Under The Hood: What is MDF, and why should you care?

If you're a regular reader here, you know that I've occasionally referenced MDF as a component of modern practice pad manufacturing.

What IS MDF?

It stands for Medium-Density Fiberboard, which is a material often used as the baseplate material for modern practice pads. It's also used in flooring and furniture manufacturing. Because it's a wood product, rather than real wood, it's more resistant to pests like termites and ants, which is especially important in home construction** and repair.

A good basic examination can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium-density_fibreboard

There have been concerns raised about MDF in multiple industries, including drum pad manufacturing, and with good reason. regular MDF requires chemicals to ensure proper adhesion of its multiple ingredients and one of those is formaldehyde.

What is formaldehyde?

Formaldehyde is commonly used as a preservative in medical laboratories, mortuaries, and consumer products, including some hair smoothing and straightening products. It is also a by-product of automobile combustion and is produced in very small amounts [emphasis mine] by most living organisms, including humans.

Formaldehyde is used in the process of embalming bodies to prepare them for burial.
(Side note: Jewish religious law prohibits embalming, in accordance with the belief that the body should not be preserved when the soul is done using it. So when I die, my body will decay faster. I'm fine with that.)
It is also used to preserve body parts in laboratory jars. (Remember the "Abby Normal" brain scene in Young Frankenstein?)

The fact that it is used in hair products horrifies me. While humans produce tiny amounts of this stuff, what's found in hair products is in a more concentrated form and therefore should be suspect by anyone wishing to avoid consuming quantities of it on purpose. There's currently a huge brouhaha in the Black community among folks who were told for years that hair-straightening products were totally safe, but whom have experienced a noticeable spike in certain kinds of cancers after regular use of such hair products over an extended period. That should tell you something.

But I digress.

MDF is a popular choice for most pad manufacturers because it's cheaper than whole wood, and because it's less prone than whole wood to things like warping and natural flaws in the grain, which have to be removed and/or otherwise worked around at greater cost. MDF is easy to shape uniformly, and it takes paint beautifully.

Depending on the mix of ingredients (which, along with formaldehyde and other chemicals, also includes pulverized wood fibers, wood resins, and wax), it can be made in different densities and degrees of flexibility; however, most MDF is made to approximate the rigidity of natural wood.

But MDF has a much higher concentration of formaldehyde than the average human body, and releases that formaldehyde in the form of off-gases that can last indefinitely. Surface paint will seal off some of the formaldehyde for awhile, but eventually it does seep through. I can only imagine what it would be like to work in a warehouse where thousands of pads are stored, awaiting shipment. I don't think anyone has measured the seepage rate of offgases in a meaningful, verifiable way yet. But when they do, I'll certainly pay attention.

So many modern practice pads are made with MDF baseplates that it would be easier to note which ones aren't. And while it's easy to differentiate among brands of modern pads, it's worth noting that there are likely only a few overseas factories actually manufacturing all those pads.

Branding is not the same as manufacturing.
Want proof? Xymox made re-branded pads for  other drum companies for years. Offworld has done so in more limited quantities (Remember the yellow Lone Star pads? Apparently, those are a hot collectible right now.) The Chinese juggernaut HUN has been making pads right and left for Salyers, RCP and many other drum companies.

I've owned and used some of these pads myself over the years. But once I began reading up on MDF and what it actually is, my ownership and usage of these pads fell off considerably. Most of my "modern" pads are older and in used condition, so the worst of the off-gases has likely gassed out. But still.

Another issue with pads using MDF basesplates is durability. The less dense the baseplate is, the more prone to damage it is in a fall or other sudden impact. RealFeel pads have shown evidence of such wear and tear over the years; take a good look at the corners of any RF pad that's twenty years old and has been through the wars. So have older Xymox pads, from their rubber-on-wood days. Interestingly, the baseplate on a recently acquired NOS (ca. 2000?) Xymox shows evidence of a woodgrain on both sides of the pad. This could likely be a veneer laid over the MDF, or it could be really sloppy brushstrokes. I'm opting for the former until I can find out more. In any event, the baseplate on my NOS Xymox feels heaver and more dense than the one on my pre-2023 VF Stockpad.
As with all things, Your Mileage May Vary.

Here are photos of brand new Heavy Hitter pads from Vic Firth, released this summer. Both of these photos are from drummers who opened the box after receiving it in the mail, only to find that the MDF baseplate was split right through the middle, likely the result of being knocked around during shipping. (And we all know how brutal UPS can be.)

Hopefully, these buyers can get free replacement pads and therefore a good outcome.
The fact that this pad retails for a hundred dollars gives me pause. The fact that the baseplate can be damaged so easily because the material is less dense than actual wood convinces me that I should probably save my money.

Alternatives to MDF

There are a few alternatives to MDF, though they are not cheap.

1. Real wood. Beetle Percussion offers craft-made practice pads using whole wood (pine or ash) salvaged from trees killed by invasive beetles (hence the company name). The playing surface of Beetle pads comes from recycled tires. I own a couple of Beetle pads made this way and I like them. The real wood does offer a different feel that some may not like, especially if they're used to MDF pads. There is a little less shock absorption with real wood, and more of the vibration of each hit will be felt in your hands. For some, that's uncomfortable. For others it's useful information about the clarity and timing of each drumstroke. This issue seems to be somewhat mitigated by using a thicker slab of wood for the baseplate. You'll have to decide for yourself.

Beetle has also experimented with Hemp wood, which has a texture and feel closer to grass. When compressed and turned into board with a plant-based adhesive (as opposed to the chemicals found in MDF), it can be rather heavy, but durable. Best used in smaller diameter pads.

2. Premium MDF -- I just learned about this option from Michael at Mad Pads (stay tuned for an interview coming later at this blog!). It's apparently somewhere in between regular MDF and actual wood in terms of both price and environmental health, using far fewer chemicals and still having the ability to be cut, shaped and painted easily. I am still researching this option and will report back.

3. Valchromat -- this is a material constructed similarly to MDF, using compressed and glued fibers. It was developed in Europe as a stronger and more environmentally sensitive alternative to MDF:

Valchromat is an environmental friendly non-toxic substance made from recycled pine wood and mill waste. Valchromat panels are manufactured using waste wood such as branches and chips from softwood forests. In using waste wood Valchromat helps to sustain forests and minimize carbon emissions given off from felling machinery. Also the carcinogenic odorless chemical gas known as formaldehyde which is found in the wood fibre bonding resin used in standard MDF is absent in Valchromat where a special organic non- toxic wood fibre bonding resin is used allowing Valchomat is safe to be used in the manufacture of kids toys. Valchromat also use the same colour dye used in fabric. This dye is organic and non-toxic.

(from the Valchro web site)

Beetle Percussion uses Valchromat as the baseplate material in some of its pads. The vegetable-based color is impregnated into the material, eliminating the need for paint; and the lack of formaldehyde is a fantastic development.

The downside of Valchromat is that it's very expensive. Hopefully, as more industrial uses are found for this material and its use becomes more widespread, costs will eventually go down.

Is ANY amount of formaldehyde in MDF okay?

Good question. For a possible answer, I found this:
https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/what-is-mdf-furniture/

Read it, think about it, and do your own research.

In an age of faster access to information, it's easier than ever to learn about the details that go into the drums and accessories we use. If you're curious and want to go deeper, I invite you to see what you can find.

Happy drumming.

(** I live in a very little house that was built in 1906 and last remodeled in 1948. So the incidence of construction-based MDF in my house is pretty low. Just sayin'.)