Sourcing Note 13 · Dispute Review
The split was in the laminate seam
A straight-line split is not impact damage. It is a bond that never took across the face.
A wardrobe a buyer received last month came back with one complaint: the laminate on the side panel had split along the seam, in a straight line, after two months in an air-conditioned room. The workshop blamed shipping. The split was not from impact. It was a cold-press line where the decorative sheet and the substrate had not bonded across the whole face, so the panel relaxed and the seam opened.
What I check before an order ships: the lay-up is pressed on a calendered line, not a hand roller; the panel is flat-and-straight checked at 24 hours, not at press-off; and the edge gets sealed even where the carcass hides it.
A seam that opens in the showroom is embarrassing. One that opens in the client home is a claim. Send me the panel build-up from one of your orders and I will mark where the bond will let go.