The decree on emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from installations using organic solvents, demands reduction of VOC emissions in various industrial branches. In wood processing and furniture industry, the majority of problems caused by this decree emerge in wood surface finishing plants. Therefore, furniture producers are introducing wood coatings with low VOC content. In KLI Logatec Company, producing predominantly chairs and tables, the problem of too large dimensional changes of beech wood elements, stained with waterborne stain, was identified. To find a waterborne stain, that after staining by dipping should not induce too large dimensional changes, several different modified stains, currently used in regular production, were tested. Dimensional changes of beech wood elements after staining with modiified stains were determined, penetration depth measured, and influence of wood humidity on penetration of stains assessed. Surface tension, density and dry matter content of the stains, as well as colour of wood, stained with new formulations, were also measured. On the basis of our results, we assume that the most appropriate stain for further investigations is the stain, obtained by adding 5 % of a special additive into the first original stain. Penetration depth of the modified stain is substantially lower than the penetration of the original one. Consequently, dimensioanla changes of beech wood due to staining with this modified formulation are lower, compared to those obtained by staining in the regular production.
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