# Forum Home Renovation Laundry  What type of plywood/mdf for shelving?

## TheMalteser

Hi all, 
I'm putting in some shelving in our laundry cupboard.  The shelving will be ~1.8m wide (i.e. 2 door-width), and around 500mm deep, and fully shelved to the ceiling.  I will be painting it white, so I don't need a timber-look material. 
I was also going to put ~20mm x 40mm timber strip on the front edge of the shelving to add strength.   
What type of shelving material would you guys use for this?  I've heard good things about using 18mm plywood, but also apparently mdf is good for this type of shelving? 
Are there any other threads that talk about this type of thing? 
Cheers

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## Sir Stinkalot

Personally I would stay clear of mdf, especially in a laundry. How about bog standard white melamine. Don't need to paint it as its white already. You can apply iron on edging or do a timber edge which will hold up a little better (ABS edging is good if you are getting them from a cabinet maker). 1.8m is fairly wide so you could look at laminating two 18mm boards together for additional strength.

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## FrodoOne

> apparently mdf is good for this type of shelving?

  MDF is affected by damp, humid conditions and *MUST* always be sealed/painted in Kitchen, Laundry and Bathroom situations.

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## JB1

> Personally I would stay clear of mdf, especially in a laundry. How about bog standard white melamine. Don't need to paint it as its white already. You can apply iron on edging or do a timber edge which will hold up a little better (ABS edging is good if you are getting them from a cabinet maker). 1.8m is fairly wide so you could look at laminating two 18mm boards together for additional strength.

  White melamine is the way to go. 
I'd be going wider than 40x20mm timber for support at the front for a 1800mm span. 
Se

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## METRIX

Go white melamine shelving, better suited to kitchens / laundries as it's easy to look after and keep clean. 
Can you break it up into 2 x 900 with a division in between, an 1800 shelf will need more than 1 x 40x20 support along the front.
I use RHS painted steel for the longer shelves front support

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## TheMalteser

Thanks guys.  White melamine it is! 
Yes, i think i will put a support at 90cm, so it is not the full 1.8m open shelving.

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## Moondog55

This might be the quickest way for me to get some wooden shelving in our new shed, if so and I went for 1200 * 595 * 16 shelving what size hardwood batten should I think about for the long edges> ditto in pine?
Currently the 20*40 pine shows no sigh of warping over 900mm despite loading the plywood shelf to the max

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