Paulownia is an extremely fast-growing, soft hardwood native to China, predominantly plantation grown. The heartwood is light in color and its appearance closely resembles American Ash. The demarcation between heartwood and sapwood is not clear and the wood is straight grained and lustrous. Paulownia is surprisingly light in weight for a hardwood. In fact the physical weight is slightly less than kiln dried western red cedar. It is low in overall strength, but has high strength to weight ratio – physically it ranks between balsa and poplar. The wood dries rapidly and does not easily warp, cup, end check, splinter or split and has a very small shrinkage coefficient.

Paulownia has one of the lowest thermal conductivity values of any wood; therefore the wood has very high insulation properties. Compared to most woods, Paulownia has a high resistance to fire and a high ignition point. The wood is not generally affected by high humidity. It is naturally decay resistant and any rot is generally superficial. The wood is also naturally resistant to insect attack. Paulownia has no measurable pitch, resin or tannins so it is not subject to extractive bleeding.

This wood is easy to work with – easy to plane, sand, saw, rip, route and carve, and even in quick processing there is no danger of splitting or chipping. It easily absorbs glue, paint and stains. Paulownia is commonly used for drawer sides, drawer bottoms, cabinets, as well as mouldings, flat jambs and trim boards.