Who tests it
I do. I have neuropathy — reduced feeling and fine control in my hands — and I made PALM because I could not press the soap pump in my own bathroom. I use it every day, on the kitchen pump and the bathroom one, and I have done since the first version that worked.
That is the whole of it. One person, testing a thing he needs, on the bottles in his own house.
What testing actually means here
It is not a laboratory. It is this:
- Every design goes on a real bottle first. Not a CAD model of a bottle — an actual pump I own, or one I bought to test against.
- I went round shops measuring pump tops with a 2p coin next to them for scale. You can take dimensions off a screen all day; the real ones are all slightly different and I wanted to know by how much. That measuring is where the three shapes came from.
- Nine or so prototypes across three fittings. Print one, try it, adjust it, print another. Most of them were wrong in a way you only find by pressing them a hundred times.
- I check it comes off as easily as it goes on. A part that grips well and then wrecks the pump head coming off is a worse product than no part.
- I press it the awkward ways. Wet hands, one hand, with a forearm, with a knuckle, at the wrong angle — because that is how it will actually get used.
What I have not done
This is the part that matters, and I would rather say it plainly than bury it.
- It is not laboratory tested. No independent lab has load-tested it, cycled it, or measured how it ages.
- It is not certified. There is no standard it has been assessed against, and no certification body has looked at it. The filament has certifications; the finished part does not. Those are different things and I will not blur them.
- No clinician has assessed it. Not an occupational therapist, not a physiotherapist, nobody.
- It is not a medical device. It is a daily-living aid. It does not treat, prevent or improve any condition, and I make no medical claims for it.
- One review, from a confirmed order. I publish all of them, including the ones that are not kind, and the rule that decides which of them count towards the rating leaves out five-star reviews as readily as one-star ones. Read them.
Why I still think it is worth buying
Something that helps one pair of hands may help another pair with a similar difficulty, even if the reason behind the difficulty is different. That is the reasoning, and it is reasoning rather than evidence. I would rather you knew which it was.
If you need equipment that has been assessed, ask an occupational therapist. Much of what they recommend may be provided at no cost, and that is a better first move than buying anything from me. Where to find one.
And if it does not fit, or you do not get on with it, send it back within 30 days. If the size is wrong I will exchange it free. That is the part I can actually promise. Getting it right first time is quicker than either: the fit guide measures it, and delivery and returns has the rest in full.
The short version
Designed and tested by me, in daily use, on real bottles, every morning since the first version that worked. Not laboratory tested, not certified, not a medical device, and no medical claims — and I would rather you knew that from me than worked it out later.