Choosing
Magnetic vs Non-Magnetic White Boards: Which One Does Your Room Actually Need?
Most buyers choose board size first and surface second. For magnetic boards the order matters the other way round, because magnetism is built into the surface at manufacture and cannot be added later.
A Plusmark magnetic board uses a resin coated steel surface. The steel underneath is what accepts a magnet; the resin coating on top is what takes marker ink and wipes clean. A non-magnetic board skips the steel and uses a High Gloss Marker Grade HPL sheet instead, which writes and erases just as well but will not hold anything up.
What magnets on a board are actually for
Magnets turn a board from a writing surface into a display surface. The rooms that get the most out of that are the ones where information changes every day and someone has to pin it up without damaging the wall or the board.
- Planning walls in operations and production teams, where charts, shift rosters and SOP sheets move around weekly
- Coaching centres and tuition classrooms that put up answer keys, maps and revision sheets beside the writing area
- Offices and cabins where a single board carries both today's notes and a standing timetable
- Laboratories and staff rooms that display notices next to working notes
Where a non-magnetic board is the better buy
If nothing ever gets pinned or stuck to the board, the magnetic surface buys you nothing you will use. Non-magnetic Marker Grade HPL boards write and erase the same way, and they are the right call for rooms that are used purely for writing.
Lecture halls, seminar rooms, interview rooms and classroom walls where the teacher writes and wipes and nothing else lives on the board are typical non-magnetic installations. The budget you save goes into size — a larger non-magnetic board usually serves a lecture room better than a smaller magnetic one.
How to tell the two apart in a finished board
Check the product category rather than the frame or the corners. Plusmark lists these as separate types so you do not have to guess from the photo.
| Magnetic white boards | Non-magnetic white boards | |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | Resin coated steel | High Gloss Marker Grade HPL |
| Holds magnets | Yes | No |
| Marker performance | Writes and wipes clean | Writes and wipes clean |
| Typical rooms | Planning walls, offices, coaching | Classrooms, lecture halls, seminar rooms |
| Available series | Metallic Premium, Deluxe Standard, Eco Regular | Metallic Premium, Eco Premium, Deluxe Standard, Eco Regular |
Magnetic is also available in chalk
Resin coated steel comes in green as well as white, so a chalk-writing board can hold magnets too. Schools that still teach with chalk but want charts on the board use magnetic chalk boards — listed separately from the non-magnetic chalk range.
Before you order
Decide what has to live on the board besides writing. If the answer is charts, rosters or holders, order magnetic. If the answer is nothing, order non-magnetic and spend the difference on size.
Every Plusmark magnetic and non-magnetic white board is made in standard sizes and in custom sizes. Send the room dimensions and the quantity through the enquiry form and the team will confirm what is available in that series.
Questions on this topic
- Can a non-magnetic white board be made magnetic later?
- No. Magnetism comes from the steel layer inside a resin coated steel surface, which is fixed at manufacture. A board ordered non-magnetic stays non-magnetic, so decide before you order.
- Do magnetic boards write as smoothly as non-magnetic ones?
- Both are made for marker use and wipe clean. Plusmark magnetic boards use resin coated steel and non-magnetic boards use High Gloss Marker Grade HPL sheet, and both are offered across the institutional series.
Boards mentioned in this guide
Sizes, surfaces and frame variants listed here are made to order. Send Plusmark your room details and quantity and the team will confirm what is available in that series.
