You can tell a lot about how well an item is put together by the old Shove and Shake Test. If the item feels "solid", then chances are it is well put together. If it feels "mushy" or "shakey", then chances are there¹s a problem lurking!

     This rules applies especially to beds, because beds more than any other item are sat on, climbed into, jumped on, and wiggled in by living things-- that is, kids!

     But when you shove and you feel a little "give", that may not point to a problem. After all, furniture isn¹t generally made of brick. Wood, wood products, and steel all have a certain amount of "flex" as part of their nature. Also (compared to wood and wood products) steel is not only more flexible, it is also lighter in weight-- and so a metal bed is bound to yield more to the same amount of pressure. But that doesn¹t show that steel is inferior to wood as a structural material-- otherwise, we would all be driving over wooden bridges, in cars carved out of oak!

     No, the issue of "mushiness" is above all the issue of joints, that is, how the parts are put together. And so when you feel more mushiness than you like, the question to ask is "Does it come from the flex in the materials, or does it come from sloppiness in the joints?" The first may be okay, the second not.

     Well here are a few of rules about "joints":