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Facts & Info - What is bakelite? Old-fashioned switch in bakelite.

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Facts & Info - What is bakelite?

The Material of a Thousand Uses.

If you're interested in period style and architecture, you will soon encounter the material bakelite. But what is it? To answer that, we need to get back to the beginning of the 20th century.

On December 7, 1909, the emigrant Flemish legend Leo Baekeland received his patent from the U.S. Patent Office. At a time when we were completely dependent on what nature had to offer came backlite, like the first synthetic plastic, and knocked down like a bomb. Chemist Baekeland had researched how different proportions of phenol and formaldehyde responded to temperature and pressure obtained the new material polyoxybenzyl methylene glycol hydride. Later, however, he renamed it to the slightly shorter name "Bakelite," inspired by his own last name.

The material that neither melts nor conducts power proved to have a wide range of uses and was marketed with the slogan: "The material of 1,000 uses." It turned out to be right, because at Leo Baekeland's death in 1944, the material was found in over 15,000 different products. In addition to industry, the bakelite was also used in various everyday gadgets, such as telephones, pots, cutlery and, of course, electrical outlets and power switches.

The bakelite was initially only made in black and dark brown, and was replaced relatively soon by more modern plastics that could be manufactured in clearer colors and to lower weight. It is therefore quite simple to tidy the interior with bakelite which had its absolute biggest period between 1920-1940. In our webshop, you will find power switches and outlets in black bakelite and white duroplast.

What's Duroplastic?

Duroplastic is plastic that is closely related to bakelite and is often called white bakelite. Our duroplastic switches have a brighter white shade than the products in white porcelain. The advantage of duroplastics versus plain plastic is that duroplastics do not get yellow over time.

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