Care home furniture suppliers

Purchasing from care home furniture suppliers as opposed to buying from a high street store has many benefits. When purchasing care home furniture there are a range of decisions that you need to make. One of these being whether you should be buying your furniture from the same high street shops that we recognise for furnishing our own homes, or whether you should be looking at purchasing contract standard furniture that has been specifically designed for use within care interiors.

It can be tempting to think that the same furniture that we use everyday within our own homes would also be suitable for our care homes, however there are numerous benefits to purchasing care home furniture from healthcare retailers. In this blog we explain the key benefits you should look for when purchasing furniture for care homes from a specialised supplier.

Care Home Furniture Supplier Quality Control Standards

Care home furniture is required to conform to a more stringent level of BS standard for use within a commercial environment, compared to furniture for use within a domestic environment. For instance, furniture specified for use within a contract setting must be flame retardant to Crib 5, thereby ensuring the safety of your care interiors as well as the residents you are responsible for.

In addition to this, as experts in care interiors, you can be sure that furniture is subject to strict quality control procedures as healthcare suppliers know the stresses and demands that will be placed on furniture used within a care setting. In general the stresses and amount of use an item will get within a care home is much greater compared to a domestic house, therefore items purchased that are not specifically designed for use within a care environment are not designed to last as long or be as durable. When checking the quality control measures be sure to ask about:

• Certification from quality control bodies, such as whether they are ISO9001 certified.
• Warranties – these are a good indicator of the durability and quality of a product.
• What is the quality control process?
• What are the reviews saying?

Additional Features & Benefits Of Furniture of Care Home Suppliers

Further to the additional quality control measures and standards, there are many features and benefits that are often hidden within the fabric of healthcare designed furniture that you won’t get from items purchased on the high street.

• If purchasing for a challenging behaviour or mental health environment, look for anti-ligature features and piano hinges similar to our Anker range.
• Metal drawer sides, 18mm thicker carcase backs and drawer bases will ensure that your furniture will last much longer than the standard flat pack equivalent.
• Rounded corners ensure the safety of your furniture for both residents and staff.
• Moisture and chemical resistant tops on dining tables for ease of cleaning and longevity.

Chairs For Care Homes & Upholstery Differences

As we’ve touched on in our blog before, there are details within care home lounge chairs and other upholstered items that have been carefully considered to ensure the best ergonomic design for the older user. The ‘one size fits all’ approach that is often found with high street retailers as they look to appeal to as broad a range of users as possible, means that you consequently lose many of the features such as the arm and seat height that make lounge chairs comfortable for older people.

When purchasing care home lounge chairs from a healthcare supplier, look for the following:

• Is the upholstery specified flame retardant to Crib 5?
• Is the upholstery water and stain resistant? This will ensure the long term appearance of your new care chairs is maintained.
• Upholstery for use within a commercial environment must reach at least 30,000 on the Martindale test (the Martindale test measures the amount of wear and tear a fabric can withstand before changing its composition or appearance). For fabrics to be used in a domestic setting they only have to reach 10,000.
• Are there any infection control and anti-microbial properties? Recent developments have meant that most healthcare upholstery suppliers incorporate infection control measures as standard.
• There are also specific arm and seat height and depths to look for, which you can read all about here.

Care Home Curtains & Soft Furnishings

There are many window dressing options available both from high street shops, national retailers and online and the sheer amount of choice is staggering. However, you will often find that curtains and blinds are supplied in set sizes and you end up purchasing the ‘best fit’ for the size window that you have. In addition to this, curtains for use in domestic settings are not required to be flame retardant. Whereas when purchasing care home curtains from a commercial supplier, you should look out for the following points:

• All window dressings should be flame retardant as standard.
• Blackout lining, this is often a feature you would pay more for when purchasing from retail but as a healthcare supplier we include this as standard.
• Made to measure service – at Furncare we pride ourselves on being able to make curtains to your specific measurements which are delivered within 5 days. Read our guide to measuring for your new curtains here.

Delivery & Service

Flat pack and delivery to the door are generally the accepted norm when purchasing online or from a national retail shop. But the level of service is far more personal when purchasing from a commercial healthcare supplier. With Furncare as your supplier, you will experience the following:

• All items delivered fully assembled or assembled on site
• Items delivered to the room/s of your choice
• All packaging will be removed and recycled

For full details of our comprehensive delivery service, have a watch of this video.

Whilst it can be tempting to think that purchasing care home furniture from a retail shop will be suitable, there are numerous disadvantages that could end up costing you more time, money and effort in the long run. When you purchase from a team of healthcare furniture experts you are benefiting from the years of experience and research that has been put into designing, manufacturing and supplying furniture that has the healthcare sector at the heart of the process. To discuss how Furncare can provide you with all of the benefits mentioned plus many more, contact our team on 01603 664900 or sales@furncare.co.uk today.