"Max Demian" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 05/03/2021 15:50, JNugent wrote:
On 05/03/2021 03:01 am, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

What the **** do you think Formica is? It started out as bakelite

Formica is closer to Paxolin, I'd say.

As its name would suggest, Formica was originally intended as a substitute
for mica. Does anyone know which of the manifold properties of that useful
mineral it was meant to emulate, as the plastic laminate beloved of
caravan owners has no resemblance that I can see?

wiki claims that it originally just replaced mica in electrical
installations which sounds plausible.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formic...gy_of_the_name