Artificial stone and quartz stone are widely used in kitchen countertops and so on. However, due to industry control issues and other reasons, various manufacturers on the market now have mixed good and bad, and the quality of artificial stone and quartz stone cannot be guaranteed.
It is understood that the scientific name of artificial stone is solid surface material, which is based on organic polymer materials such as methyl methacrylate (common name acrylic) and unsaturated polyester resin and uses natural mineral powder and particles as fillers. Pigments and other auxiliary agents are polymer composite materials that are vacuum cast or molded. Under normal circumstances, artificial stone is roughly divided into two categories: artificial acrylic (usually called artificial stone) and artificial quartz stone (usually called quartz stone).
Last year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Quality Supervision carried out quality supervision and spot checks on 19 types of building materials products in the capital. According to the results of spot checks on 414 batches of products produced by 413 companies announced by the bureau, the quality of some artificial stones is worrying and the pollution resistance performance is not up to standard. The quality of some solid surface materials and wood-based panel products is unqualified. The main problems are: the mechanical properties and pollution resistance of the solid surface products do not meet the standard requirements; the formaldehyde emission level signs, signs, or packaging signs of wood-based panel products do not meet the standard requirements. meet the standards. A certain type of product from the Beijing Aokemei Artificial Marble Factory was exposed because of unqualified mechanical properties (impact toughness) and failed to complete the rectification and review work as required.
“Every industry has good companies and bad companies. The current development of my country’s artificial stone industry is no exception. Due to a large number of small workshop-style production enterprises in the entire industry, the quality of artificial stone products produced by small enterprises is relatively poor. For some, some large companies, especially brand companies in the high-end market, the quality of artificial stone products is not too problematic.” said Li, secretary-general of the artificial stone committee of the Furniture and Decoration Chamber of Commerce of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.
“The most widely used artificial stone is countertops such as cabinets and service desks, and a few are used for decorative parts, such as background walls. Because of its high material density and high toughness, if the pollution resistance project fails to meet the requirements, the surface stains will be treated. If it is not good, it is easy to penetrate the stains. This is also the place that consumers are more concerned about an artificial stone in the market. Unqualified impact toughness may occur, for example, consumers cut and chop items on the cabinet by gravity, which may cause the product to break, But this situation is unlikely to happen.” An expert from the Kitchen and Bathroom Engineering Committee of the China Building Decoration Association said that the building material industry-standard “solid surface material” is the main quality standard for artificial stone.
my country’s artificial stone industry is unevenly distributed. Most of the artificial stone products come from Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and other places. According to incomplete statistics, there are nearly 1,000 large and small artificial stone manufacturers in the country, which has become an industry that cannot be ignored in the field of new decorative materials and has made important contributions to the prosperity of my country’s decorative materials market and the improvement of consumers’ home life quality. In recent years, with the rapid development of the building decoration industry, the artificial stone industry has also been showing a prosperous situation. However, the rapid development also exposed some problems: For example, there are many small-scale enterprises, and product quality is uneven; product price competition is intensified, and the phenomenon of shoddy products frequently occurs; information asymmetry leads to blind consumers in purchasing and harms consumers The interests of the country misled consumption and so on.
Li Bowie said that in some areas in the south, the output of artificial stone is very large and concentrated, and there are even regions dedicated to export. As far as the whole country is concerned, the artificial stone industry in various places has developed rapidly over the years, which has caused the entire industry to have different scales. The huge market demand has led to the existence of many small workshop-style enterprises, and to a certain extent, it has also caused the artificial stone industry in the current market. The quality of stone products varies from good to bad.
Industry insiders pointed out that under the influence of real estate regulation and other factors, with the development of the building materials industry becoming more and more standardized, the artificial stone industry has gradually entered a period of adjustment. Some companies have begun to focus on building brands and realize that quality has an impact on the sustainable development of enterprises and the industry. Importance, while the market share is gradually increasing, the product quality of leading companies have also been steadily improving.
According to reports, after the establishment of the Artificial Stone Special Committee of the Furniture and Decoration Chamber of Commerce of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, the special committee also specially launched the “Pure Aluminum Powder Logo” for the Chinese artificial stone industry. Guide the market. “Price has always been an important factor affecting the development of the artificial stone industry. We hope that the development of the industry will go out of the “price only theory” misunderstanding and pay more attention to quality.” Li said.
Song Zhisheng, general manager of Beijing Jiuxing Jianguo Furniture Factory, said that after the traditional artificial stone (acrylic stone) countertops are infinitely beautiful, in recent years, the countertops of cabinet products, quartz stone has become the mainstream, becoming the first choice of consumers and manufacturers. On the one hand, this is due to the intensified price war in the artificial stone industry, lower and lower profits, and uneven quality; on the other hand, quartz stone has its own advantages. Although the price is relatively expensive, it is still welcomed by the market.
According to reports, as cabinet countertops, acrylic and quartz have their own strengths. The advantages of acrylic stone are seamless splicing, good toughness, changeable shapes, diverse colors, soft colors, and easy repair when problems occur. After using it for too long, it can be bright as new after re-polishing. The advantages of quartz stone are higher temperature resistance, scratch resistance, deformation resistance, and higher gloss than acrylic stone.
“In terms of development momentum, quartz stone has been faster in recent years, but the overall situation in the future should be a situation where the two coexist.” Li Bowie said that traditional artificial stone started earlier and the standard was introduced earlier. The judgment is relatively standard. Quartz has only become popular in the past few years, and there is currently no corresponding quality standard, but the formulation of relevant industry standards has been initiated.