Thermally modified Douglas-fir color preferences of home show attendees

Abstract

Although thermal modification is primarily used to improve wood durability, it also has a tendency to darken lighter colored hardwoods to make them more valuable. This process might also be useful for darkening softwoods, but it will be important to develop colors that customers prefer. One potential species for this application is Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Consumer preferences for differing degrees of thermal modification (i.e. darkening) were assessed using a convenience sampling survey at a Home Show in Eugene, Oregon. Respondents provided demographic information then ranked five thermally modified samples with widely differing degrees of darkening based on their most to least preferred colors. The lightest colored sample was most preferred; however, the darkest sample was the second most preferred. There were no preference differences for samples in between the extremes, suggesting that there is some latitude with regard to color that could be used to differentiate modified Douglas-fir from other products.