A study by University Professor Dr. Rupert Wimmer, University for Floor Culture Vienna:
Coming to terms with Wood
On the question of whether wood would also be used in hospitals, Robert Stingl, a dedicated wood researcher at the University of Floor Culture Vienna (Boku), already fairly often got a slightly amused “NO” as an answer. For the hygiene departments in many Austrian hospitals, the use of wood is clearly still a taboo. This wood discrimination has a long tradition: until recently the use of wood in all conceivable areas of meat processing businesses was forbidden. That even went so far as to frown upon wooden windows “for hygienic reasons”. Wood researchers and Foodstuff hygienists from the Boku have since collected new facts and in cooperation with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, have achieved the removal of wood from the lists of forbidden products in the hygiene guidelines. An important partial success!
The healthy intestinal flora of an adult contains between 10 and 100 billion bacteria, distributed across some hundred types. But these harmless intestinal residents can, for example through a viral infection, become genetically altered and rather dangerous. If these bacteria should reach our intestines via vegetables or meat, the consequences can be serious illnesses.
Wood as perfect material for a healthy kitchen
A kitchen is often a playground for bacteria. Preferential breeding places are the kitchen sponge, the tea towel or the sink. Multiple bacteria also crowd on working surfaces. Wood is porous, whereas synthetic material, metal or ceramics are non-porous. Therefore, years ago it was thought that wood would be hard to clean and therefore represented an ideal breeding ground for bacteria after contact with perishable foods, like meat. If a salad is then prepared on a board on which raw meat was just cut, then bacteria can very easily be transferred. This fear of germ transfer led to wood as a material was always replaced by synthetic materials.
Long history of studies on wood as hygienic material
In 1993, a scientific study from the United States drew attention to the fact that wood has very good hygienic qualities in comparison with synthetic material. At first these results were viewed sceptically in the German speaking world. Subsequent German and British studies confirmed the American results. In particular, that pine heartwood showed good antibacterial qualities – far better than synthetic material.
The different studies explain the antibacterial effect of wood through two causes: a chemical one and a physical one. The chemical cause refers to the contents of the wood. Tannine or Polyphenols contribute to the germ killing effects of extract rich woods such as pine or oak. With larch, the antibacterial effect was derived from the component Arabinogalactan.
Open pores as benefit
However, the real surprise lies in the physical cause: the pore structure of the wood, which was and still is considered a disadvantage compared to the synthetic material, is actually an advantage. Due to its porous cell structure, wood has an enormously high inner surface area. With 1g of wood this is actually 200 m². This high porosity causes a strongly hygroscopic effect. This results in humidity being quickly absorbed into the wooden working surface, the conditions of life for bacteria deteriorate and the bacteria die rapidly. This physical effect can be proven in all types of wood.
Besides the humidity, the surface roughness is also of importance on cutting boards. Examinations of both new and second hand cutting boards made of wood produced astonishing results: regardless of whether freshly planed down and therefore smooth cutting boards or boards furrowed by knife cuts, only a minimal bacterial growth was observed in boards made from maple or beech wood. The reason for this is also the active pore structure. In comparison with wood, the synthetic cutting board made from white Polyethylene showed the largest bacterial increase. It was positive to note that after cleaning with a washing up liquid, practically no further bacteria were registered neither on synthetic material nor on the wood.
A further example from the transport industry: wooden pallets used for the transportation of foodstuffs showed a 15% lower bacteria count than synthetic material pallets. If wood is used in the production and preparation of foodstuffs, whether as a working surface, cutlery, crockery or as stock and transport containers, then this is a very hygienic process.
Hygiene getting more and more important
The topic of hygiene and wood shows that sensible application fields for wood must be won over again and again. This is particularly clear with this topic in that sound scientific results are required. The challenge of using wood is in its complexity when compared to other materials. The interplay of physical, chemical and biological qualities is with any material, nowhere as hard to understand as in the case of wood. We have only just begun to understand this material, and can be excited with how wood may still surprise us.
The year 2011 is slowly running out. Time to have a look back on interesting facts and stories during this adventurous year. Proclaimed by the government and the board of trustees for woods the Swiss Stone Pine was awarded “The Austrian Tree 2011”.
The Swiss Stone Pine is one of the most valuable native trees – for two reasons. First of all it is supporting the environmental protection because of its big amount on the Austrian mountains. In time of the climatic change no woods are protecting as good as the Swiss Stone Pine against avalanches and floods. Secondly the wood has special effects on the human body. Scientific studies have proved its positive effect on sleep behavior. “The average saving in the Stone Pine bed was about 3,500 heartbeats per day, which corresponds to about an hour’s heart-work”, says the Institute of Non-Invasive Diagnosis in Austria. The wood is therefore highly recommended for installation in bedrooms and relaxation rooms.
In times that are increasingly influenced by stress and hectic, one’s own bathroom soon becomes a personal spa oasis – a place to rest and relax. Quality materials are used in the bathroom not only as part of its exclusive furnishings but as an important element towards harmony and relaxation of the senses. The choice of floor plays a major role in this process. As manufacturer of natural wood floors from Upper Austria whose name is already established on the international lifestyle sector, mafi provides quality floors in various designs which can help to create an individual feel-good paradise.
Due to the oiled surface mafi floors are able to absorb the moisture that occurs in the bathroom and dispense this again during the drying process. This has a positive effect on the climate in the room. The water that drips onto the floor when people leave the shower or bathtub poses no problem at all for a mafi floor. Large pools of water on the floor should however be mopped up. To ensure that the mafi floor remains permanently natural and brilliant and flawless despite sporadic splashes of water, regular care with adequate products is a must.
The right choice of wood
Care must be taken in the selection of wood as not every type of wood is suitable for use in bathrooms. Beech, for example, is one of the types of wood that shrink and swell considerably in damp surroundings. This is what is also known as ‛the wood’s expansion and contraction’. An exception is heat-treated beech wood as this process changes the shrinkage properties of the wood and increases its resistance to moisture. Larch and oak both react ideally to moisture and are naturally suited for use in wet rooms. One more insider tip: floors in bathrooms should be glued with elastic adhesive. The joint with the wall is also very important. This should be made using parquet joint sealing compound to prevent the build-up of moisture behind the wood.
Fresco: creative appearance with massage effect Taking these aspects into consideration, mafi has developed a floor ideally suited for installation in indoor spa and bathroom areas. We are referring to the mafi Fresco line of floors. In order to really experience the quality and diversity of this floor, installation is recommended in rooms that are mainly entered barefoot. The elaborate finish of the plank surface using different mafi Fresco milling programs not only allows tired soles an invigorating massage break but at the same time provides an unusual look with waves (Fresco Duna), dots (Fresco Punkto) or diamonds (Fresco Rombo). The newest Fresco designs are Fresco Anaconda and Fresco Pista.
It is always a constitutive decision in interior design concepts: The combination between the furniture and the floor concerning style, colour and quality. In this regard the development of the last years has shown that the material mix inside the rooms should be reduced. Furthermore an old design rule of thumb is that only three different colours should be mixed. This information leads us to the right choice of a mafi natural wooden floor. This example shows an Oak Vulcano, brushed and natural oiled. The wood is thermo treated which gives the floor its typical dark appearance. The natural oiling strengths the original grain of the wood visually but gives the floor its great resistance as well. The interaction between the white walls and the dark floor can also be found in the mixture between the black and white furniture – truly a design masterpiece.
Another interesting fact related to this private project in Switzerland is the combination between a mafi Oak Vulcano and tiles made out of marble, also a natural product. mafi natural wooden floors can easily be combined with other floor covering material. Even existing height differences can be cleared because of the variable thickness of our mafi floors.
Expert’s tip: Always use furniture sliders for a long-term protection of your personal mafi floor.
By visiting our channel you will find a selection of videos from introducing mafi and the idea behind natural wooden floors to accurate maintenance instructions for your personal piece of art.
mafi was the first company in the industry to decide for a lacquer-free, completely naturally oiled flooring surface. The Oils used are wholly based on natural raw materials. These natural properties support the wood by preserving and highlighting its natural qualities. To get a detailed overview about mafi as a trendsetter or as a company, mafi – the idea is the right choice for you.
It is our conviction that wood can only develop its positive features when used and treated as naturally as possible. To get the perfect achievement, it is very important that the flooring is treated in the right way. Once treaded, mafi natural wood floors are extremely robust, hard-wearing and, above all, easy care. In this video you can see the first oiling after the installation. Our basic requirement is that for mafi natural wooden floors only original mafi care products are used.
After the right installation the constant cleaning of mafi floors is very important. The right treatment makes our flooring more robust, healthier, warmer and anti-slip. Even difficult stains, heavy soiled floors or high traffic in commercial areas are no problem at all. Vulcano floors should never be cleaned with a single-disk machine and/or green pad and with mesh, otherwise scratch marks are noticeable.
The mafi Domino Vulcano elements floor was shownon the latest issues cover of the Mexican AD Architectural Digest magazine. What you can see on the page is a big flat in Mexico with Domino Larch Vulcano, brushed, natural oiled which our partner in Mexico planned and installed.
We are very proud that such a wonderful project made it on the cover of world famous AD magazine.
For more information of the project and other projects in Mexico please ask our partner in MX:
Grupo Jager, S.A. de C.V.
11000 Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico Ciudad
Tel: +52 (55) 5282 . 8957
Fax: +52 (55) 5282 . 8954 http://www.jager.com.mx
mafi has, in its accustomed innovatively manner, created a further variation of artistic wooden floors, with which we particularly want to appeal to international operating brands. The mafi Carving line is as outstanding and unique as our nature is it selves especially with all the different possible designs – and still following mafi’s credo of creating natural floors only.
To give an idea what is possible to make with this new line we made 5 different groups of floors and patterns as our standard designs that are made for everybody:
Allowed to paint
Knowing that a lot of our attitudes and skills we gain in the first couples of years of our life we developed the carving Kids I & II which is not only creating a natural and healthy environment for our young ones but also forcing their creativity. This floor is made for painting and coloring it so that kiddies can create their own interior.
In one of our previous Magazines we talked about the “less is more” phenomena and our cognition that world wide architects try to minimize material mix and are using our floors also for walls, ceilings and furniture.
mafi Carving Nana I and Empire I are orientated on vintage wall coverings like tiles and wall papers for lordly interior concepts.
Wherever you want to relax, feel well or recreate it is always nice to have wooden floors that regulate humidity and create a healthy atmosphere. This is why more and more Spas and Wellness Clubs are doing their floors with wood. In wet areas anti-slippery surfaces are and important issue. This is why Carving Club I with its tartan texture is not only a wonderful wall covering but especially a fantastic anti-skidding floor.
No matter if you want a slight shade of lines, deep structures or a congenial mix of both, with the Carving line you can do all different kinds of patterns in one design. The mafi Carving Paisley I can be used as a glamorous but also a very funky design for walls, ceiling, furniture and floors.
Used, young, crazy, vintage, different, BUT natural – Grunge I
For Hotels and Bars it is always important to have good food, drinks and service but also to be unique. For modern, trendsetting and prestigious Bars, Restaurants and Shops we developed the Carving Grunge I to ensure a stylish ambience in addition to creating a significant increase in brand awareness and familiarity – especially if you do a customized design.
One of mafi’s strengths are all the different variations of wide plank floorings with dimensions up to 5m long and up to 30cm wide. mafi was always Trendsetter in developing new products and launching floors nobody else is able to produce. With the Vulcano Rosso the next step in wide plank flooring is done.
Several years ago there was a project in Switzerland where an owner of a little castle wanted to make floors out of amazing big beeches standing majestically in his chateau’s park. As he couldn’t find any floor production willingly to risk a production of thes gigantic big beech trees he finally came to mafi and found a company reducing the risk of warping by a high quality manufacturing.
This project was the initial spark of developing the Vulcano Rosso. The Rosso is a slightly thermal treated beech with maximum sizes of 5m lengths and 30cm widths and an incomparable natural texture. The boards create an incredible generous feeling and make something special out of every room.
Wooden interior is always a good material for creating a warm and healthy environment. Especially for kids we need to make sure that they have the chance to play, study and live in best conditions.
We recently took notice of a scientific project in Austria where medics and a University found out in a test that kids studying in a wooden class had by far a lower hard beat than their colleagues in conventional classes. As of the more relaxed atmosphere they also were able to be concentrated longer then the others could. But wooden rooms do not always need to look old fashioned or boring. With the Carving Kids I & II you can create and healthy but cool environment.
Also because of knowing that a lot of our attitudes and skills we gain in the first couples of years of our life we developed the carving Kids I which is not only creating a natural and healthy environment for our young ones but also forcing their creativity. This floor is made for painting and colouring it so kiddies can create their own interior.
We will donate 10% of all income we make with mafi Carving Kids I till 30st of January 2011 and will hand over a cheque to an ambassador of a charity organization. So please help us putting a smile on some Kiddies face and help to donate.
Once again, mafi has succeeded in interpreting a modern design with a natural effect with not only helping to preserve the environment but also creating a pleasurable to walk on floor.
Vulcano Rosso has been designed to provide durable home grown wood flooring for example beech, which requires no additional chemicals or impregnation.
mafi has developed a special thermal process, which significantly improves the resistance of the wood. The beech is exposed to high temperatures over a given period of time, which causes the components to react and depending on the type of wood, creates a natural ageing or a warm dark accent. The delicate red or brown planks come in both white and natural oil, as well as being up to 5 meters long and 30 centimetres wide, Vulcano-Rosso planks are considerably less expensive than the comparable version in oak.
With the new style surface of Riva mezzo, mafi has managed to create an innovation with a hand-crafted scraped look.
Cracks and knots are visually accented with black putty, which bestows the floor with a stylish modern touch. Remarkable is the fact that as opposed to conventional scraped floors there are no stray splinters with which to rip socks. So the lady of the house can comfortably wear nylon stockings knowing that she doesn’t have to worry about those annoying ladders.
On the question of whether wood would also be used in hospitals, Robert Stingl, a dedicated wood researcher at the University of Floor Culture Vienna (Boku), already fairly often got a slightly amused “NO” as an answer. For the hygiene departments in many Austrian hospitals, the use of wood is clearly still a taboo. This wood discrimination has a long tradition: until recently the use of wood in all conceivable areas of meat processing businesses was forbidden. That even went so far as to frown upon wooden windows “for hygienic reasons”. Wood researchers and Foodstuff hygienists from the Boku have since collected new facts and in cooperation with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, have achieved the removal of wood from the lists of forbidden products in the hygiene guidelines. An important partial success!
The healthy intestinal flora of an adult contains between 10 and 100 billion bacteria, distributed across some hundred types. But these harmless intestinal residents can, for example through a viral infection, become genetically altered and rather dangerous. If these bacteria should reach our intestines via vegetables or meat, the consequences can be serious illnesses.
Besides the humidity, the surface roughness is also of importance on cutting boards. Examinations of both new and second hand cutting boards made of wood produced astonishing results: regardless of whether freshly planed down and therefore smooth cutting boards or boards furrowed by knife cuts, only a minimal bacterial growth was observed in boards made from maple or beech wood. The reason for this is also the active pore structure. In comparison with wood, the synthetic cutting board made from white Polyethylene showed the largest bacterial increase. It was positive to note that after cleaning with a washing up liquid, practically no further bacteria were registered neither on synthetic material nor on the wood.
