The doors need replacing on the cupboard under the stairs, don’t really want to use MDF, what alternative could I use thats still rigid.

Plywood is probably the best option. Not as smooth when painted or cut but a bit more robust

Tongue and groove pine?

Is MDF good for anything.

Apart from absorbing moisture.

MDF is good for lots of things. Medite Tricoya MDF won’t suck up any moisture at all and is just as easy to work with as long as you use S/S screws in it.

Ply, laminated wood frame and panels (ie a door) are about your only options.

MDF is ace, assuming your house isn’t built in a swamp

Tricoya is eye wateringly expensive, something like 10 times the price of normal MDF the last time I looked. And not exactly available in Block & Quayle. Only worth the premium for external use.

I once saw an MDF alternative made of chicken feather fibre (or which mountains go to landfill), which being keratin doesn’t absorb moisture, but it doesn’t seem to have made it into mainstream manufacture. Theres boards made from wheat chaff, which looks like a blonder, sparklier version of chipboard, and smells like petshops. A british company makes the production lines, but hasn’t sold any in the UK so you have to get it shipped in from abroad.

If you want to look at the material rather than paint it then a good birch ply, but you’re paying 4x£MDF for that, cheaper is hardwood ply but thats not good to look at, so it’ll end up painted and barely look any different to MDF but will be a shade less weighty.

Blockboard is pretty handy for this kind of application, cheaper than ply (about £15- £20/ sheet), lighter than MDF. You get a good edge fixing from it too.

MDF is ace, assuming your house isn’t built in a swamp

Dundee ❓

i used MDF to make these shelves, after chatting with local timber merchant, malamine? mdf paint gave a great finish

I even put books on them and they stayed upright!

KLF?

I wanted some blockboard for a loft hatch. Couldn’t find any in B&Q or Homebase or my local wood yard. Went to another wood yard and found some – it was shit quality. Ended up buying some ply and some clever hinges.

EMF?

Doogie Howser MDF?

KFC?

MDMA

FFS?

BFG?

Every so often I get a customer who wants anything but MDF. Birch ply is great, requires no lippings, but is dear and often has a slight twist in it making wardrobe doors a problem. Blockboard is cheap but often of very poor quality these days and requires lipping. Veneers on exterior ply are not good enough for paint finishes.
I use MDF a lot; as long as you don’t have much more than 600mm unsupported length on shelves, then 18mm won’t sag. Pilot drill holes for screws if fitting hinges in door edges.