Kirei Board
1/1/2010
Kirei is a unique agricultural waste fiber product made from Sorghum plant stalks from Northern China that would otherwise be burned or dumped after harvest.
The stalks are combined with some wood and heat-pressed into Kirei Board. The finished product is held together with a nonformaldehyde MDI binder (an isocyanate adhesive). The MDI binder and the heat-pressing process are similar to the practices used to make some strawboard products, and this approach promises to be significantly healthier than the use of standard urea-formaldehyde (UF) binders. MDI binders may even prove to have better moisture resistance than UF binders. Kirei places the sorghum stalks in an alternating side-on/end-on pattern to give the finished boards a varied and striking appearance. In residential construction, Kirei can be used for nearly every interior architectural millwork application. Available in 3x6-foot sheets, in 10-mm, 20-mm, and 30-mm thicknesses, Kirei Board can be worked with standard tools and techniques, and fastened with all common fasteners, though those designed for particleboard applications work best. To fill natural voids in the edge grain of Kirei Board, seal, stain, or varnish the installed application.