If you've ever wanted an outsider's insider's look at how Consumer Reports tests products, read "Meet the Sticklers: New Demands Test Consumer Reports; Flying in Cat Fur," by The Wall Street Journal's About the House columnist Wendy Bounds.

Bounds spent a day at our Yonkers, New York, headquarters, checking out the labs and learning about our testing methods, which the article describes as rigorous and sometimes byzantine: "In the lab, technicians are always developing ways to accelerate the wear and tear products normally experience over the course of years. Treadmills, for instance, get pounded repeatedly with a spinning metal drum imbedded with rubber green balls that mimic running feet. (The device's nickname: Johnnie Walker.) Stainless-steel grills are stationed in a conditioning chamber and pelted with a salty spray to test for rust potential. Sometimes the goal is to mimic extreme scenarios, like an accident, in which bicycle helmets get strapped on a metal head form and dropped from various heights onto sharp and rounded objects."

She also talks about the folks who work here: "Consumers Union's staff of 652 is roughly divided into two camps: technicians who devise and perform tests and editors/writers who translate the findings into readable prose." That list bit jumped out at me. I'd like to think that the Home & Garden blog delivers at the very least compelling, relevant, and readable stories.

If you've got a few moments, read Bounds' story and watch the video of her visit below. They provide some good insight on the work we do here.

—Steven H. Saltzman