Anyone have experience with pvc edge banding?

[Justin Pfenning]

I planning a cabinet build for a house my kids will live in while attending college.I’m using prefinished plywood for the boxes, in a frameless style construction. The doors will be painted shaker style beech with 1/4” mfd panels. I need to finish the edges of the plywood, because I’m planning for a half overlap door/drawer construction. I had been planning to use wood edge band to finish the ends of the plywood, but now I’m considering PVC edge banding. The PVC will save me the step of finishing the edge banding after I apply it. Is PVC edge banding applied with FastCap speed tape a durable option? I like the idea of avoiding the finishing step on the edge banding, but I tend to think easier is typically not equal to or better than the harder way. Please share your experiences with PVC edge banding.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have used PVC edge banding. It is not all created equal. It is not as durable as wood. I keep a roll and iron in my rig because I am often asked to pretty-up another Ikea cabinet that has had the edge band ripped off, fun times! Wood can be trimmed past flush making it less likely to catch and tear. If you go past flush with PVC it looks bad.

[Richard Coers]

College house? Don't bother. The cabinets will be trashed in 4 years anyway.

[Kevin Jenness]

You can get prefinished wood edgebanding tape.

[Erik Loza]

PVC banding is really common in the frameless cabinet industry. Perhaps the most common. To the OP, 0.5mm or possibly 1.0mm would your choices. This being said, pre-glued wood tape might be easier to source, apply, and finish for a one-off job. Just my thoughts and good luck with it.

Erik

[Mike Kees]

I use it all the time. The problem for you is that to do a real good job you need an edgebander. I would talk to a local cabinet shop and ask if they could do your banding for you. In my experience the preglued product never worked close to as good as what comes out of a edgebander .

[Ken Krawford]

I've used the iron on type and if it's white, you have to be very careful to avoid scorching (discoloring) it with too much heat.

[John C Bush]

Iron on PVC banding is easy to apply and a simple solution for a likely short term need. I use my decades old ski waxing iron to apply--practice with temp control--and trim off excess with a sharp
utility knife. Easy to repair/replace as needed.

[Mike Nardini]

I used Fastcap’s PVC banding in our pantry and master bedroom closet cabinets nearly three years ago and have had zero problems. Used their roller and trimmer and it was pretty easy.

[Justin Pfenning]

Thanks for the input on PVC, I think I'll stick with wood on this job.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I think wood is a good choice. If you finish it after it is applied and trimmed, sanded, or filed, the finish adds a layer or two of durability.