The difference between stainless steel faucets and copper faucets.

When looking for a new faucet, material, function, and style are all factors to consider. Today, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Brass and Stainless-Steel, two of the most popular faucet materials in the bathroom market. (In fact, materials such as zinc alloy and plastic are also available, but their quality is generally poor and long-term use may pose safety and health risks, so they are not recommended for purchase.)

As a manufacturer of bathroom and kitchen faucets for over 15 years, SPARK has always been committed to providing the highest quality brass and stainless steel faucets. I hope my introduction can help you discover which material is best suited for your design and functional needs.

Brass Material
Brass is mainly made of copper and zinc, and other elements may also be added to increase its malleability. Therefore, faucets made of copper may contain trace amounts of lead.

There are different standards based on the different contents of copper and lead. For example, HPb59-1 brass, the first letter “H” represents brass, 59 represents copper content ≥59%, “-1” represents lead content <1%.
There are also common North American cUPC lead-free copper and Australian DR copper, with the following composition:

Stainless Steel Material

Stainless steel is an alloy mainly composed of iron and metals such as chromium, nickel, manganese, and carbon, with a minimum chromium content of 10.5% and a maximum carbon content of 1.2%. The main types of stainless steel used to make faucets are 201, 304, and 316.

The anti-rust ability of stainless steel is mainly due to the presence of chromium, and the best quality stainless steel is 304 (with a chromium content of 18% and a nickel content of 8%) or 316 (with a chromium content of 18% and a nickel content of 10%). Compared to 316 stainless steel, 304 is easier to process and cheaper, making it more suitable for faucet production. Although stainless steel has anti-rust properties, even 316 stainless steel will rust if exposed to a corrosive environment for a long time.

There is also a cheaper type of stainless steel, 201, which is prone to rusting and has a lower corrosion resistance than 304 stainless steel due to its lower nickel content.

It is difficult to determine the type of stainless steel by observation alone, but we can use stainless steel detection liquid for testing. By observing the color change of the detection liquid, we can determine the type of stainless steel (this can increase customer trust if explained by sales staff to retail customers on site).

Durability

Both copper and stainless steel are extremely durable materials, with a lifespan of over 10 years.

Antibacterial properties

The ions in copper alloys are both antiviral and antibacterial, capable of killing more than 99.9% of bacteria within two hours. Stainless steel, on the other hand, does not contain any inherent antibacterial properties.

In summary, water faucets made from both materials are durable, so it is possible to manufacture water faucets using both materials according to market demand. What is needed is to ensure quality control.