Particleboard composite provides suitable substrate for varnish, wood veneer, laminate, and resin impregnated paper. The purposes of the overlaying of panel surfaces are eliminating the formaldehyde release, suppress the absorption of water and humidity. In addition, these products have aesthetic function. Overlaid panels are used in the floor underlayment, cabinets shelving, table and counter tops, home constructions, stair treads, furniture, vanities, speakers, lock blocks, interior signs, table tennis, electronic game consoles, pool tables, displays, paneling, work surfaces in offices, educational establishments, laboratories, and other industrial product applications (Anonymous, 1996, Hoag, 1993, Vansteenkiste, 1981).

Decorative laminates are used as facing for doors and walls and tops of counters, flooring, tables, desks, and other furniture. Laminates are considerably stronger and stiffer per unit thickness than particleboard. Unlike particleboard, they have different characteristics in different directions. Laminates do not respond to changes in moisture content in the same manner as particleboard. Linear expansion and contraction in the machine direction is less than particleboard. The typical construction of a continuous laminate (CPL) is a melamine impregnated alpha cellulose paper, and phenol formaldehyde impregnated kraft papers. The laminate is formed on a continuous, double belt press. A typical sheet of general-purpose high-pressure laminate (HPL) is made from melamine impregnated, alpha cellulose overlay and decorative surface papers, and phenolic-resin impregnated kraft papers. The press time and pressure using for bonding of these layers are higher for HPL production compared to CPL (Heebink and Haskell, 1962, Heebink, 1963, NEMA, 1985).

Wood veneer is a premium product as far as quality is considered in the market place. Particleboard has become the primary substrate for use with quality wood veneer. Veneers are laminated to board in the hot or cold presses. The resistance of veneered board panel constructions can increase substantially depending upon veneer thickness and can approach the stiffness of solid wood.

Resin impregnated paper is a preprinted or solid color decorative paper that has been saturated with a melamine, phenol or polyester resins. These papers bond to particleboard without a resin while simultaneously providing a resin-rich finish on the surface under heat and pressure. Papers impregnated with a resin have gained wide acceptance as facing materials for industrial grade particleboard. The base papers for the decorative films are alpha-cellulose papers, which are used almost exclusively. For impregnating, papers must have a high wet resistance and the right porosity to accept the proper amount of resin.

Finish foils came into use in the 1960s and were highly developed in the German market. They are the leading overlaying material for furniture and paneling. Finish foils are often resin treated and are classified as unimpregnated; preimpregnated, and postimpregnated that refers to whether the paper was impregnated before or after the paper was printed. They have good stain resistance and good fidelity of print pattern (Mlynar, 1993).

The past years have seen the successful works within the overlaid panel industry. It was reported that overlaying of wood based panel surfaces improved the dimensional stability and mechanical properties, and decreased the formaldehyde emission (Chow et al., 1996, Grigoriou, 1987, Groah et al., 1984, Lee and Kim, 1985, Nemli et al., 2005, Nemli and Çolakoğlu, 2005, Niazi and Gertjojensen, 1979, Yın et al., 1997). Nemli and Kalaycıoğlu stated that continuous press laminate and veneer thickness, and the type of the veneer did not affect the scratch and abrasion resistances (Nemli and Kalaycıoğlu, 2006). Nemli and Usta reported that resin type used for impregnation of melamine paper influenced the quality properties of the decor papers (Nemli and Usta, 2004).

The objective of this study is to determine the influences of varnish and overlay types, the structure of the continuous press laminate and resin mixture on the cigarette, scratch and abrasion resistances of the overlaid particleboard composite.