What do you do when you can’t reach that top shelf in the kitchen? Or at Thanksgiving, when it’s time to claim the big broiling tray from on top of the oven housing? Come on—be honest—do you clamber up on the kitchen sideboard even though you know it’s not really that safe to do so?
I know I’ve done it in the past—and even had a couple of near misses when I almost lost my balance. It actually hit home as my Mom got older, and started struggling a little with her mobility. She’d reach for the same rickety old kitchen stool she always used, and I was horrified to even think that she was going to climb up on it.
Of course—I stopped her right away and got the packet of raisins she was after (which had been there for so long they were way out of date!), but I knew I had to find another, safer solution for her to use if I wasn’t around.
The perfect answer? A kitchen step stool.
But which one?
There are so many different choices around, so how can you find out which is the best kitchen step stool? Never fear—we’ve got all you need right here!
Check out our guide to these little life savers, including our review and voyage of discovery that leads straight to the best kitchen step stool out there!
What Is a Kitchen Step Stool?
OK, I know this is going to be self-explanatory for most people. But just in case anyone has been missing out on these handy little devices, we’ll take it from the top. A kitchen step stool is a small piece of furniture that can often be folded or made more compact for convenient storage.
Once opened out into the useable position, a kitchen step stool—which usually features two or three steps—can be used as a small set of steps to enable you to reach those things at the back of the high shelves of your kitchen cupboards.
Some kitchen step stools are made from tough plastic compounds, others are a miniature version of a full-size metal stepladder. There are also kitchen step stools that are made of a solid metal frame with wooden steps—this type don’t fold for storage, but they often look extremely stylish if you have enough room to give them a permanent home in your kitchen.
Why Use a Kitchen Step Stool?
Kitchen step stools are very handy devices which generally don’t take up too much space. When used correctly, they can help to prevent a whole range of accidents that are just waiting to happen. While many people think it’s fine to use a chair or similar, instead these items are generally not designed to stand on.
According to Occupational Therapists and medical researchers, the home is a notorious place for accidents to occur, and research published by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health indicates that we can dramatically reduce our chances of sustaining an injury by using the right equipment—such as step stools—for a given task.
In addition to using them in the kitchen, step stools are also very useful in many other areas of the home and workplace. People use them for resting their feet in when sitting at their office desk, as a support to raise the foot to help those with reduced mobility to tie shoelaces or put on socks. Some people keep a step stool at their bedside, use them to get in and out of high vehicles, and even use them as plant stands…but we digress!
Below, you can find a great animated video that clearly demonstrates the reasons why we should all be using step stools instead of taking unnecessary risks.
What Is the Best Kitchen Step Stool?
This is one product where there are literally hundreds of different options to choose from. Two steps or three steps, made of metal, wood, plastic—you could probably find one made out of bananas if you looked hard enough, although it probably wouldn’t be the most stable option. So choosing the best kitchen step stool for you isn’t normally a straightforward task—until now!
We’ve scoured the market and chosen some of the best kitchen step stools that are widely available. Having selected our top five, we put them through their paces in our no-holds-barred review process to reveal all the positive points and any drawbacks of each product. You can find all you need to know to choose the best kitchen step stool right here!
Our Choice
We all have times when we need to get to that hard-to-reach place—especially in the kitchen—and if you don’t have a step stool around, it can be very tempting to reach for a regular stool or chair, or something even more unstable. This can lead to any number of different injuries.
A fall from a height can result in fractures—the wrist is a common casualty, and hip fractures, particularly in the elderly can potentially be life-threatening. A step stool is the best option for reaching elevated heights safely.
All the step stools selected for our review had some great features, and appealed to a number of users, but the one that came out as top of the list (quite literally!) was the Handy Laundry 11-inch Folding Step Stool. Made of high-grade plastic, this step stool is safety certified, and most users found it pretty stable for adults and children to use.
Although a few users felt that having their feet so close together didn’t help them to balance well, the top step surface area isn’t unusually small compared to many other similar products. People liked the fact that it folds to such a compact size for storage, and is so lightweight, portable and easy to set up for use.
At 10 inches high, users found this step very versatile around the home, many felt it was good quality and would remain in use for a decent period of time—certainly long enough to justify the purchase price. This was by far the most reasonably priced product in our range, which gave this step stool major brownie points with many users. In summary, this is a product which is safe, works well, and offers excellent value for money. What more would one need from the best kitchen step stool?
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