Apron on the kitchen of plastic - a review of materials, 50+ photos, guide to the selection and installation

Content

Option 1. ABS plastic apron
Option 2. Apron from acrylic glass (polycarbonate, plexiglas)
Option 3. PVC apron
4 tips for choosing a plastic apron for the kitchen
DIY plastic apron mounting
Photo Gallery

Plastic apron is good because it allows you to update the kitchen interior super-fast, low cost and without dirt. The only condition is that the plastic panel cannot coexist with the gas stove (although this is fixable). Otherwise, this is an excellent "workhorse", thermo and moisture resistant, easy to maintain and install.

However, plastic is plastic, both in price and in performance. Today we look at three types of plastic kitchen aprons:

ABS plastic;
Polycarbonate;
PVC

Option 1. ABS plastic apron

This type of plastic apron is a flexible and lightweight sheet of polymer material, called the abbreviation of the three monomers Acrylonitrile, Butadiene and Styrene.

Dimensions: An apron made of ABS plastic is sold in sheets 60 cm wide, 1.5 mm or 2 mm thick and 3 or 2 meters long. Many companies can make an apron of non-standard sizes and configurations, for example, 77 cm or 120 cm high in the drawing area.

Design: An apron made of ABS plastic is most often made by photo printing, and therefore it looks very similar to glass apron skinali. The image is chosen from the catalog of the manufacturer or put the print of the customer. Then the picture is covered with heat-resistant glossy or matte varnish. Another design option for a plastic apron is with a metallized mirror coating.

Installation features: ABS plastic panels are most often mounted on liquid nails for polymers. They can also be installed using special wall profiles or screwed on the screws.

To install an apron made of ABS plastic, not all liquid nails are suitable, but only those intended for polymers.

Pros:

Availability - The price of one panel with a length of 3 m is about 2,000 rubles, which is much lower than the cost of an apron made of glass, MDF or tile. In addition, the kitchen apron of ABS plastic allows you to save on delivery and installation.
Strength on impact and bend.
Resilience to the appearance of small scratches.
Flexibility, due to which the apron is easily installed even on notideally flat wall, as well as curved.
Thanks to its flexibility and lightness apron very easy to transport - the sheet is enough to roll into a roll and bring home on your own.
Easy installation - plastic apron can be quickly and without dirt install their own hands (on liquid nails).
ABS plastic apron not afraid of wet cleaning with aggressive cleaning agents and light abrasives.
Decorative, the ability to apply to the panel any image or mirror coating.
Heat resistance - the material withstands heat up to 80 degrees, does not emit toxic substances during combustion and melting.

Disadvantages of ABS plastic apron:

ABS plastic does not fit to finish the apron kitchen with gas stove, as from prolonged heating and high temperatures is deformed. The material can withstand heating up to 80 degrees and only short-term heating at a temperature of 90-100 degrees.
A soft touch with a knife is not a big deal to a plastic apron, but if you touch the surface with force, then a scratch or spall will appear on it inevitably.
ABS plastic fades in the sun.
Can not stand contact with acetone and solvents.
If the wall base very curvethen a plastic apron may lie in waves.
The life of the ABS panel is small and is about 3-5 years depending on the load.

Option 2. Apron from acrylic glass (polycarbonate, plexiglas)

An acrylic glass apron is an inexpensive, but at the same time more impact-resistant and lightweight alternative to tempered glass and skinali. Externally, polycarbonate is practically indistinguishable from silicate glass - it is just as smooth, shiny and transparent.

Dimensions: The thickness of the acrylic glass is 3-4 mm, width - 60 cm, and the standard length of one panel can be 3 or 2 meters.

Design: The apron from acrylic glass is most often made out by a photo printing, but also it can be color (monophonic) or just transparent.

Transparent polymer glass can be used to protect painted or wallpaper walls and even hung photographs, magazine clippings, letters and postcards.

Ideas for homemade design transparent polycarbonate apron

With regard to installation, install an acrylic apron with your own hands under the power of anyone who wants it, but still the work requires accuracy, especially since the sheet tends to bend. Holes for sockets and fasteners are made "feathers" in several approaches. If necessary, the sheet size can be adjusted with a grinding machine. An acrylic apron is installed against the wall using special fasteners for glass and mirrors, or using aluminum profiles.

Pros apron of acrylic glass:

Acrylic glass transparent than ordinary glass;
Low cost compared with glass skinali - from 5 tr / sq. m;
Impact resistance (it is almost impossible to break and even more to break a plastic apron made of polycarbonate!), bending strength;
Does not fade under direct sunlight;
Fireproof - polycarbonate does not ignite even with open fire, instead it melts without forming toxic substances;
You can install by yourself.

Minuses:

In the category of plastic kitchen aprons acrylic skinal - the most expensive stuff.
Acrylic apron does not tolerate cleaning with abrasives and aggressive cleaning agents.
Not recommended for use near the gas stove.

Option 3. PVC apron

If you need a super economical and quick solution, for example, to finish a kitchen apron holiday home or rental housing, we suggest that you consider the wall panels made of polyvinyl chloride. PVC aprons come in two formats: sheet and lath (in the form of lining).

Dimensions: The most common format of panels is 950x480x3 mm, lining boards - 3000x100x10 mm, 3000x100x12.5 mm, 3000x195x12 mm and others.

Design: The panels are sold with a ready-made design - with patterns and pictures applied by offset printing (drawing + protective varnish). Also, PVC apron can imitate natural finishing materials, for example, brickwork, mosaic, leather, stone, etc. Lining can be white, “wooden”, “stone”, sometimes it is complemented with patterns and colored / metallized edging. PVC apron coating can be glossy (on laminated panels) or matte.

The durability of glossy panels is slightly higher than matte.

Installation features: Their kitchen apron is installed on PVC glue, liquid nails or screws.At will PVC-lining can be laid both in vertical rows, and horizontal.

Pluses PVC apron:

Ease and speed of installation own hands;
Low price - 160-300 rubles per sq. M. m

Cons kitchen apron PVC:

Low stability mechanical damage and abrasion.
With time fades and turns yellow from exposure to sunlight and cleaning products.
Low heat resistance: deformed at temperatures above 80 degrees, easily ignites, when burning, poor-quality PVC can release toxic substances.

4 tips for choosing a plastic apron for the kitchen

Tip 1. When buying a plastic apron, make sure that it has a certificate of quality and is suitable for finishing the walls of the kitchen, that is, at least does not emit toxic substances (including during burning / melting), has moisture and heat resistance.

Tip 2. The service life of any plastic apron can be significantly extended if a transparent glass screen is additionally installed in the zone of the plate (over the apron as shown in the photo below). So you save the panel from grease and dirt and, accordingly, from cleaning and detergents. In addition, the glass screen will be able to protect the plastic from the open flame of a gas stove.

By the way, oh gas stove. It is believed that a plastic apron is incompatible with it, but this is not entirely true. If desired, you can install the plate at a distance of 15 cm from the apron or install a glass screen, as we have already noted above.

Tip 3. Most often, plastic panels are decorated with photo printing - patterns, textures, beautiful photos or drawings. Such a striking design should be chosen much more carefully than ordinary tile or MDF, otherwise the apron will make the interior coarse and quickly get bored. Here are two main principles that should be followed:

A kitchen apron should echo the color and style of the interior as a whole. For example, the color of the panel can be matched to the tone of the facades of the headset and / or other elements of the furnishings, say, to the tone curtains or wallpaper.

Are you afraid to make a mistake with color and design? Choose a neutral apron, such as white, light gray or beige, possibly with a simple floral or geometric print (rhombus, stripes, checkered). But dark colors should be avoided - even the smallest speck of dust or a drop of water will be noticeable against their background.

The more complex, more detailed and multi-colored the kitchen interior, the more concise the design of the apron should be. If the walls are covered with bright wallpaper with a pattern or the facades of the headset is decorated with gold-plated carvings, then the apron is better to choose a plain or with a discreet pattern.

Laconic design of a kitchen apron from plastic

If kitchen set and interior decorated minimalist, the plastic apron can and should choose bright.

Tip 4. Want to be able to change the design of the apron in the mood? This is possible with a double-sided apron made of ABS plastic or PVC, which is installed not by glueing, but by means of wall profiles. Double-sided apron can be purchased at IKEA or ordered in some workshops, the profiles are sold in building hypermarkets and in the same IKEA.

Plastic double-sided apron IKEA

DIY plastic apron mounting

To install the apron of plastic panels, sheets or lining your own hands, you need to perform the following steps:

We decide on the dimensions of the apron - it must be such that it can stand up to the tabletop by 1-3 cm, but it can be any height from the tabletop to the wall cabinets - directly to the level of the cabinets, go slightly behind them or be lower. In the latter case, you need to properly seal the joint between the sheet and the wall and decorate the visible ends of the molding;
Cut out plastic panels, sheets or wall paneling using a small hack saw. Some panels are cut with a regular cutter as shown in the photo below.

Fix the panel on the wall. This can be done in three ways:

Express way: just glue the plastic to the wall on liquid glue, which is applied to the wall and panels with a distance between the glue strips of about 15 cm. This method is good if the panels are glued only on the apron, and not on the whole wall / wall, otherwise. case dismantling will be problematic. In addition, it is advisable to glue the panels onto the substrate prepared in the following sequence: primer, leveling and sealing the slits with plaster to a satisfactory or good condition (you can not bring to ideal), then after the plaster dries, the primer is applied again.

Plastic apron - fastening to the profiles

Installation on screws: you can fasten the apron at the corners on the screws.
Fastening to metal profiles: it is best to make the apron removable, for this you need to fasten special metal strips for wall panels to the wall using the same screws as in the photo on the right. They allow you to easily change the apron if necessary or desired.