Do you really need a release agent when pressing engineered wood/wood composites?

Up until the past several years, engineered wood panels have been made primarily with formaldehyde-based binder resins (urea formaldehyde, phenol formaldehyde, etc.). These binders require very little, if any, release agent. However, the recent shift to polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate  (“pMDI”)  and other non-formaldehyde based binders has created a need for release agents in the pressing process because these resins are very sticky. Without the use of the proper release agent, panels will stick to pressing surfaces causing buildup or, in extreme cases, catastrophic adhesion of the panel to the pressing platen or belt.