Few early works rise above decorous academicism, and modest gentility prevails into the 1930's, when Clare Leighton made exquisitely refined wood engravings.

Rolfs Såg och hyvleri AB refined wood into building material like planks, but also saw dust pellets to heat houses.

Microcrystalline cellulose is a term for refined wood pulp and is used as a texturizer, an anti-caking agent, a fat substitute, an emulsifier, an extender, and a bulking agent in food production.