A faucet is an indispensable item of daily life. On the market today appears lots of types, including chrome and stainless steel faucets. Both are very bright, durable, and suitable for many kinds of designs.
What are the differences between chrome vs stainless steel faucet? Which is better? These two taps have advantages and disadvantages that you need to consider carefully before buying. Scroll down to this article for more details!
About Chrome Faucet
Chrome is a short form of chromium. People often commonly consider it as plating for other metal cores. Dissimilar to stainless steel, chrome is not an alloy and has only chromium.
The most significant feature of these faucets is their shiny appearance, thanks to the high brightness characteristic of chromium. Consequently, if you install this faucet, your kitchen will become more shiny and prominent.
Nevertheless, this feature also brings trouble to the users. The shine of the faucet makes smudges and fingerprints easy to show up every time you use it. As a result, I will not recommend this product for those who demand high aesthetics.
In addition, chrome faucets come in various styles, from vintage to modern styles, to match the standards of many buyers. Furthermore, a chrome faucet has high strength and rust resistance.
These features help to increase the life of the product. It is also one of the main reasons many people use it in their bathrooms or kitchens.
Pros And Cons
Pros:
The first and must-mentioned advantage is its shine. It makes your kitchen stand out and new a lot.
Besides, these taps come with various modern designs that can meet even the most demanding buyers’ aesthetic standards.
Cons:
The first disadvantage of this type of product is that it requires more maintenance to preserve its shine. It means that you have to spend more time and money on maintenance.
Second, it is very easy to be scratched, so the user needs to clean it carefully and avoid using hard, rough cleaning items.
Apart from that, fingerprints and dirt are extremely simple to stick to this product. It causes inconvenience during cleaning and reduces the aesthetics of the product.
See more: How to clean tarnished chrome faucets
About Stainless Steel Faucet
People use metal alloys containing carbon, aluminum, silicon and chromium, nickel, and molybdenum to make stainless steel.
Differencing from chrome taps, makers use about 8-10% nickel and at least 10,5 % chromium to make stainless steel products without plating.
It is interesting to note that people can create various grades of stainless steel depending on the amount of nickel and chromium present in the alloy.
Regarding quality and durability, stainless steel ones prevail over the other faucets. Even though a chrome tap is cheaper than stainless steel faucet, a stainless steel one’s price is commensurate with the value it brings to users.
Lots of customers are willing to pay more money for high-quality products. They think paying a higher price for an excellent product is better than spending more money on repairs and time-consuming cleaning.
Pros And Cons
Pros:
For a long time, many people have chosen stainless steel as a material to make kitchen utensils. Its durability is one of the reasons why many people love it. Besides long life, stainless steel also has strong anti-corrosion properties.
In addition, this material helps a tap maintain its shine and is easy to clean and maintain. One more advantage is that the price of the faucets is quite competitive, suitable for many people’s pockets.
The taps also work well in extreme temperatures. Thus, if the family uses hot water, this kind of faucet is a perfect choice.
Cons:
Stainless steel taps have two main disadvantages. First, many people complain about being scratched easily. It causes the product to get old quickly.
Second, this tap is easy to save fingerprints and watermarks. Therefore, users need to be careful when cleaning and using.
Chrome Vs Stainless Steel Faucet
Of course, the function of both two kinds of faucets is the same but otherwise is dissimilar.
Their structural composition gives their fundamental differences. Chrome is a metal with many valuable properties when layered on other types of metals, while stainless steel is an alloy of chromium, silicon, carbon, etc.
Appearance is another difference between these two. Chrome is mirror-like and brighter. So, if you love a great shiny look, a chrome tap is an ideal selection for you.
However, in case you are most interested in the durability and quality of the product, then a stainless steel faucet will be more appropriate for you.
Additionally, when time is your problem, you should choose highly practical products and take less time to clean. In this case, choosing stainless steel faucet is a smart option.
In short, I would not recommend which one you should buy because your decision depends on your needs and preferences.
Thus, you need to know exactly which product features are most significant to you and understand clearly the pros and cons of products before you decide to buy anything.
Related: Brushed nickel vs chrome finish
FAQs
Is Stainless Steel Tap Better Than Chrome?
Is stainless steel tap better than chrome? Actually, I can not answer this question. The answer totally depends on each person’s experience and aesthetic point of view.
Although stainless steel tap is stronger than the other tap and is resistant to tarnishing or corrosion, these properties are not absolute. In unfavorable environments, wear or stains can still occur on a product. Thus, each kind of product also has its own two sides.
Do Chrome Faucets Corrode?
Yes, it can erode. However, in reality, letting this faucet rust is not easy as people have plated the outside of the tap with a layer of chromium, which has an anti-rust effect.
For this reason, the rust of this type of faucet can only occur when the outer chromium plating is lost due to long-term use or cleaning.
Do Stainless Steel Faucets Show Fingerprints?
Yes, this type of tap can show fingerprints. Yet, it does not show the fingerprints as clearly as the chrome faucet. People can use a damp cloth to remove easily the fingerprints that appear on this product.
Is Chrome Cheaper Than Stainless Steel?
On the market nowadays, this faucet is less expensive than stainless steel. The variances in terms of prices come from their composition and method of manufacture. The nickel content in the latter one is one of the factors that makes it more expensive.
Are Chrome Faucets Out Of Style?
Some people assume that a chrome one is out of style, but it is not true. If you notice, the designs of this type of taps appearing on the market today are very diverse.
Manufacturers always try to grasp customers’ tastes well to launch extremely new and modern models on the market. This has satisfied the aesthetic standards of many customers.
What are the disadvantages of chrome faucets?
Keeping chrome finishes clean in the bathroom can be difficult because they show fingerprints, water spots, and streaks more easily. As a result, you may need to spend more time wiping them down regularly to maintain their shiny look.
Conclusion
All in all, this blog has covered some useful information relating to the differences between chrome vs stainless steel faucet. Hope that through this post, you can choose the best faucet that is appropriate to your demands.
Whether you choose any kind of tap, remember that you also clean and maintain it properly to keep its shine!
