Steel is a metal alloy of iron, elements, and other metals that is used to build and create a variety of items and objects in our everyday lives. While you may not be aware of it, you are constantly surrounded by steel. Below are some of the most common everyday uses for steel.
Household Appliances
The beautiful stainless steel appliances in your kitchen and laundry room are a common everyday use for steel. Electronic mixers, cutlery, sinks, and counters can also be made from stainless steel. Stainless steel is a suitable option for these household items because it has a modern appearance and is resistant to rust and corrosion.
Home Accessories
You may have many steel accessories throughout your home. Steel can be used to create handles, doorknobs, outdoor house numbers, mailboxes, or many other decorative features.
Furniture
Desks, chairs, lamps, dining sets, end tables, and many other furniture pieces can be made from steel. Steel is used in furniture for both its durability and for its varying textures and finishes. You will often find mixed metal or mixed material furniture—such as a steel and glass table or a steel and leather chair.
Art
Steel has long been used in sculptures, garden décor, vases, hanging artwork, and even jewelry. With the large variety of finishes, textures, and alloy mixtures, steel is an ideal medium to make custom artwork.
Electrical Furnaces and Water Heaters
Your electrical furnaces are made from steel and your water heater tank is made from rust-free steel.
Outdoor Trash Can
The one at your home may be made from plastic or an alternative metal, but traditional silver trash cans are made from steel. Most large outdoor trash cans found on city streets are also made from steel.
Your Vehicle
Vehicle frames and many vehicle parts have long been made from steel. The type of steel used for vehicles has changed drastically over the last few decades. Lighter forms of steel are being used to increase fuel efficiency and reduce overall manufacturing costs. Materials like aluminum and high quality plastics are beginning to replace some of the steel parts found in vehicles.
Buildings
Maybe not your home, but if you have gone into a building more than two stories high or much larger than an average home the odds are it has been constructed with steel framework. This is because steel framing is far stronger than wood framing, which gives it the ability to support the weight of multiple stories and large buildings. Steel is also significantly less susceptible to mold, mildew, termites, warping, and other damages that wood is vulnerable to.
Elevators
When you ride in an elevator, steel is supporting your movement. Elevator cables are made from tightly wound steel wires. The elevator car also has additional steel features from its parts, to the panels, to the hand rails, and other decorative features.
Steel is a manmade material that has become a resource that we rely on to perform multiple functions in our day-to-day lives. The list above is only a handful of the items we come across on a daily basis that are made from steel. If you look closely you will find many more.
Byline
Roger Plankton writes on home improvement, construction, tools & gadgets, home repair, materials science, metalworking, welding, concrete foundations and other related topics. Houston residents who need concrete are encouraged by Roger to view the material from an established company in the region.
Image credit goes to Nikon Nutter 2009.