Acrylic Furniture

Mardan combine functionality with design and create cutting edge clear or coloured acrylic furniture.

Create the perfect office space or add a touch of comfort and style to a retail space with our range of standard and bespoke furniture.

Our in-house design team can create tailormade options. Working with 3D models they collaborate with clients before furniture is produced in our UK factory.

Acrylic furniture is a flexible, affordable, modern option for anybody who wants custom furniture in their home or business.

Acrylic as a construction material is lightweight, UV-resistant, and easily shaped. It is perfect for making chairs, tables, and other accessories.

Acrylic furniture can be produced in any color (making it perfect for matching business branding) and is easy to keep clean.

It’s surprisingly affordable compared to natural woods or metals, which makes it a good choice if you’re working on a budget.

We’ve put together some info and tips on buying acrylic furniture, what to look out for and what to avoid.

Know Your Acrylic

Before we kick off let’s cover the different types of acrylic available.

The acrylics you’ll most often commonly see in household products are PPMA and PET;

PMMA

PMMA (Poly(methyl methacrylate) is a thermosetting polymer commonly used to make countertops and other work surfaces.

PET

PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) is a thermoplastic polymer used in the manufacture of plastic beverage bottles, toiletries, and health supplements. Your house will be full of PET products.

Furniture is not generally made from these two types of acrylic due to their poor durability.

Polycarbonate

The acrylic version used to make furniture is Polycarbonate or PC. PC looks good, wears well, is scratch resistant … and is just more resistant to the wear and tear a piece of furniture would have to endure than PET or PMMA.

You Get What You Pay For

If it seems too good to be true it normally is – a maxim that doesn’t just apply to acrylic furniture. If the price is very low there is a good chance the quality will be equally low.

The manufacturers of cheaper acrylic furniture may be claiming they’ve made it from polycarbonate, when in fact it’s made from a lower grade (and cheaper) acrylic variant.

Yes, it is possible to get a bargain online, and yes … not all bargains are cheap rubbish. If you do get lucky and get a quality product at a low price then that’s only possible by buying a mass-produced model. You are unlikely to get much leeway to customise or individualise the product.

Whether it’s made from wood, metal, glass, or acrylic, custom individual pieces of furniture always command a premium.

Check for Build Quality

When you are buying acrylic furniture you should be aware of a few tips to help assess build quality. A piece of furniture made badly will not last.

Check its joints

Have they been cleanly cut and sanded well? Are they glued together, or have they been screwed? Ensure there aren’t wide gaps or that the components are flush with each other.

Joints that are loose or poorly glued will not last well, the furniture is likely to fall apart in a year or two.

Craftsmanship

Just because it’s made from modern material, don’t think that old-fashioned craftsmanship doesn’t apply. Whoever made your piece of acrylic furniture should still have pride in producing a perfect piece.

Signs of poor craftsmanship;

  • Uneven or crooked pieces
  • Badly sanded corners
  • Colour mismatches between parts
  • Corners: make sure they haven’t been over sanded to obscure defects

Take Measurements Before Buying

This goes for any type of furniture, not just acrylic.

Measure your room and make sure the furniture you’re thinking of buying is appropriate. Not just in relation to size, in relation to how you and your family will be using it.

It can be very insightful to visualise the furniture before commissioning it. This is why kitchen companies like Wren offer it as a service, seeing your idea in 3D can often help you realise that you’ve made some bad decisions before it’s too late.

If you are tech literate and fancy the challenge, one option is to design and build your kitchen using a 3D software tool.

Solid Acrylic vs Coated Acrylic

Be aware that there are two types of acrylic furniture: solid acrylic and coated acrylic.

Coated acrylic is a poor relation. Made with a thinner acrylic with a surface coating, it’s usually cheaper and lower in weight. Coated acrylic will scratch and dent more easily than solid acrylic.

On the flipside coated acrylic is repairable, when the coating peels off the acrylic underneath can be sanded down and re-polished.

Solid acrylic tends to be thicker. The difference isn’t significant, but solid acrylic is much more durable than coated acrylic.

One downside to solid acrylic is that it is less transparent than the coated version.

Conclusion

Acrylic furniture is both fantastic and affordable for homes and businesses.

Let your design creativity run amok, go wild with colour and style.

However! Make sure you’re investing in quality that will last.
Get in touch to find out how we can help with your acrylic furniture.

A few places you might have experienced our products

Disney
Beaverbrooks
Boots
DFS
Guerlain
Harrods
Bandai Namco
McDonalds
Diageo
Santander
Thorntons
Waterford
Interfloor
Elaut
Reflex Gaming
Sega
Sharp