Methylolurea

Du Pont this week announced a new product as highly potential as its nylon. It is wood impregnated with chemicals which transform it into a hard, polished material. Engineers call it "compreg."

The treatment makes pine as hard as oak, oak as hard as ebony. Wood so treated does not warp, split, swell or shrink appreciably. It resists fire, rotting and termites, can be made as strong as many metals. It can be dyed any color so that it never needs painting or refinishing. If the surface is scratched, its glossy finish can be restored by sandpapering and buffing. Impregnated wood makes possible among other things, doors, windows and drawers that do not stick or get loose.

The product developed from research begun by the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory. The impregnating material, called methylolurea, is made principally from two cheap, plentiful chemicals--urea and formaldehyde--which are synthesized from coal, air and water. In the impregnating process, wood is pressed and soaked in a methylolurea solution, which is converted by the wood's acids into hard, insoluble resins. The wood becomes brittle, but this disadvantage can be partly offset by impregnating only the outer part of the wood, leaving a resilient core.

Impregnated wood is so cheap and versatile that Du Pont claims it will compete with the much more expensive plastics and light metals. Moreover, the process will make usable vast resources of little-used soft woods--maples, poplars, gums, etc. The impregnation process simplifies the making of veneers and plywoods, because pressed and impregnated layers of wood need no glue.

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