Use SATRA for the full range of furniture testing including:

• nursery furniture testing
• children's furniture testing
• furniture flammability
• chair fatigue testing
• bed testing
• mattress testing
• garden furniture testing
• kitchen furniture testing
• bathroom furniture testing
• furniture materials testing
• furniture components testing
• furniture surface finish testing
• furniture upholstery testing
• furniture sourcing

Adding value to your furniture

Here at SATRA we ensure that your furniture and its materials perform in service to meet the highest expectations. Our experts support you in the specification of your furniture range from design, through production, to your customer, by looking at the end user requirements and combining this with the test reports to facilitate future product development.

Furniture testing at SATRA will give confidence to you and your customer that your furniture is suitable for the end use, reducing the potential for costly customer returns.

Suppliers, manufacturers and retailers are able to use SATRA to test materials, components and complete items of furniture. We can also offer unrivalled training to cover the most important topics in the furniture industry today, including flammability.

Our furniture testing experts attend British and European standards committees, keeping you up to date on the legislation requirements and how they affect you and your product ranges.

However you choose to work with us, be assured that SATRA has the knowledge and experience to help companies in the furniture supply chain to get it right first time and, therefore, to maximise profits.

 

Nursery and children's furniture testing

Young children often view their new furniture as an adventure playground. Therefore, nursery furniture must be safe for climbing, trampolining, biting and other game play. The manufacturer needs to provide evidence of testing and compliance to legislation before putting the items on display.

SATRA recommends following strict criteria when assessing whether children’s furniture is suitable for use: full compliance to safety regulations including entrapment, flammability, EN 71, toxicity and General Product Safety Regulations; strength and stability; suitable components that will not fail during use; the inclusion of a hard durable surface finish; durable and easily cleanable upholstery covers.

 

Bed and mattress testing

SATRA technologists evaluate futons, foldaway beds, and bedding and mattress products for comfort and performance issues. Manufacturers of these items should test to EN 1725:1998 and EN 1957:2000, both of which are important to ensure that the bed meets the necessary strength and structural performance standards.

Bunk beds are recognised as a potential hazard to children. So it is essential that designers and manufacturers understand the Bunk Beds (Entrapment Hazards) (Safety) Regulations as well as the EN 747-1:1993 Bunk beds for domestic use. There are slight differences between the two standards and SATRA offers practical advice on the compliance issues.

 

Contract, office and educational furniture testing

The range of contract furniture is vast and has a variety of end uses. SATRA tests to a series of British and European standards, designed to ensure that the furniture can stand up to this continual use and that we are safe at school or work should anything go wrong For example, the testing of chairs used in a 24-hour call centre is slightly different from testing an office chair in the boardroom; similarly, educational and contract furniture is regularly moved around and stacked which needs to be considered in any testing. SATRA expert advice ensures product can be sold in the marketplace with confidence.

 

Chair testing

Chair testing data can help improve design and manufacturing techniques and provide evidence of due diligence. Making and selling chairs that are safe and fit for the intended purpose is a priority in the highly competitive chair manufacturing market. The need to demonstrate adequate safety and appropriate ‘fitness for purpose’ has become increasingly important with many buyers of domestic, contract and office products insisting on seeing evidence of product safety.
 

Kitchen and bathroom furniture testing

Kitchen and bathrooms can become hot, wet and steamy. Moisture resistant materials need to be carefully selected, as do methods of construction and edging of boards. In constant connection with chemical cleaners and alternately dry or moist conditions, the surface finish can be tested in SATRA’s own range of climatic chambers, which can provide humidity controls from 35% Relative Humidity (RH) to 85% RH and temperature controls from -40º to +80ºC. Careful selection of materials and components is important, to ensure strength in the cabinets and to prevent discolouration or rusting of hinges and drawer slides.

 

Furniture materials, components and surface finish testing

Furniture is made from different materials which sometimes do not perform as expected. SATRA can test materials before production to prevent costly errors further down the supply chain, including key performance criteria such as resistance to scratching, knocks, heat and liquids. For leather and textile upholstery there is unrivalled evaluation of colour fastness, flexing, abrasion and soiling resistance. SATRA has also developed unique accelerated ageing techniques on chair mechanisms and the effectiveness of adhesives, which give results in days rather than weeks. Within its laboratories, SATRA can test fillings on its pounding machine and undertake risk assessments on motion furniture.

 

Garden furniture testing

With the wide range of products and materials being used in garden furniture, SATRA has created guidelines to help companies ensure that the product is suitable for outdoor use, for example barbeques.

Furniture flammability

Flammability of furniture is a major issue especially in the UK domestic market, where all upholstered furniture must meet the Furniture and Furnishing (Fire)(Safety) Regulations. Upholstered furniture for use in contract situations must also meet tight UK specifications, including BS 7176, NHS code and IMO SOLAS. SATRA has a large flammability testing facility, where full-scale tests are carried out on items of upholstery and bedding for both contract and domestic markets. SATRA also organises flammability seminars, which are designed to help you understand the complexity of the UK, EU and American regulations and associated test methods.

 

Furniture sourcing

With the current trend in furniture being sourced from outside the UK, retailers, importers and manufacturers need to be aware of the latest information regarding testing and legislation. Mistakes are costly, so it is important to get it right first time at the source. No-one in the supply chain can afford to be associated with product failure for whatever reason. SATRA helps companies establish appropriate procedures to improve quality, maintain consistency, and reduce returns and customer complaints.

 

Competitive price structure
No additional costs for reports. Discounts are available for multiple tests or large testing programmes.

Contact

For further information contact Jackie Glasspool on +44 (0) 1536 410 000 or email jacqueg@satra.co.uk