Granite, Timber, Quartz, Laminate, Ceramic and Glass are all long standing favourites in the great British kitchen for worktop choice. But each material has its individual strengths and weaknesses and all of them suffer from having both a ridged structure and a lack of versatility. This leaves massive opportunity in the market for products such as Corian, Staron, Hi-Macs and other exciting acrylic materials with their ability to take on a huge variety of forms, colours and appearances.
Of all these acrylic materials Corian is by far the leading brand in the world. Presented onto the market by the massive DuPont corpration in 1967, its popularity and appeal has increased ever since, and it wasn't until 1999 that the well known Korean LG company created serious opposition by introducing their own Hi-Macs acrylic range into Europe, and followed a little later by Samsung with their Staron offering.
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Corian has, and is, used for a huge range of applications, but undoubtedly one of the most popular uses is as a kitchen worktop. This is not only because of its ability to be formed into virtually any shape but because of its many other qualities such as stain residence, strength, endurance, smoothness, ruggedness, impact resistance, erase of maintenance, beauty and appearance - the list goes on and on! But even the all conquering Corian has its limits and issues in the context of kitchen worktops and it is these that I want to deal with in the rest of this article.
Undoubtedly, the ability to join Corian in totally inconspicuous way is one of the most, if not THE most desirable feature of Corian. And its this which gives Corian a huge advantage over alternative materials, which, more often than not, are offered in three metre maximum lengths. A Corian work surface, on the other hand, can be as long as you need it to be as, once installed, the Corian flows seamlessly over all the units, into the sink - even continuing over the side and down to the floor as an end panel if you want - but, more usually, up the walls into a splash back. You can also achieve this with a unique 'coved' transition between surface angles. This not only gives a highly desirable appearance, but also heightens the argument that Corian is the most hygienic of surfaces, as there is no where for dirt and bacteria to hide. The joining technique also extends to creating different thicknesses. The standard Corian Material is only 13mm thick, but can be built up to any thickness, again adding to the list of advantages over alternative products.
DuPont are constantly introducing new ranges of colours to keep there selection current and up to date, as well as keeping it in the forefront of taste, design and innovation. They have recently introduced their 'Rock Collection' which includes four colours which have a 'natural' looking vein - for those who want the look of a natural stone but who still want all the benefits of Corian.
They have also introduced a translucent range recently, which offers designers the ability of intriguing lighting effects and illuminating surfaces in different ways. This, together with the availability of a vast selection of matching and contrasting sinks and basins, along with made to order sinks, shower trays and baby baths will undoubtedly keep Corian out in front as the material of choice for the customer who not only want the best, but wants it 'their way'. You can even have items individually customised with Image Transfer by Sublimation!
But as I said before, even the best isn't perfect for all circumstances and Corian is no exception. Corian has only a handful of weaknesses, but you need to understand these before you decide to use it on your own kitchen project.
Over the past, especially in the North of England, the most popular colour for a worktops has been black - or colours close to black - but quite often including a little variation in the form of a sparkle here and there or a sometimes a contrasting colour fleck. Now perhaps the most significant problem with Corian, from a consumer or manufacturers perspective, is that the majority of the black/dark colours in the Corian range are what's known as 'disclaimer colours'. This basically means that they are not recommended by DuPont for use in an area which will be likely to have a heavy level of use.
The reason for this is that the Corian, being an acrylic material, is prone to scratching, and in darker more pigmented colours, these marks from daily use are more apparent and make the worktops look 'tired' quicker. Although the scratches and other marks which will be visible in the worktop can be polished out relatively easily, and the surface be brought back up its original appearance - the cost of this work is not included in the warranty, and is chargeable. Many fabricators will request that a disclaimer is signed by the end consumer before they commence manufacture if any of these specific colours is intended for use as a worktop.
Another issue occurs with the newer Rocky range of colours - which look fantastic, but only if the required pieces can be made without jointing. This is due to its veined pattern in this range as, if joins are required; it is often possible to detect the location. Although subtle, the change in direction and pattern of the vein at a joint can highlight the joint location and reduce one of Corian's major advantages.
Also, while there is no doubt that the Translucent range of colours offers fantastic design opportunities in many circumstances, in use as a kitchen worktop people sometimes are sometimes surprised that they can make out the shadows of the supporting carcasses underneath. This can be easily be counteracted by using a solid sub frame for the Corian to be bonded onto, but this undoubtedly reduces the translucent appearance of the surface so use of this range needs careful consideration.
Until recently I found it confusing as to why Corian only offers a very limited selection of sinks which are made fully of Corian. Let me explain further;
There's an issue with sinks, of which there are two principal Corian types on offer. The standard sinks, which are only available in 4 colours, or the Fontana range, which is available in every colour, but has a stainless steel base. Now Hi-Macs (by LG and Corian's major competitor) offer all their sinks in every colour and all with acrylic bases, not stainless steel. To me this seemed odd - so what could be the problem?
Corian, and other acrylic products, due to their make up are, in fact, quite vulnerable to thermal shock. When Corian is damaged by heat it turns white, and, in more severe cases, it will crack. DuPont choose to offer only a small selection of colours with the same colour base, as these are the colours which tend to hide any burn marks better than other colours. The Corian sinks are made by injection moulding making them thicker and more durable than the Hi-Macs sinks, which are press moulded from sheet material. This makes them thinner and even more vulnerable to cracking from thermal shock and disfiguring burn marks. So all colours are susceptible to this in the Hi-Macs range. So my advice is to consider this before purchase and to make sure that cold water is run at the same times as pouring boiling water into any acrylic sinks to prevent any damage.
Is it any accident then that over the past 12 months that there has been a noticeable change in the preference of customers in terms of colour choice, which has been working even more in Corian's favour? The colour in demand at the moment is unquestionably white! The fashion first started in the South (doesn't it always!) and has slowly worked its way up the country. Glacier white is the premium white Corian colour and is far and away the most popular. This is a major plus point for Corian as this colour also happens to be in the cheapest price band - which is a sharp contrast to its competitors in the quartz world, for example, who position their Pure White alternatives in the highest price ranges! Sinks are also available in Corians Glacier white which offers customers a seamless elegant finish - a feature which is just not available with alternative materials.
Corian Creativity and Colour Constraints For Kitchen Worktops FLECK WATER
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