Can you tell me if your anti-slip by the metre is of superior quality to the cheaper stuff?
We recently received an email asking an extremely valid question and thought we would blog our answer, as I can imagine it’s a question a lot of you are thinking.
Answer: Yes, there are a lot of inexpensive anti-slip materials available. Most of these are standard PVC, which will generally do the job. If cost is a major factor in purchasing, then depending on the application, it should be ok.
However, many people experience issues with these materials: for example, if you’re using the materials in the kitchen, PVC is not food grade. It also won’t withstand a 40-degree wash in a washing machine. Not only this, PVC is also known to contain questionable ingredients that can affect people with allergy’s, latex for example.
Most PVC fabrics have a very limited life span, which explains the low price: We have many customers who have been using our PER® fabrics for years with no degradation in the fabric. A lot of our customers use the material in commercial vehicles and marine environments. PVC would not be suitable for this as it is not UV stable, does not like sea water and tends to mark metal & painted surfaces. PER® does not have this problem.
We can offer you more: It’s unlikely you’ll find PVC bigger than a 50cm x 150cm width and it is usually very limited in colours. We have a huge choice of colours and width size.
How it’s made: The PER® material does start in the manufacturing process as PVC, but undergoes processing to ensure all the negative elements of the PVC is removed. It is then refined to include the additional qualities that our customers require of the materials.
The key qualities of PER®:
Durable
Non-allergenic
Toxin free
Fire resistant
Food grade standard
Machine washable
OEKO-Tex 100 Standard. (This means they can safely be used around children).
Meets the EEC RoHS and REACH regulation.
Is safe for use on lacquered and polyurethane surface and at the end of its useful life, it’s biodegradable.
Do you have a full technical specification for the product?
We do: PER® Technical Specification SheetNot the shortest answer we know, but hopefully you now understand the quality of PER® and why it’s that little bit more expensive.
