19mm Valchromat Throughout Blue Coloured Moisture Resistant MDF 2440×1220mm (8′×4′)

Blue Valchromat has the dye taken through the whole board, so cutting it does not expose anything pale.

It is a deep ink blue rather than a bright one, and oiled it goes close to navy with the wood fibre still reading through it, which is what stops a large run of it looking like a sheet of painted board. Of the strong colours in the range this is the one that works over a whole run rather than as an accent, which is why it turns up on full kitchens, fitted wardrobes and library shelving. It is also a colour that behaves: it sits well with brass, oak and white walls without any of them fighting.

Cutting and handling

A two person lift at 48 kg, and worth planning the route in for before the delivery arrives rather than after. The board is denser than ordinary MDF, so cuts come off clean and routed profiles hold a sharp line, at the cost of blade life. Support the sheet across the cut and keep the good face upwards. Extraction and a P2 or P3 mask, as with any MDF dust, and sweep before the blue gets walked into a carpet.

Fixing and painting

Bare it looks like a chalky mid blue and nothing like the finished article. Hardwax oil takes it deep, and on a kitchen run the difference between an oiled door and its unoiled neighbour is stark, so finish everything before you hang anything. Two coats on doors and drawer fronts, three where hands land. The density holds hinge screws and knock down fittings better than standard MDF does, though a pilot hole near an edge is still sensible.

Where not to use it

It resists moisture but will not survive standing water, so no shower walls and nothing left sitting wet under a sink. Over a large area in a dark room it will feel heavy, and green mint or light grey would lift the same space. Every colour is on the coloured MDF page, and the rest of the boards on the MDF page.