Table of Contents

The basics

Stainless steel is made from a combination of basic elements from the earth: iron, carbon, and chromium, modern stainless steel may also contain other elements, such as nickel, niobium, molybdenum, and titanium.
Nickel, molybdenum, niobium, and chromium enhance the corrosion resistance of stainless steel.
It is the addition of a minimum of 12% chromium to the steel that makes it resist rust, or stain 'less' than other types of steel.

The stainless steel advantage

Stainless steel has an invisible layer of chrome-containing oxide, called the passive film.
If the metal is cut or scratched and the passive film is disrupted, more oxide will quickly form and recover the exposed surface, protecting it from oxidative corrosion.
The passive film requires oxygen to self-repair, that's why stainless steels have poor corrosion resistance in low-oxygen and poor circulation environments.
In seawater, chlorides from the salt will attack and destroy the passive film more quickly than it can be repaired in a low oxygen environment.

Grades of stainless steel

Different grades of stainless steel are achieved by the varying amounts of elements combined to make a particular grade of stainless steel.
There are over 50 different grades of stainless steel.
The most familiar stainless steel is probably Type 304, sometimes called T304, 304 or 18/8 stainless steel as it has a minimum of 18% chromium and 8% nickel content.
Due to it's safe properties you can find 304 grade steel being used throughout the food industry worldwide.
There are also other grades of stainless steel, such as precipitation-hardened, duplex,and cast stainless steels.
Those won't be discussed here, we only wanted to give you some basic insight as to why we think stainless steel is such a great option for a reusable water bottle.