Cabinet surfaces offered with nanotechnology
A few weeks ago, a manufacturer’s representative for an American cabinet company proudly demonstrated the “selfhealing” properties of a revolutionary new surface in our showroom here in Houston. It’s not paint. It’s a nanotechnology based surface that is “selfhealing” to help increase the life expectancy of cabinet finishes.
Nanotechnology, science, and engineering deal with very small things. If a nanometer were the size of a marble, then one meter would be about the same size as the earth. A newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick. So why should we care about nanotechnolgy? Well remodelers and new construction builders alike have been on a never-ending quest for more durable, fingerprint resistant materials. Self-healing properties are straight out of science fiction until now.
Applying these “state of the nanosphere” surfaces remains proprietary and requires special care and conditions. Taking the leap of faith into this technology was a bold move for DeWils, whose quality and craftsmanship is already among the best in the world. The surfaces really need to be seen and felt to be believed. Watching a scratch disappearing before your eyes is simply amazing. We’re still looking for some case studies for some real-life installations.
Cabinets are used daily, and typically we want them to last for a very long time. When a remodeling project includes improving the cabinets, that can add significantly to the overall project. Getting the cabinets right is not always as simple as we might think. In most cases, the choice of repairing versus replacing is a decision that customers must make. Most remodelers are aware that it is nearly impossible to achieve the same high quality and durability of finish on cabinets already in place as you can in the controlled environment of a cabinet company’s finishing booth. Nano surfaces could possibly change the discussion even more.
Cabinets may be one of the first of many applications of nanotechnology surfaces in the remodeling business. Only time will tell how many surfaces will become selfhealing throughout our homes.