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Everything you need to know about stainless steel

Your Renovation Guide

Here at The Blue Space, we’re all about providing inspiration, expert advice and knowledge and guiding you through the renovation experience, right through to buying your materials and having them delivered to your door.

We want you to have all the right info when and how you need it, from selecting and buying the right taps, to knowing why one sink is better than another.


Importance of quality stainless steel

You may not know it, but not all stainless steel is the same. Sure, you can buy a cheap kitchen sink or laundry tub, but it will disappoint and not last the distance.

To make a sink cheaper there is often a lower gauge, or thinner, type of stainless steel used.

A thin piece of stainless steel can flex under the weight of a sink mixer tap — especially the pull-down ones — and be annoying to use, and you will use it every day, which is always an important consideration. As well as flexing more easily, a thinner stainless steel type will also dent more easily than a higher gauge stainless steel.


Our top tips

We recommend you always look for a brand name sink and often they will come with lifetime warranties on their craftsmanship, which provides great peace of mind for the most-used item in the house — yes, the most used!

For elements in your home that are used daily in high-traffic areas — like taps, toilets, kitchen sinks and laundry tubs, to name a few — choosing quality will always be the right choice in the long-term as the cost is worth it in terms of craftsmanship, durability and long-term wear and finish.


Here’s some more facts about stainless steel that you may not know:

  • Stainless steel is specifically used in the kitchen because it does not alter the essence or flavour of food.
  • Did you know that stainless steel is fully recyclable? Yep! So after twenty years of use, it can go right back into the production of a new kitchen sink — now that is what we call green!
  • Stainless steel comes in different grades, with type 304 the most common type of stainless steel used in quality sinks and tubs. Type 316 is specifically for outdoor or marine grade applications, like an alfresco area. When manufacturers refer to 18/10 stainless, they are referring to the 18% chromium and 10% nickel content in the alloy by mass. This high content provides a superior level of corrosion resistance and integrity.
  • Although stainless steel is rust-resistant, it isn’t scratch-resistant and will scratch over time. You can use flexible medium sanding pads on some sinks — check with the manufacturer — to buff out any scratches.

Check out some of our favourite stainless steel products:

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