Lightweight decorative paper products for pressure laminates and method for forming the same

A pressure laminated decorative paper product comprising:

• a lightweight paper face sheet for laminated decorative paper products, said face sheet comprising a ream weight of 50 pounds or less and being formed from a face furnish substantially free of dye, pigments and rutile titanium, and having at least one finished surface receptive to post-paper making application of a decorative layer;
• a paper overlay sheet located above said face sheet in the laminated product, said overlay sheet having a ream weight of less than about 15 lbs.;
• a barrier sheet arranged below said face sheet in the laminated product;
• one or more backer sheets arranged below said barrier sheet;
• and
• a decorative layer on said finished surface of said face sheet to provide selective decorative effects.

A method for forming a laminated decorative paper product, comprising the following steps:

• providing a lightweight paper face sheet for laminated decorative paper products, said face sheet comprising a ream weight of 50 pounds or less and being formed from a face furnish substantially free of dye, pigments and rutile titanium, and having at least one finished surface receptive to post-paper making application of a decorative layer;
• providing a lightweight paper overlay sheet located above said face sheet in the laminated product, said overlay sheet having good tensile and tear strength and being formed from an overlay furnish substantially free of dye, pigments and rutile titanium;
• applying a decorative layer to at least a portion of at least one finished surface of said face sheet;
• saturating both the face and overlay sheets with resin;
• curing the saturated face and overlay sheets;
• and
• laminating the face and overlay sheets.