rubberwood kitchen table?

[newnana]

Hi Folks,
I just found this great table at World Market and love the look of it.
http://www.worldmarket.com/Handcrafted-Furniture/dining-room-furniture/Dining-Room-Tables/Hatton-Black-Extension-Dining-Table/lev/4/productId/602/Ne/1100001/sectionId/2868/N/1100005/categoryId/1100005/pCategoryId/1100004/gpCategoryId/1100002/Ns/NEW_ARRIVAL_FLAG|1||CATEGORY_SEQ_2884|0/index.pro

Here's the thing, it's rubberwood. All I know about it is this:

Rubberwood is a hardwood from the maple family of woods
Rubberwood has very little tendancy to warp or crack
Rubberwood-Eco Friendly !
One of the more durable lumbers used in the manufacturing of today's home furnishings.

Do any of you have opinions on how a rubberwood kitchen table will hold up? It will be our daily kitchen table and will see much abuse. I want something that will last.

World Market has a $50 coupon for interior furniture and I can use one for the table and one for the chairs, so now would be a good time for this. Thoughts?

Thanks for any advice!
Michelle

[KHF]

We have the Lugano table from World Market. It's rubberwood also. It's about 4 years old now and still looks brand new. We have several pieces from that line, plus a couple of other lines at World Market and all have held up beautifully.

Our table takes a beating (literally) as my daughter likes to slam whatever she can into them. Banging sippy cups, her trike, anything. There isn't a single mark on it anywhere!

Kirsten

[squimp]

I don't know much about it, except that Rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis) appears to be from the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), not the maple family (Aceraceae). Euphorbs have milky sap, and Rubberwood is the wood of the rubber tree.

http://rubberboard.org.in/RubberWood.asp

[octmom]

I *think* rubberwood is the same thing as parawood. We bought a kids table and chairs at an unfinished furniture store a while back and it was labeled as parawood. It is extrememly durable. Here is a little info:

http://www.unfinishedfurnitureshowcase.com/parawood.html


What is parawood?
Here is some info on parawood...It is very hard and very prevalent in the furniture industry because of its durability. Many, many furniture stores carry parawood furniture, they just don't label it. We sometimes refer to it as Malaysian Oak because of its strength.

Density: 7+ (Birch 7, Ash 8)
Strength Group: S6 (same as maple)

Parawood is native to the Amazon Region of South America. Information can be traced back to Christopher Columbus. It was during his second visit to South America, that he wondered about the heavy black ball the natives were using in games. This ball was made from the vegetable gum of the Parawood tree. Later historians would marvel at the substance, which bounced so much when thrown to the ground it appeared to be alive. In the 19th Century Henry Wickham, of England, transported some seeds to England for germination. The resulting seedlings were then taken to the Malay Peninsula for planting, where began the great Rubber Plantations of Malaysia.

After 25 years of latex production, the tree ceases to produce sufficient quantities of latex. The tree is cut for processing in the manufacture of fine furniture and a new tree is planted in its place. This is an example off man’s ability to fully utilize our natural resources, without harming the environment.


Jerilyn
DS, 10/03
DD, 3/06

[newnana]

Thanks! That is exactly the type of information I was hoping to hear. Even better that you also got it from World Market. I'm off to go shopping!!! Thanks!
Michelle

[newnana]

Thanks for the info!

[newnana]

Thanks for looking that up for me. I had gotten conflicting info when I googled and must have pasted one that wasn't correct. Really good to know about the table for your kiddos. Thanks!