Anybody who wants to help preserve resources would be well advised to already look for high-quality products when making a purchase. It is certainly true that these products are sometimes a little more expensive than less well-made alternatives. Yet in the case of products that become an integral part of your home, in particular, the additional expense pays off in the long term. Home furnishings carrying the RAL Quality Mark for Furniture (Golden M), for example, stand out due to their particularly long service lives, which they have to demonstrate in numerous tests. In the garden, the RAL Quality Mark for Impregnated Wooden Construction Elements stands for particularly weather-resistant wood.
Rigorous testing
An impact load testing device set to the weight of a heavy person which is dropped onto a piece of upholstered furniture 30,000 times. A 1.7 kilogram steel plate dropped onto a cover. Upholstery fabrics that are rubbed 10,000 times and cabinet locks that are opened and closed 30,000 times. Although these all sound like sophisticated ways of torturing pieces of furniture, they are in fact some of the vigorous mechanical tests to which furniture with the RAL Quality Mark (Golden M) are subjected. “Furniture carrying the RAL Quality Mark has to prove in the laboratory that it can withstand normal household use in the long term”, says Jochen Winning, Managing Director of the Quality Assurance Association for Furniture (Deutschen Gütegemeinschaft Möbel e.V). “Experts from independent testing institutions not only test the stability, workmanship, function and safety of the furniture but also examine their pollutant content.” Anyone who chooses a sofa, cupboard or box spring bed carrying the RAL Quality Mark needs to ensure that they really like the piece of furniture because it is sure to last a long time.
Long-term protection against rot
Whether on wooden swings, pergolas or decking on the patio – wood used in the garden is exposed to the weather all year round. It is at risk of attack from harmful fungi and can thus quickly rot. Specialist pressure impregnation protects the wood in the long term and ensures that it remains fit for its intended purpose over many years. Consumers can identify these types of wood by the RAL Quality Mark for Impregnated Wooden Construction Elements. “The products stand out due to the high quality of the raw timber. In addition, they are treated with officially tested and approved wood preservatives that are not only effective but also safe for people, animals and the environment”, says Uwe Halupczok from the Quality Assurance Association for Impregnated Wooden Construction Elements. “All wooden products carrying the RAL Quality Mark also come with a ten-year manufacturer’s warranty and promise an exceptionally long service life.”
