An environmentally friendly binder is not covered in plastic or vinyl, but rather uses the raw board for strength and aesthetics. They look great, feel great and don't walk up to the environment and pour oil on its head.

But then it rains. Now you are thinking 'Bare board binder?  raw binder? In the rain?'.  Do not panic. Naked Binder has done tests. While we don't vouch for the contents, you binder will live through darn near anything. If you like the stuff you put in a binder, don't leave it out in the rain.

Rain test #1:  Naked Binder - one fully recycled and recyclable bare board binder, one rain storm and puddle and 3 hours.

results:  The binder was soaking wet and limp when we took it in.  The big money was going against the home team. But... a few hours later, the binder had dried out, the binder was strong and worked perfectly.  We dried it out standing up, so there was a minor bend in the recycled board.  We corrected that by flexing it back. Binder is still in use. Results of Rain Test #1 are shown here:

Rain test #2: Naked Binder - A recycled bare board binder, a weekend of storms and a binder left out.

results: While an accidental test, the team descended on this binder like sharks.  This thing was soaking wet for two days. It too was dried out and worked perfectly. By now, the smart money is on the binder.

Our Testing Department no longer fears rain. so we move on to

Test #3: The dishwasher.  A full wash cycle of hot water against one bare board recycled binder. Lots of scepticism as to how this would turn out. Or the dishes.

results: The Naked Binder survived and like all the other tests, dried out beautifully and is use again.

So what are we to think about this?  A Naked Binder is far stronger than you may think. There is no way I am going through a dishwasher unscathed...and you run a good chance of melting a plastic or vinyl binder in there also. But if it does rain on your parade, have no fear. Your recycled binder will not go back to nature yet.  As for practical thoughts, um, if you store anything you want to keep in a binder... don't leave it out in the rain.  While your binder will be working for years to come, those notes of things you definately should never ever forget...yeah, well...they may not make it.