Technically mango is a hardwood with dense grains, so it has the strength to bear the weight necessary for chairs and heavy tables, but it’s still soft enough that it’s relatively easy to work with, requiring no special tools on behalf of the manufacturers.
Mango furniture can stand the wear and tear of time as well as your grandmother’s oak kitchen table, but, unlike traditional hardwood furniture, it’s more affordable and, as we’ll get into, completely sustainable.
Why Is Mango Wood Sustainable?
Mango wood is, fundamentally, the byproduct of an already thriving industry: Mango fruit.
Unlike the big towering oaks of North America and Europe that can take 50-100 years to mature, mango trees mature quickly; reaching 80-100 feet in around 15 years.
Once the trees get too tall to easily harvest the fruit or stop bearing fruit altogether, they are harvested for timber and a new generation of trees is planted.
Harvesting wood that was previously burnt or left to break down naturally not only provides extra income to mango farmers, but provides furniture manufacturers with an affordable material that’s easy to work with and can be made to resemble conventional wood choices like oak, maple and teak.
Mango Wood can be stained natural, grey, brown or black. It is grown in India, Southeast Asia, Mexico, Brazil and even Australia, there’s no shortage of mango plantations. As an alternative wood source to traditional furniture materials like oak and maple, mango wood is perfect.
