbs are cut for use initially. Eventually the trunk is cut as it passes its best producing cycle. There are no lumber yards for this wood. Once we receive orders we have trees cut that fit the size we need to use. The wood must be rough cut and carved within several weeks. Otherwise the wood dries out, becomes stringy, and breaks up easily if carved too dry.
Mango Wood (fruit tree)
Mangos of many species are farmed in Thailand as it is a cultural staple crop for the nation’s food supply. Mango is used as a snack fresh dipped in dried chilies and sugar/salt, as a cooking ingredient, as a dessert with sticky rice and coconut milk, and as a dried export fruit..
As with all fruit trees there is an optimal life cycle for its fruit bearing years. Consequently the trees are replanted continuously and a supply of wood is generated mainly for the wood turning industry up North. Due to the tree type and life cycle most mango wood products are under 15” in diameter.
A little known fact is that mango trees are not grown from seed but are grafts or cuttings. The fruit bearing capacity is severely diminished in a tree grown from its seed. Perhaps next we will find a use for the seed!
Rubberwood
Rubberwood is a hardwood from the maple family of woods
Rubberwood has very little tendancy to warp or crack
Rubberwood is Eco Friendly
Rubberwood is often the most misunderstood species of wood in the furniture industry. The name rubberwood invokes a variety of misconceptions as to it's features and to it's durability. Rubberwood (also called Parawood in Thailand) is the standard common name for the timber of Hevea brasiliensis.
In fact, rubberwood is one of the more durable lumbers used in the manufacturing of today's home furnishings. As a member of the maple family, rubberwood has a dense grain character that is easily controlled in the kiln drying process. Rubberwood has very little shrinkage making it one of the more stable construction materials availabe for furniture manufacturing.
Like maple, rubberwood is a sap producing species. In the case of maple, it is sap; in the case of rubberwood, it is latex. Rubberwood produces all the latex used in the world for all rubber based products.
There is one more important feature of rubberwood that is very important in today's world. Rubberwood is the most ecologically "friendly" lumber used in today's furniture industry. After the economic life of the rubber tree, which is generally 26-30 years, the latex yields become extremely low and the planters then fell the rubber trees and plant new ones. So, unlike other woods that are cut down for the sole purpose of producing furniture, rubberwood is used only after it completes it's latex producing cycle and dies. This wood is therefore eco-friendly in the sense that we are now using what was going as waste.
Do not mistake the name rubberwood when it comes to its quality features.
Properties of Rubberwood:
· Density(kg/M3 at 16%MC ---------------------------- 560-640
· Tangential Shrinkage Coefficient (%) ------------- 1.2
· Radical Shrinkage Coefficient (%) ----------------- 0.8
· Hardness(N) ----------------------------------------------- 4,350
· Static Bending, N/mm at 12% MC ------------------ 66
· Modulus of elasticity,n/mm at 12%MC ------------ 9,700
As can be seen, these properties compare well with those of conventional hardwoods . Thus we have the ideal substitute with the major difference that Rubberwood is cheaper, more plentiful and Eco-Friendly
(information quoted from www.Oakplus.com
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