If you are lucky enough to be getting lab furniture, you are faced with a dilemma. Should you buy steel lab furniture from lab furniture manufacturers, or should you get wood? Any lab furniture supplier will tell you that great lab furniture can be made with both steel and wood. In fact, over 80% of all lab furniture is made from either steel or wood. How do you choose? We have some thoughts.
The Vote for Steel
Not that long ago, lab furniture suppliers did not want to make lab equipment out of steel. The feeling was that for lab equipment, wood was best. However, steel lab furniture has made a comeback in a big way. There are many different types of steel you can buy for your lab furniture, such as stainless steel, powder-coated steel, and steel with chemical laminate. All these different types of steel mean that lab furniture manufacturers can offer you a product that will not peel, crack, or chip. It also will not corrode, which is important in many labs. Steel is also strong and rigid, which means it can last for years, no matter how much daily abuse it gets. Another important thing to consider is that steel is easy to clean and disinfect with soap, water, and disinfectant.
The Case for Wood
Wood is a wonderful material for labs that are not wet labs. If you have a lab where you use a lot of liquids with a lot of humidity and little ventilation, wood is not what you need. However, wood is great for dry labs, or labs where IT is done, as well as in an engineering lab. Wood is easy to clean as well, there are a lot of products that will easily clean wood. Perhaps the reason many people buy wood is because of the way it looks and the warmth it provides. There is nothing that is as beautiful in a work environment as wood.
Which One Is Best?
Whether you choose wood or steel, make sure that your choice is a good one for your lab. If you do a lot of liquid experiments, high heat experiments, or corrosive chemical experiments, you may need to think about steel. If you are a dry lab, and you do not use corrosive materials, you can go with wood lab cabinets. Whichever you choose, get a product from a manufacturer you trust, so that your lab equipment will serve you well for years to come.