Almost everything written about whiteboards is about the frame. The frame is trim. The thing you are actually buying is a few tenths of a millimetre of surface, and that surface decides whether the board still works in five years or has gone a permanent shade of grey by the second winter.
There are three surfaces worth considering in a commercial fit-out — ceramic steel, painted steel and glass — plus a fourth, melamine, that you will be offered and should usually decline for anything used daily. This is what each one is, what the people who make them publish about them, and how to decide which belongs in which room.
What a whiteboard surface actually is
The three constructions are genuinely different objects, not grades of the same thing.
Ceramic steel — also sold as porcelain enamel or vitreous enamel — is glass fused to steel. PolyVision, which makes the e3 CeramicSteel used in premium boards, describes it as a continuous coil-coating process in which "a light gauge steel core is covered with thin coats of enamel on both sides", with "the porcelain enamel ceramic finish fused to the steel at a temperature in the range of 700–900°C". What comes out is, in PolyVision's words, "inherently magnetic, inorganic and nonporous".
Painted steel is what it sounds like: a steel sheet with a coating applied to it. It is magnetic because the substrate is steel, and it erases well when new. The coating is softer than fused glass.
Glass is tempered safety glass, usually low-iron so it reads white rather than green. It is nonporous by nature. It is also not magnetic, which surprises people — more on that below.
Melamine is a printed layer under a resin coat on a board substrate. It is the cheapest and it is not magnetic.
Why boards go grey: the one mechanism worth understanding
Ghosting is not dirt and it is not a bad eraser. It is marker pigment that has gone into the surface rather than sitting on it.
A porous surface gives the pigment somewhere to go, and every pass of a dry eraser polishes a little more of it in. Ghent, which manufactures boards, writes that melamine surfaces "resist staining and ghosting, but breaks down over time" and "should be used occasionally and cleaned after every use". Of painted steel it says the surface "fights staining and ghosting, but it could scratch if it comes in contact with an abrasive metal" — and a scratch is a new place for pigment to sit.
A nonporous surface has nowhere for the pigment to sink into. Of porcelain, Ghent writes that it is "non-porous and won't stain or ghost, even if you use them all day", and recommends it for "serious whiteboard use and abuse". PolyVision makes the same point about its own surface: dry-erase markings "can be easily wiped away without ghosting or staining".
That is the whole of it. Everything else in this article follows from whether the surface is porous.
Ceramic steel: the published numbers
This is the surface with real specifications behind it, which is unusual in this category. From PolyVision's e3 Premium Writing Surfaces documentation:
| Property | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Surface hardness | Mohs minimum 5; pencil hardness greater than 9H |
| Scratch resistance | Minimum 7 N |
| Wear resistance | Maximum 0.1 g, per ASTM C 501 |
| Impact resistance | Less than 2 mm |
| Fire behaviour | Incombustible, Class A1 to EN 13501-1 |
| Total thickness | 0.4–0.68 mm depending on grade |
| Weight | 2.9–3.2 kg/m² typical |
| Gloss at 20° | Type U 70 GU · Type H 55 GU · Type S 40 GU · Type L 25 GU (+10/−5) |
| End of life | 99.9% recyclable |
The gloss row is the one to notice if the board will ever be photographed or sit opposite a window: a lower gloss number is a flatter, less reflective surface. The hardness figures are why the material survives a decade of whiteboard markers, magnets dragged across it and the occasional biro.
On certification, PolyVision lists Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze, Indoor Advantage Gold for indoor air quality, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and compliance with PEI 1002 and the European Enamel Authority requirements. For a Green Star submission that is a usable set of documents rather than a general claim.
Glass: excellent surface, one catch
Glass does not ghost. Ghent's guide puts it simply: glass "won't stain or ghost". It cleans easily, it does not fade, and in a client-facing room it looks like a considered choice rather than office equipment.
The catch is magnets. Glass is not magnetic, so a plain glass board will not hold one. Manufacturers solve it by putting steel behind the glass — Clarus, which makes glass boards, describes laminating "26-gauge steel to the back of Clarus' tempered safety glass". That works, but it is a specification you have to ask for, and it adds cost and weight.
Glass is also heavier than a steel board of the same size and needs fixings to match, which matters on plasterboard.
Painted steel: the honest middle
Painted steel is magnetic, erases cleanly when new, and costs meaningfully less. Its limitation is the one Ghent names — the coating scratches, and a scratched coating is where ghosting starts.
It is the right answer for a room that gets used occasionally. It is the wrong answer for a project room with a standing wall of work on it, because you are buying a consumable and calling it furniture.
How long each one lasts
PolyVision publishes a direct comparison of expected life under heavy use across the four surfaces:
| Surface | Lifetime under heavy use, per PolyVision | Magnetic | Ghosts? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramic steel | 50 years | Yes, inherently | No — nonporous |
| Glass | 30 years | Only with a steel backer | No — nonporous |
| Painted steel | 5 years | Yes | Once the coating is scratched |
| Laminate / melamine | 2 years | No | Yes, with use |
Those are PolyVision's figures for its own material and its competitors', and they are the only published lifespan comparison in the category. Treat the ranking as more reliable than the exact years. The ranking is not controversial: the harder and less porous the surface, the longer it works.
What a lifetime warranty on a whiteboard actually means
"Lifetime warranty" appears on a lot of whiteboard listings and it is worth knowing what it usually refers to, because it is not the whole board.
PolyVision's published wording covers the surface: it warrants that the surface will "retain its writing and erasing qualities and maintain its gloss variance and color consistency for the life of the building or for as long as the product is in use, whichever comes first". The exclusions are the ordinary ones — "improper handling, vandalism or abuse, or arising from failure to follow PolyVision's instructions and recommendations for maintenance" — and the cost of removal or reinstallation sits with you. The remedy is repair or replacement.
That is a genuinely strong position, and it is the surface manufacturer's rather than the board assembler's. Before you write a warranty term into a tender, ring us on 02 9640 0642 with the board you are specifying and we will confirm the applicable term in writing. We would rather check than hand you a number you then have to defend to a procurement panel.
Wall-mounted or mobile
The surface decision and the format decision are separate, and people tend to collapse them.
Wall-mounted suits a room that owns its board — a meeting room, a boardroom, a training space. It is cheaper per square metre of writing surface, it does not take floor area, and it does not wander off.
Mobile suits a team whose work moves. It also does two things a wall board cannot: it divides a space, and several can be linked into a run to make a partition. In a project space that is usually worth the premium, because the board goes to where the work is happening rather than the team going to whichever room has a board.
What we stock, and what it costs
Ceramic Steel Designer Whiteboards, from $575. Wall-mounted, magnetic ceramic steel, with a slim black frame and concealed hardware. The 600 x 900 is $575 and the 1200 x 1800 is $990; the two intermediate sizes are available to order. This is the board to specify when it will be used daily and has to still be white in a decade.
Mobile Whiteboard, $1,980. Double-sided, on castors, in a white or black frame. It stacks, it links with others to form a straight-line partition, and it can be specified with acoustic pin panels instead of a writing surface on one side. The leg frame powder-coats in the full Dulux range, and it ships assembled or flat-packed. Our own tip is to put one at the end of a bench or collaboration table, where it does double duty as a divider.
Suits you if you are specifying for a room that gets used, rather than a room that gets photographed. Both of these are magnetic, and both erase.
If your constraint is different — a heritage wall you cannot drill, a size that is not on the list, a colour to match a fit-out palette, or a quantity across a whole floor — ring us on 02 9640 0642 and tell us the rooms. We quote fit-out quantities and deliver to site, and it is a much faster conversation than a form. You can also browse the whiteboards collection.
If you are specifying a whole floor rather than a room, two other pieces are worth reading alongside this: our procurement guide to monitor arms for corporate fit-outs, which covers how to write hardware into a schedule, and what happens to office furniture at the end of its life in Australia, which is the other half of the durability argument — a surface rated 99.9% recyclable and good for decades is a very different proposition at strip-out from a laminate board bought three times over.
Frequently asked questions
What is a ceramic steel whiteboard?
It is a sheet of light-gauge steel with porcelain enamel fused onto it at high temperature. PolyVision, which makes the e3 CeramicSteel used in premium boards, describes the process as a continuous coil-coating one in which a light gauge steel core is covered with thin coats of enamel on both sides, fused at a temperature in the range of 700 to 900 degrees Celsius. The result is a surface PolyVision describes as inherently magnetic, inorganic and nonporous. Porcelain steel, vitreous enamel and ceramic steel all describe the same construction.
Why do cheap whiteboards go grey and stop erasing?
Because the surface is porous and the marker pigment sinks into it. A melamine or laminate board is a printed paper layer under a resin coat, and once that coat is scratched or worn the pigment has somewhere to go. Ghent, which manufactures boards, writes that melamine surfaces resist staining and ghosting but break down over time, and that they should be used occasionally and cleaned after every use. A nonporous surface has nowhere for the pigment to sink into, which is why porcelain and glass do not develop the grey haze.
Is ceramic steel worth the money over painted steel?
It depends entirely on how often the board is used. PolyVision publishes a lifetime-under-heavy-use figure of 50 years for CeramicSteel against 5 years for painted steel and 2 years for laminates. If a board is written on every day in a project room, the cheaper surface is a consumable and you will buy it again. If it is a board in a room used once a month, painted steel is a reasonable choice and the extra spend is hard to justify.
Are glass whiteboards magnetic?
Not on their own. Glass is not magnetic, so a glass board only takes magnets if a steel sheet is laminated behind it. Clarus, which manufactures glass boards, describes its magnetic version as laminating 26-gauge steel to the back of tempered safety glass. If magnets matter to you, check that specifically before you order a glass board, because the plain version will not hold one.
How hard is a ceramic steel surface?
PolyVision publishes a minimum Mohs surface hardness of 5 and a pencil hardness greater than 9H for e3 CeramicSteel, along with a minimum scratch resistance of 7 N, wear resistance of no more than 0.1 g tested to ASTM C 501, and impact resistance of less than 2 mm. It is also rated incombustible, Class A1 to EN 13501-1.
What does a lifetime warranty on a whiteboard actually cover?
On a ceramic steel surface it covers the surface, not the whole board. PolyVision's published wording is that the surface will retain its writing and erasing qualities and maintain its gloss variance and colour consistency for the life of the building or for as long as the product is in use, whichever comes first. It excludes improper handling, vandalism or abuse, failure to follow the maintenance instructions, and the cost of removal or reinstallation. Ring us on 02 9640 0642 and we will confirm in writing the term that applies to the board you are ordering.
Should I specify wall-mounted or mobile boards?
Wall-mounted if the room is the point and the board belongs to it, mobile if the team is the point and the work moves. A mobile board also does two jobs a wall board cannot: it divides a space and it can be linked with others into a partition. If you are fitting out a project space rather than a meeting room, mobile is usually the better buy even though it costs more.
Is ceramic steel recyclable at the end of its life?
Yes. PolyVision states that the material is 99.9% recyclable at end of life, and that its CeramicSteel is Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze and carries Indoor Advantage Gold certification, manufactured under ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. It is steel and glass, which are both materials a scrap stream already handles.
What do you stock and what does it cost?
Two boards. The Ceramic Steel Designer Whiteboards are wall-mounted, magnetic, with a slim black frame and concealed hardware, from $575 for the 600 x 900 up to $990 for the 1200 x 1800. The Mobile Whiteboard is double-sided and on castors at $1,980, in a white or black frame, and it can be linked with others to form a partition or specified with acoustic pin panels. Both are in stock in the common sizes. Ring us on 02 9640 0642 for fit-out quantities.
References
- PolyVision, CeramicSteel and CeramicSteel Whiteboards product pages, polyvision.com
- PolyVision, e3 Premium Writing Surfaces, Coils + Sheets, EMEA / APAC catalogue
- PolyVision, Warranty, polyvision.com
- Ghent, Find Your Perfect Whiteboard: A Buying Guide, ghent.com
- Clarus, Magnetic Glassboards, clarus.com
- Prices and stock checked live on chairdinkum.com.au, 23 September 2026.
