Our Testing Methodology
Less guesswork. More transparency.
We evaluate how our rugs perform in real family environments — shedding, cleaning, staining, and routine maintenance — and publish test conditions and results clearly so parents can make informed decisions.
What we evaluate
Every Gatsby Baby design is evaluated across four practical dimensions: shedding (loose fibers released during normal use and vacuuming), cleanability (how completely common household stains lift), washing (appearance and structure after repeated machine-wash cycles), and durability (pile and edge condition after simulated family use).
Shedding and fiber evaluation
Because babies live close to the floor, we take loose fibers seriously. Our shedding evaluation measures visible fiber collected from a rug sample after a standardized number of passes with a defined vacuum model and setting. Conditions — vacuum model, suction setting, number of passes, sample age, and prior wash count — are recorded for every run, so you can see exactly how your rug performs.
Demonstrations are labeled honestly
Any demonstration shown on this site is a Gatsby Baby internal evaluation and is labeled as such, with its conditions described. Internal evaluations help us compare our own designs and improve them; they are not a substitute for independent laboratory testing.
Independent verification before claims
Before Gatsby Baby makes any health, allergen, air-quality, or safety claim, that claim will be verified by an accredited independent laboratory, and the report will be published here. We do not claim that any rug — ours or anyone else's — harms or protects a child. We publish methods and results, and let parents decide.
What we will never do
We will not invent test results. We will not present internal evaluations as independent science. We will not claim zero shedding, zero risk, or 'chemical-free' materials — claims like those are marketing, not measurement. And we will not make claims about competing products that we cannot document.
Publishing schedule
Methodology documents for each evaluation are published alongside results on our Materials & Testing page. As our first collection completes its evaluation cycle, results will be added here — dated, described, and linked to the underlying reports.
See what this means for your rug.
Every Gatsby Baby product page links to the materials, care instructions, and testing status for that specific design.
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