Transforming a hollow bamboo stem into a high quality MOSO® product – how is it done? With almost 20 years of experience in the bamboo industry, MOSO® has learnt to manage the production process to perfection.
After 4-5 years the bamboo stems are ready for harvest. This is very fast compared to (tropical) hardwoods and one of the main reasons why bamboo is ecological. After harvesting the stems are split lengthwise to strips and the outer skin (bark) is removed. Naturally, the strips have a light yellow colour (natural), but can they be steamed to acquire a light brown colour (caramel).
After treating and drying, the strips are ready to be joined in several ways to make the final product.
After drying the strips are assembled into the end product in various ways, resulting in the following versions (looks):
In the Plain Pressed version the bamboo strips are positioned horizontally and glued together. This creates an elegant line pattern with the characteristic bamboo nodes clearly visible.
In the Side Pressed version the bamboo strips are positioned vertically and glued together. This creates a narrow line pattern with the bamboo nodes visible in a subtle way.
Here the bamboo strips are crushed and then glued under extremely high pressure. This compression increases the density – from around 700 kg/m3 to more than 1000 kg/m3! – which makes the final product much harder. The look of High Density® bamboo is unique: it largely resembles wood with the typical “flames” with the bamboo nodes only slightly visible.
The bamboo stem is flattened through a special process to create the toplayer of a solid bamboo board. The result is a very strong and hard floor with the unique, original look of the bamboo stem.
In this version the strips are connected using a flexible latex or fabric backing. In addition to using 15 mm wide solid strips also 50 mm wide veneered strips can be used.
Are you considering bamboo and need some advice to discover which product is the best fit?
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our MOSO® Bamboo experts.
René Zaal
Director of MOSO International B.V., the Netherlands