Is Your Dresser A Safety Hazard? Here Is How Every Texan Can Tell

I'll go out on a limb and say that most Texans reading this have at least one piece of furniture where they keep their clothes. But, what if I were to tell you that your dresser could be illegally built even if you assembled it yourself?

In the latest edition of "things nobody asked for," let's go over the signs to tell if your dresser is top drawer or unsafe for sure.

Sturdy or Bust

Thanks to a piece of legislation enacted recently in 2022, all clothing storage units must conform to the STURDY law in the U.S.

Because we love to make acronyms out of everything, STURDY stands for "Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth." Bit of a stretch, if you ask me, but then again I'm not the one making laws.

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The STURDY Act provides rules and dimensions that all dressers must follow in order to be legally sold by manufacturers. For instance, dressers in Texas and across the U.S. must pass three separate stability tests:

• The clothing load
  • Extend all drawers to their capacity and fill with 8.5 pounds per cubic feet for 30 seconds
• Horizontal force
  • Apply at least 10 pounds of force at the highest hand-hold for 10 seconds
• Carpet with child weight
  • A wedge is placed under the back legs and a 60-pound weight meant to simulate a child is added to the front for 30 seconds

If any of these tests result in the dresser tipping forward and collapsing, it is sent back to the factory for further development before it can be sold.

This, of course, is all for kids' safety, because here in America, we're nothing if we aren't "for the children."

Exceptions to the Rule and Other Details

As previously stated, this law only applies to clothing storage units which means bookshelves, office or dining room furniture, jewelry armoires, laundry storage/sorting units, and accent furniture not intended for bedroom use are all exceptions.

So, the next time you are with friends or family and really want to look like a know-it-all, you can check all the dressers in your house to make sure they're up to code and not illegal furniture. I'm sure everyone will be... pleased and definitely not ready to have that talk again about you moving to a "facility."