For years the two most common bamboo flooring colors were natural and a dark brown color. Created through carbonizing the bamboo. Today, colors are practically unlimited. Colors from off white to gold, tan, ash, oak, orange, pecan, chestnut. Just about any other color you might imagine.
Creating Bamboo Flooring Colors
Bleaching
Natural bamboo is a light color. All colors begin with the natural color bamboo. Bamboo strips are bleached using strong oxidizing agents like hydrogen peroxide are used for bleaching. These bleaching agents suppress color differences and oxidize troublesome organic matter. If care not exercised problems easily created. Bamboo can become too soft. The bleaching process can leave residual oxidizing agents. Agents can react with finishes, causing latent peeling.
Caramelization
Darker colors, created through the caramelization process. Caramelized bamboo appears darker, usually a brownish or coffee color. The carbonizing process creates this dark color by a steaming or heating process. This steaming process darkens the sugar content of the bamboo.
Creating Bamboo Flooring Colors
Stains and finishes create many colors. A variety of finishes can be used on site finished and factory finished bamboo floors. These finishes include penetrating sealers, polyurethane, Swedish finish (acid cure), moisture cure urethane, water-based urethane, oil modified urethane, water base urethane acrylic and others. Ceramic or aluminum oxide additives make the floor more durable. Today flooring colors continue to become expanded. You can select just about any colors of the rainbow to fulfill your decorating needs.