Stainless Steel sinks will always be a functional, practical, and a superb choice for most homes.
The best manufacturer of sinks in the World: http://www.franke.com has its HO in Switzerland and a manufacturing plant in South Africa, leading design focused http://kraus.com in New York in the USA offers state of the art solutions and the Crown of Sinks www.reginox.com in Holland is a Global player that offers lifetime guarantees.They all manufacture hundreds of models of kitchen sinks that range from the most modest priced sinks to the high end designer sinks.
There are excellent Stainless Steel manufacturers of kitchen sinks in Italy, Germany, Turkey, and Portugal. Spain, Malaysia, and India also produce kitchen sinks.
Stainless Steel is pure alchemy. To make ferritic Stainless Steel, one needs iron and chromium, and to make austenitic stainless steels, nickel is added to the mixture. Hygienic and anti bacterial surfaces are essential in a kitchen sink and Stainless Steel is cientifically manufactured to deliver these benefits.
The raw material mixture is melted in an electric arc furnace. The molten metal is decarburised in an Argon-Oxygen Decarburiser (AOD) vessel by blowing oxygen, argon, and nitrogen into the molten steel. The refined stainless steel is processed through a continuous casting machine to produce stainless steel slabs. The slabs can go through a surface grinding process to remove any possible surface defects.
The slabs are typically between 900mm and 1600mm wide and 200mm thick, and can be cut to lengths of between 4 and 12 m.
Stainless Steel slabs have certificates and markings and regardless of the specification and tolerances required by the customers, all certificates are issued in terms of EN 10204.
Stainless Steel kitchen sinks are made of 18/10 chromium to nickel ratios and have an AISI 304 classification.
Why is this relevant I hear you say? It is important because when you buy a stainless steel kitchen sink, the stainless steel slabs used to manufacture the sinks should be of this worldwide standard. Visit www.columbus.co.za.
The thickness of the stainless steel used is what makes the difference between a sink that is resistant and functional from one that is made of a lesser thickness.
The depth of the bowls is also a reason why some sinks are more expensive than others. Deep bowls are a desired feature because the water does not splash out into your countertop easily.
Stainless Steel does scratch this is a fact. So, please do not use abrasive sponges, strong chemicals or slide your pots up and down the drainer or indeed the bowls.
Live mindfully and wash your sink with pure water and gentle soap.
For ease of installation most sinks sold by retailers today are reversible and this means that the hole for the tap is not pre-drilled and so you can decide if you want the drainer on the left or on the right. A professional installer will have a tool to make the hole.
The other benefits of a stainless steel sink are that they will suit any interior design style. The extensive ranges available will offer you a model that will complement a minimalistic, classic, traditional, ultra modern or farmhouse kitchen.
The choice is yours.
Please visit www.ctm.co.za and www.topt.co.za to view the CTM STIRLING Range and the TOP T LENHLE range.
I also suggest that you visit www.italtile.co.za and view their ranges of Franke and SMEG kitchen sinks.
Remember to compare prices, features and benefits.
Talk to you again next week.
TRADE ANTHOLOGY 