Sample tests: what to try on a sample at home
A checklist of home tests by material, with a column for what happened and the date. The stone tests are the Natural Stone Institute's; the floor and fabric tests are this manual's own, kept inside what a maker's sheet allows.
Essential on a first pass when you are choosing and have samples in hand. Optional otherwise. Run only the tests that answer your room's questions; most readers run three or four.
Tests
Tick a test when you have run it and write what happened. Run only the tests that answer your room's questions, and only on a sample you own or a seller says you may mark. The column "For your setup" is filled from your surfaces.
How to use this sheet
- Test a sample you own, or one the seller says you may mark. A showroom sample may not be marked.
- One result per test, in plain words. "Dull spot where the lemon sat" or "no change". Write the date.
- The stone tests are the Natural Stone Institute's (A scientific guide to shopping for natural stone). The floor and fabric tests are this manual's own, chosen to match the questions in Samples, ratings, labels and warranties, and kept inside what makers' sheets allow. Convention
- Record, do not conclude. A sample shows how one piece behaved once. Carry the result to the Sample result column of the Comparison sheet.
The Brennans ran the five stone tests on their granite sample: neither glass nor a knife scratched it, lemon juice left no dull spot, water darkened it after several minutes and dried, and oil darkened it briefly. The family and their results are invented for this manual.
A home test on one sample does not prove how an installed floor, counter or sofa will wear for years. A test outside what the maker allows can also leave a mark the maker will not cover, so test only samples you own or may mark.