Before being able to certify their benefits, before advertising them with a pictogram on their packaging, Luminarc products undergo all sorts of excessive treatment… "All the tableware goes through the 'quality qualification laboratory' where all kinds of control and testing instruments designed to replicate daily use are available" explains Laurent Schotté, product development project manager. "But controls are also in place at each step of the manufacturing process in order to intervene on the production line, as early as possible".
In addition a reception control makes it possible to check the validity of the productions through statistical controls". Choosing Luminarc, is being aware of the technical benefits of its products. The brand tells you about its main assets by occasionally showing you the other side of the picture.
Luminarc is resistant
During the manufacturing process, numerous tableware items (plates, dishes, bowls, cups and some glasses) go through a specific thermal treatment called tempering in order to guarantee a better mechanical and thermal resistance. Two to three times stronger (depending on the item) than most items of similar thickness, tempered Luminarc products are therefore able to withstand numerous shocks.
“The pendulum test is also available for glassware: the item is held in place whilst a marble of a given mass, put into action by a lever, creates a shock on the rim... "
Luminarc tempered products also withstand temperature differences of around 135°C, which means that it is possible to microwave a food container that has just come out of the fridge.
"We study an item with its use in mind: this means that the material and treatment are chosen according to the thermal shock it is likely to be submitted to. For example, we use clear tempered glass for microwave use, borosilicate for the oven and vitroceramics for cooking on the flame (gas). One of our tests consists in bringing an item to oven temperature before placing it in a small quantity of cold water. There is nothing worse. And if it can take this, if it does not break straight away, then it will cope with its daily use without any problem!"
Luminarc is wash resistant
All Luminarc tableware items withstand normal dishwasher use. The tests carried out at Arc International’s laboratory ensure that the decorations of the plates as well as the sparkle of glasses can easily cope with the various attacks carried out by the dishwasher on a daily basis.
"One of the rooms of the 'quality qualification laboratory' is fitted with entire walls of dishwashers in which items are subjected to continuous washing cycles. Continually filled up with detergent, some twenty machines carry out up to 10 washes a day with the single aim to check the dishwasher resistance of a Luminarc glass, a plate or cutlery.
As a matter of fact, the tests carried out here are far more stringent that normal daily use: the reason is that dirt protects decorations against the most aggressive detergents, which is not the case during our tests. In fact, the durability of Luminarc items is actually often far greater than that advertised."
Luminarc is hygienic
The majority of Luminarc products are made of glass. This is a non porous material in all of its forms (opal, transparent or colored glass) and therefore doesn’t retain any micro organisms which could lead to a bacterial contamination.
“The advantage of glass is that it’s a non porous material hence it’s 100% hygienic." Even Luminarc's porcelain is the least porous of all other ceramics (with 1 to 2% porosity).
Luminarc doesn’t leave scratch marks
Usually the scratches on the plates are caused by the action of cutting food with you knife. To avoid scratching your tableware it is important to choose good quality cutlery. Knives which are made from soft alloy metals are less harder than the support (plate) and will leave black scratch marks on you plates, these are in fact steel deposits. On the other hand if the alloy metal used is harder then the glass it could in time cause transparent marks to appear on your plates.
" We always control the level of hardness and the quality of our cutlery so that it doesn’t leave scratches on you plates. "
Luminarc is stackable
All Luminarc products which have the “stackable” logo are made from tempered glass which makes them more resistible to mechanical and thermal shocks.
It is also possible to stack similar Luminarc products together into stable, vertical piles making Luminarc tableware practical and easy to use in your everyday life.