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
The tubs are made in Spain, and the manufacturer had a sample tested by a textile testing facility in Spain in June 2023.
Which tub they tested
The 42L Round, in grey (Storm). Same material, same factory as all of our 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.
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 |
Those are the forces the handles withstood before they gave way, not loads we are suggesting you carry. What we actually recommend is further down this page.
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. Our tubs are UV stabilised, which is a property of the material and comes from the manufacturer's spec rather than from this report. The sun gets everything eventually. UV stabilised just buys you a lot more summers than the cheap ones get.
They are not food grade. Part of the material started life as milk and juice cartons, so some of 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.
What we recommend
The numbers on this page are what a tub withstood before it gave way. They are not a loading instruction.
Carry what you would comfortably carry. Safe lifting for one person sits somewhere around 20 to 25kg, and that limit is in your back, not in the tub. Anything approaching the tested figure is a two person carry, not a one person one.
Watch the heat. This is the one that matters in Australia. At 60 degrees the handles held 76kg, roughly a third less than at room temperature. A ute tray or a car boot on a hot day gets well past 60. A tub that has been sitting in the sun is a weaker tub, so treat it as one.
Lift with both handles, evenly. The test pulled both at once. Dragging a loaded tub by one handle puts the whole load through half the fixing, and that is not what was tested.
We publish the report because it is the best evidence we have, not because it is a promise about the tub in your shed. The material is recycled and it varies. Treat the numbers as a demonstration of how these are built, not a line to walk up to.
