![]() As you may have noticed on the product page of the Hangman TK-400, the clip is not installed onto the back of the furniture but rather against the thicker top piece. Many pieces of prefab furniture have thin backs attached by only a handful of staples, which can rip out if the piece starts to tip. Regardless of which system you use, it’s imperative that you know what you’re screwing into, both on the furniture side and on the wall side. As Colorado Childproofers writes, “the break strength of the Zip Tie may only be about 50 pounds – a 50 pound child with a drawer that is out about 2 feet will exert a force of 100 pounds on the strap.” Our staff members have seen zip ties included among the mounting hardware that accompanies some pieces of furniture if you buy new furniture and find these included, we recommend an upgrade.Ĭolorado Childproofers also notes that tethering systems with plastic straps may require periodic tightening or replacement: “This is most likely due to solid nylon getting brittle over time, especially in warm, dry or high-ozone areas.” We believe the mount should start off secure and remain that way with no adjustment. While many appear to be effective (this professional childproofer uses them), some are little more than cheap electrician’s zip ties with a small clip on each end. We also suggest caution with any zip-tie system. In comparison with Hangman and Quakehold gear, Harry said, this product is not as robust. “I should upgrade,” he noted. They’re easy to install and they work well enough, but the mounting plates that connect to the furniture and the wall are both plastic. Wirecutter senior editor Harry Sawyers has used a product similar to our furniture strap picks, Safety 1st Furniture Wall Straps, which you can probably find on the shelf at Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and elsewhere. They’re also good only for open-backed furniture. ![]() But those are generic pieces of hardware that don’t come with properly sized screws. According to Colorado Childproofers, for example, a simple L bracket will do the trick. We wanted to address those here, as well as to take an honest look at all the pros and cons we’ve been able to find through our research and experience. You'll run across a number of other methods for securing a piece of furniture. Chris and Dan both like one particular detail that makes installation easier and more secure: The piece screws into the existing VESA mounting holes on your TV, so you don’t have to deal with sticky adhesive. Three points of contact on this product mount to the TV, the furniture it’s sitting on, and the wall. Wirecutter audio/visual editor Chris Heinonen anchors his freestanding TVs with the Sanus Systems Anti-Tip Strap. The following are products that we have used, as parents who are also Wirecutter writers and editors, and we’re sharing our experience using them as well as some installation tips in the hope that we can help to keep more families safe. We hope readers understand that we are not trying to take advantage of the families’ losses. To be clear, we are making these recommendations in reaction to several tragic accidents. ![]() We’ve found several products that are well-made, durable, easy to install, and often priced under $10, which is a minimal cost for the upgrade, especially considering what’s at stake. Some furniture comes with anti-tip hardware, which is a start, but such items are not always of the best quality. With that in mind, we think it’s essential to add anti-tip mechanisms to tall or potentially unstable pieces of furniture, as well as to freestanding flat-screen TVs, to ensure that you’re getting the best protection possible. It’s not surprising that the CPSC brochure on childproofing says that “no device is completely childproof determined youngsters have been known to overcome or disable them.” The tests for the ASTM voluntary standards for furniture 1 are based on the pulling force of a 50-pound weight, according to Furniture Today-if you know what a curious child is capable of, this simply doesn’t cover all situations. This grisly video from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission demonstrates how the results of a tipped piece of furniture can be catastrophic. As IKEA’s recent recall of 29 million Malm and other chests and drawers shows, securing large pieces of furniture against tipping is a must in any home (especially one with small children).
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