Sisal Rugs

File under Boring but Important:
Flooring materials are tested for slipperiness by using a standard friction test. Our Tornio Faux-Sisal Rug Collection is tested by the American Society for Testing & Materials under their ASTM C1028 testing guideline.

ASTM C1028 is entitled “Standard Test Method for Determining the Static Coefficient of Friction of Ceramic Tile and Other Like Surfaces by the Horizontal Dynamometer Pull-Meter Method”. Once you get beyond the somewhat daunting title, you find this standardized test to be fairly simple. Basically a 50 pound weight is put on a standard sized sled and attached to a device called a dynamometer which test the amount of pressure required to move the sled horizontally over the surface being tested. This is then converted to a percentage using a standard calculation.

There is no percentage value approved in the ASTM standard as a slip resistant or safe value, but a slip resistance factor of .50 has become the de facto standard in the industry.

The results of the testing with Tornio were a slip resistance factor of .79 when dry and .71 when wet, which is well above the .50 defacto standard.

Also my understanding is that there are no established specifications for skid resistance under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but that they recommend that the static coefficient of friction be above 0.6 for flat surfaces.

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