Plywood vs MDF vs Particle Board Difference and Comparison-GTCO

The core material of any furniture is the wood product used. These days there are a huge variety of pre-processed boards available as wood is getting scarce and costlier. The most frequently used are Plywood, MDF and Particle board.

Looking for help to choose the right material for your furniture?

Lets have a look at these and try to understand the differences.

Property	Plywood	MDF	Particle boards
Composition	Plywood is made of thin sheets of wood veneer that are laminated in alternating directions.	Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is made of very fine wood fibers that are glued and compressed under great pressure .	Particle board is a combination of wood chips, shavings, fibers, and adhesives.
Strength	High strength. Plywood is good at providing rigidity for structures.	MDF is not as hard as plywood and can be damaged easily when roughly handled.	Low Strength. Particle board cannot support heavy loads.
Shape Deformity	Cross graining of plywood improves dimensional stability by reducing expansion and shrinkage.	As the moisture content of MDF changes, it is subject to dimensional changes.	Expands too much due to Moisture.
Screw/Nails Holding Capacity	Nails and screws will hold strongly because of its stronger cross-grain pattern.	Because it consists of such fine particles, MDF doesn't hold screws very well, and stripping of screw holes may occur in the long run.	The softer and more brittle composition of particle boards, may not hold up well against nails and screws, and could fall apart.