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The information provided is
designed to give you a thorough
understanding of the factors that
can impact the appearance of
your stainless steel. By using this
information, we hope to help you
enhance the beauty and value to
our products.
What Makes Stainless
Steel Stainless?
Oxygen is the key element in
causing rust, or red oxide on steel
and other metals. Stainless Steel
contains Chromium which reacts
with the oxygen in the air to form
a chrome-oxide surface layer that
is invisible to the eye, but strong
enough to prevent further oxygen
from “staining” (rusting) the sur-
face. Higher levels of Chromium and
the addition of other alloying ele-
ments such as nickel and molybde-
num enhance this surface layer and
improve the corrosion resistance of
the stainless material.
What Determines Dif-
ferent Grades of Stain-
less Steel?
The grade of Stainless Steel is
primarily determined by the amount
of the Chromium and Nickel alloys
contained in the material. 304 and
316 are the prominent grades of
Stainless Steel: 304 contains 1%
Chromium and 8% Nickel, while 316
Contains 16% Chromium and 10%
Nickel and 2% Molybdenum. The
Molybdenum is added to help resist
corrosion to chlorides (like sea
water and de-icing salts).
Can Stainless Steel rust?
Not in the way steel rusts. Steel will
discolor, bubble and flake from red
oxide development. Stainless Steel
may develop red spots, but this is
usually due to Iron particles on the
surface of the Stainless Steel. Any
Iron particles must be removed and
the Stainless Steel cleaned with a
high concentration of citric acid or
a commercial cleaner specifically
designed for Stainless Steel.
Is Stainless Steel Green
(Environmentally Friendly)?
Stainless Steel is highly sought
after by recyclers and is 100% recy-
clable. New Stainless Steel typically
has a recycled content of between
65% & 80% which makes it one of
the highest average content recy-
cled construction materials on the
planet.
Will Stainless Steel
Discolor?
Cleaners that are typically used
with cement, grout and stone, etc.,
may contain Muriatic Acid. Stain-
less Steel is not resistant to Muratic
Acid. MURIATIC ACID SHOULD NOT
BE USED IF STAINLESS STEEL IS
PRESENT. It is not even necessary
that the acid touch the Stainless
Steel, just the “fumes” from it will
cause a discoloration of the Stain-
less Steel. Other than this, Stainless
Steel is usually very resistant to
discoloring.
OWNER'S MANUAL - CARING FOR STAINLESS STEEL
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