TruFlat Plywood- Why I Use It (And Love It!)

As I am severely limited on space (I work out of my laundry room and garage currently), about 95% of my products are made to order. I simply do not have the extra space to package and store everything nicely before it heads out the door. Add in the fact that I have a growing two year old terror... ehhhhh toddler... and well, I keep things in their original material form for as long as possible around here. 

I spent the last few months trying out all different kinds of materials. Figuring out what stored well without warping, what didn't need a lot of work in order to be useable, what shipped well, what didn't make a lot of extra work cleaning up the laser... there was so much I never even considered when I first started making these cute little signs! 

Along the way, I came across TruFlat, and decided that this was a material I wanted to keep in stock. You'll find that a lot of my "standard products" are made from this material, and there's quite a few reasons why. 

1. TruFlat is manufactured in Canada and is available through just a handful of small laser supply businesses in the good ol' US of A. One thing I really wanted to do when I started my business was to do my best to NOT source everything from overseas, and to use my small business to support other small businesses here in America. This also means that when my stock runs low, I can usually rush ship my next batch pretty quickly and get back to creating. 
2. TruFlat is one low price, no matter which distributor you purchase from. This is great, because if my go-to is out of a certain color, I still know exactly what I'm going to pay (except with maybe some differences in shipping) for what I need. This helps to keep my pricing consistent, and lower, for my finished products. 
3. TruFlat is FLAT. Now, it's not perfect, but in the world of plywood, it's pretty dang close. This makes it way easier to drop into the laser bed, start cutting, and not waste material because of weird warping or bad angles. It also means that the tiles and bases for interchangeable signs fit really well, even across different batches. 
4. TruFlat is pre-finished. That means no extra time and supplies wasted on sanding, painting, staining, or anything else. I can simply design, cut, clean, assemble, and have everything out the door on the way to you! 
5. TruFlat doesn't need any masking. (Usually.) A lot of other plywoods and fiber materials often need a little extra oomph to get the laser through to the other side. That extra power in burning through the material can leave some char along the edges of the design. While TruFlat does get some char from time to time, the acrylic masking means it wipes away AMAZINGLY!
6. Acrylic coating means more durability, longer lasting designs. Did you know that on the new white TruFlat, you can basically use it as a dry erase board because things wipe off so easily? It's true. And that means that whatever spills or falls happen in your home, your decor will likely be fine. At most, you may just need to grab a little super glue to reattach a few little items. 

Overall, this material saves a TON of time, and lots of money. I don't have to buy a bunch of extra supplies to finish up the final product, I don't need to spend extra time preparing or tweaking before and after cutting, and honestly, the texture is just something I am in love with! 

What do you think? Do you have one of my TruFlat projects? How much do you love this stuff? 

Let me know in the comments!