Lumafield CT scans a Stanley Quencher cup.
In late 2023, a TikTok video of a woman’s fire-destroyed car went viral. In the video, she enters the car after the fire is dealt with and finds that her Stanley Quencher cup is the only item to survive. With the ice still inside. The rest is history for the cup manufacturers.
While the company has become a highly successful household name, especially in recent years, the increased exposure hasn’t all been positive. The use of lead solder in the manufacturing process of the famous Quencher has called the safety of the cups into question and could jeopardise the future success of the brand.
Lumafield, with the help of its Neptune industrial X-ray CT scanner, aims to get to the bottom of the controversy.
Stanley tumbler goes viral for surviving car fire with ice still inside
About Stanley Cups
Even though Stanley Cups are a household item these days, it took the company a long time to rise to the levels of success we see today. The company unveiled its first vacuum-sealed water bottle over 110 years ago in 1913. But it wouldn’t be until the launch of the Quencher tumbler in 2016, with the help of a certain viral TikTok video, that the liquid holder would reach the stratospheric heights of today.
Nothing quite highlights Stanley’s boom in popularity quite like its drastic change in revenue in the last few years. In 2019, the company recorded $70 million in revenue, which was dwarfed by its 2023 revenue of $750 million.
Stanley’s lead controversy
Stanley cups are composed of an inner and outer wall, made of stainless steel, which are separated by a vacuum. Said vacuum is designed to minimise heat transfer. During the manufacturing process, two separate stainless-steel sheets are welded together to create a sealed object. The newly formed cup is then placed in a vacuum chamber to remove the air from the outer layer via a small hole.
This very hole is the reason behind the controversy. Once the air is removed, manufacturers must effectively seal the hole before it can be removed from the vacuum chamber. Lead solder has been the selected material to complete this task due to its reliability and cost-effectiveness, and is utilised by many different companies in various industries.
Whilst the inner and outer layers are being assembled, a small lead pellet is placed above the small hole. So, once the air has been removed from the cup, the vacuum would have also melted the pellet, with the liquid then sealing the hole before it hardens once more.
Lumafield’s Neptune technology focused on scanning these layers, and the area where the hole was once located, to analyse whether there are any health or safety risks to using a Stanley cup.
Lumafield Neptune industrial X-ray CT scanner.
Key features of the Neptune industrial X-ray CT scanner:
- Provides early insights during research and development.
- Automated integrity analysis locates defects including pores, voids, and inclusions.
- 2D X-ray capture is completed in seconds.
- Quick and precise 3D CT data acquisition.
- Automates repetitive data processing and analysis tasks.
Lumafield’s CT scan results
In the CT scan, the inner and outer stainless steel layers are easily identifiable, as is the location of the previously used hole (or solder point). The scan image below also shows a metal disk attached to the solder area which may have been used to position the solder before it melted. Also visible in the image is the location of the lead within the Stanley cup, which can be identified as a solid red area.
Neptune CT scan of a Stanley Quencher.
Lumafield’s CT scan proves that a lead pellet was used to seal the hole in the vacuum chamber and that the lead is only present in this area. This is what Stanley had previously stated. However, this doesn’t mean that customers are 100% safe from lead exposure.
Jon Bruner, Head of Marketing at Lumafield said the following on the topic.
As a result, Stanley’s competitors including Owala, Hydro Flask, and Klean Kanteen have all highlighted that their manufacturing processes don’t require the use of lead in the same way. Instead, each of those companies is opting to use materials like noncrystalline silica beads or proprietary sealants as substitutes.
To try and combat the controversy, Stanley published a reassuring message on its website:
“At Stanley, one of the key features of our products is our vacuum insulation technology, which provides consumers with drinkware that keeps beverages at the ideal temperature. The vacuum insulation in our products has been sealed using an industry standard process that includes pellets, some of which include some lead, and all of which are covered with a durable stainless-steel layer, making them inaccessible to consumers.
All Stanley products are safe. Rest assured that no lead is present on the surface of any Stanley product that comes into contact with the consumer nor the contents of the product.”
Has Stanley done enough to combat its customers’ worries? Or will the cup manufacturer to find a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to seal the hidden hole?