Innovation through imperfection |
Creating Tiger Oak

This week with a visit to the mafi factory and headquarters in Austria, we have been especially inspired by the production process and the craft that goes into making each and every mafi natural wooden floor.

The innovative mafi Tiger Oak collection is a great example of how mafi love to reinvent and use nature to its full capacity. Mafi always uses the entire tree which is reflected in the product lines and in-house pellet production.

Before production, all mafi products are kiln dryed. The darker range of mafi boards, namely mafi Vulcano, are then thermo treated with heat, wind and water. It was here, by accident, that Tiger Oak was first created.

Intending to produce mafi Oak Vulcano floor boards, the wood was placed in the thermal treatment chamber. However, the wood was left for too long and due to being exposed to too much heat, small and large cracks formed throughout the wooden planks.

Initially considered a mistake, it was believed that the boards could not be salvaged. That was until the owner of mafi, Fritz Fillafer with his passion for innovation and nature saw an opportunity to create something different.

The cracks were celebrated and filled by hand with a coloured resin, creating the appearance of stripes throughout the wooden boards. This soon became the new and incredibly striking Tiger Oak collection.

The Tiger Oak discovery has pushed innovation even further, leading to the creation of mafi Catwalk. Catwalk has a clear resin fill through the naturally enhanced cracks, these are then backed with Strip LED Lighting. The lights add another dimension to an already extraordinary board.

With the resin fill available in almost any colour, the mafi Tiger Oak collection leaves a lasting impression and provides creative flair to any space. This process allows the end users to personalise and customise their floors like never before.