Summary

To investigate how soap treatment affects the experience of new pressure-treated decking timber, VästerbottensSåpa conducted a simple comparative panel test in its test lab in Vilhelmina.

A new deck board from a Swedish building-supply retailer was divided into three equally sized sections:

• untreated
• treated with VästerbottensSåpa’s soap
• treated with wood oil

After treatment, the board was allowed to dry before the test panel made its assessments.

The results showed that all nine participants described the soap-treated surface as softer or smoother than the untreated surface. The oiled surface was most often perceived as more treated, sticky, or greasy rather than soft.

How the test was conducted

Test material

• New pressure-treated decking purchased from a Swedish building-supply retailer.
• The board was divided into three equally sized test surfaces.
• The same piece of wood was used for all treatments to minimize natural variations between different boards.

Treatments

Section A

No treatment.

Section B

Scrubbed with VästerbottensSåpa according to the instructions.

Section C

Treated with wood oil according to the manufacturer’s recommendation.

After treatment, all surfaces were allowed to dry before the assessment was conducted.

Panel test

The test panel consisted of nine people.

Each participant felt all three surfaces without receiving any instructions about the expected result and then described their spontaneous impressions in their own words.

The panel test aimed to investigate how different treatments affect the perceived feel of new decking timber.

Results

Untreated decking

Common descriptions:

• New wood
• A little rough
• Bumpy
• Raw wood surface

Soap-scrubbed decking

Common descriptions:

• Smooth
• Soft
• Smoother
• Big difference
• Lovely surface

Oiled decking

Common descriptions:

• Treated
• Sticky
• Greasy
• Feels painted
• More prickly

Perception	Number out of 9
Soap-treated surface perceived as softer/smoother	9
Oiled surface described as treated, greasy, or sticky	9
Untreated surface described as new or rough	9

 

Surface	Soft	Smooth	Rough	Sticky/Greasy	Feels treated
Untreated			●●●●●●●●●
Soap-treated	●●●●●●●●●	●●●●●●●●●
Oiled				●●●●●●●●●	●●●●●●●●●

Conclusion

In this user test, all nine participants felt that the soap-treated part of the deck board felt softer and smoother than both the untreated and oiled parts.

The untreated surface was primarily described as new and somewhat rough, while the oiled surface was most often perceived as treated, greasy, or sticky.

The results show that treatment with VästerbottensSåpa produced a clearly different tactile experience in this panel. Since the test involved a single deck board and nine participants, the results should be viewed as a sensory user test, not as statistical or materials-engineering evidence.

The video shows how the section is scrubbed with soap in the test lab

One of the test participants’ reactions was filmed