Thread: Can Kapur be used in bathroom furniture?

Hi Isvop,
Well it seems that you can.
I've just Googled it, & there was quite a bit of information there.
Says " Indoor / Outdoor Furniture " but has a Camphor like smell when freshly cut.

Thanks, I googled it too. Some sites talked about it being treatable, but nothing said about what its treated for, or how to treat it.

Seems a bit of a shame to use it for that... but if it's what you got, then yeah. Not a problem.

Two things: One, it tends to be oily, so you'll probably want to wipe down the surface with thinners before gluing/painting. Two, the splinters are a bitch for infecting.


Just as an aside, where'd you find some Kapur? I haven't seen it in years... it used to be "the" timber for door sill way back in the 70s!

Why is it a shame?

I'm from Singapore. So Kapur is readily availiable at a decent price. The last time I bought 3 pieces of 1" x 7" x 14' cost me $80. I used it to make a plant shelf and a router table so far. I'm ordering some for a new workbench, so I thought of getting it in bulk for a bathroom vanity, medicine cabinet and toilet paper holder.

My mistake. Didn't notice your country. It's not easy to get it in larger workable sizes over here.

It's a great outdoor timber, weathers very nicely. As such, it shouldn't need special treatment for the bathroom, provided the finished unit is sealed well.

For what it's worth, the only treatment I know of for it is that the sapwood may be treated with preservatives sometimes. But I've never particularly liked the sapwood anyway... the heartwood is much prettier.

Great then, here comes my vanity!!!

Here's some more info on it if you wanna take a look, looks like its used a lot for flooring Kapur | Primary industries & fisheries | Queensland Government