We had one pulled apart. Here's what happened.
Most buckets come with a number on the label and nothing behind it. Ours has a lab report behind it, so here are the findings.
Who did the testing
Not us. The tubs are made in Spain, and the manufacturer had a sample tested by and external Textile Testing facility in Spain in June 2023. We publish their numbers rather than our own, which we think is the right way round.
Which tub they tested
42L Round, in grey. Same material, same factory, same wall thickness as the other tubs but a different mould.
How much it holds, sitting still
| Temperature | Maximum load |
|---|---|
| Room temperature | 186.5 kg |
| Minus 20 degrees | 301.7 kg |
| 60 degrees | 99.5 kg |
We publish 150kg, not 186kg. The tested figure is higher than the number we claim, and we would rather it stayed that way.
The 60 degree row is the one worth reading twice. 60 degrees is a closed ute tray in February, and it still took 99kg. The minus 20 figure is real but it is not much use to anyone in Australia. Cold stiffens the material, which is why the number goes up.
How much the handles hold
| Temperature | Handle strength | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Room temperature | 1,090 N | 110 kg |
| Minus 20 degrees | 1,340 N | 137 kg |
| 60 degrees | 749 N | 76 kg |
For context, safe lifting for one person sits somewhere around 20 to 25kg. So the handles are not the thing that is going to stop you.
Knocked about, 400 times
400 cycles on an impact and oscillation rig. No deformation. No damage.
Cooked and frozen, back to back
48 hours cycling between minus 20 and 60 degrees. No change in appearance afterwards.
What this report does not cover
There is no UV test in it. Nothing in this report measures sunlight, colour fastness, or going brittle in the sun. Our tubs are UV stabilised, which is a property of the material and comes from the manufacturer's spec rather than from this report. We are not going to dress that up as a lab finding. The sun gets everything eventually. UV stabilised just buys you a lot more summers than the cheap ones get.
They are not food grade. The material started life as milk and juice cartons, so it was holding food long before it was a tub. What it does not have is food contact certification for its second life, because recycled material goes through a mixed stream and nobody certifies the output for food. That is a paperwork gap. Ice and sealed drinks at a party are completely fine. Preparing food directly against the plastic is not what these are built for.
The short version
150kg static load. 110kg by the handles. Both lab tested.
