Satin Nickel vs Brushed Nickel: What is the Differences Between

Are you searching for fixtures and finishes for your new home? But face difficulty in choosing one from a number of available varieties. There are so many varieties available in markets.  Among them nickel products are quite familiar due to their shiny surfaces as well corrosion resistance. And when we talk about nickel fixtures then there come two most important and well renowned types of nickel i.e. Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel. However, people face difficulties while choosing between these two because of their overlapping appearance.

So a thorough knowledge about them is necessary when someone is going to buy fixtures for his home décor. Don’t get worried because you are at the right place, we will help you in understanding the fundamental differences between these materials. This article will also differentiate them in terms of their appearance, price, maintenance, and application.

Contents

Click the links below to skip to the section in the guide:

Definition of Satin Nickel

Definition of Brushed Nickel

Satin Nickel vs Brushed Nickel: Common Applications

Differences Between Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel

Similarities Between Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel?

Choosing Between Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel?

Conclusion

FAQs about Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel

At last the choice is always yours, we just provide you with the adequate information about the properties, manufacturing process and properties of Satin nickel and Brushed nickel. And you have to decide which suits your style and needs.

Definition of Satin Nickel

Satin nickel is wide spread in almost all types of fixture but they are known by everyone due to their enormous use in the field of piping industry. They are well renowned in this field and are little bit black dress for your home décor. You would be thinking that stain nickel will be metal. No, they are not metal but are manufactured by platting nickel on other metals; these metals are usually zinc or brass and this process help in increasing the lustrous look of these metals. By the process of electrolysis, nickel plating is done.

Usually, special types of chemical lacquer having luster in lower amount are applied after plating in order to strengthen properties like durability and they also enhance its smoothness. They can be produced both mechanically and chemically. They provide a consistent and non-reflective texture; which means it is hard to find any abrasions on their surface appearance.

Satin Nickel Characteristics and Appearance

People are very familiar with Satin nickel; because of its tremendous use and application in the accessories of kitchen and bathrooms. It has a softer, matte lustrous and a semi-glossy finish look with a resistance to any type of abrasions. They are gray in color with a surface having reflective characteristic. The reason behind this reflective appearance is due to the polishing treatment of dry powder. It has an elegant and sophisticated look, which décor a home-like art gallery. Satin nickel is a bad reflector of light and does not pick up fingerprints. In addition to this, it hides the spots caused by water, smudges, and dirt unexpectedly.

Definition of Brushed Nickel

Whether it comes to fixtures of home décor, faucets of bathroom or any type of design used in interior brushed nickel are quite favored by both consumers as well as manufacturers. It has a surface that is completely different from that of Satin nickel i.e. rough and dull. This is due to the reason that the process involved in their manufacturing is brushing. In this method an abrasive agent i.e. brush wire is used for brushing the metals, so that the surface smoothness may achieve. These are famous for their traditional look and handcrafted feel. It allows light and shadow to reflect further enhancing its beautifulness. Brushed nickel has been in use since 1900s but in starting they were only employed in making furniture. But in 1930s they also used in car doors.

Characteristics and Appearance of Brushed Nickel

Brushed nickel finishes like cozy sweaters which mean they are quite warm and inviting. Usually, they have a brownish tint or golden color. The thing which makes brushed nickel favorite among the consumers is its low budget, traditional look and life duration. As mentioned earlier their manufacturing process involves brushing of metals using an abrasive agent. Manufacturers find it easy to spray Brushed Nickel onto a substrate in one coat. Brushed nickel and chromes are two different materials with entire distinctive properties, so avoid mixing them because people usually consider the two as single material. And the marks caused by scrapes, water spots or dirt didn’t show up on their surfaces.

Satin Nickel vs Brushed Nickel: Common Applications

One must have counter with Satin nickel or brushed nickel finishes in one way or the other due to their astonishing and enormous applications. They help in making your home decorations like that of doors, kitchen, floors, car doors, and fixtures to perfect. They also play a vital role in hardware. They give them an attractive look as well as a charming luster.

Following is given a chart of their common applications

Differences Between Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel

There are many factors which help you to understand the common difference between these two nickel products. Both involved two different manufacturing processes. Satin Nickel is manufactured by platting nickel on other metals using electrolysis method. However when it comes to brushed nickels; they are manufactured by brushing metals using brush wire or any other abrasive agent. Smoothness and shiny finishes are found in satin nickels. On the hand brushed nickel provide more of rougher finishes with traditional look and handcrafted feel. It allows light and shadow to reflect further enhancing its beautifulness.

Both are also good durable materials. But when these are compared with eachother in terms of durability, it is found that brushed nickel are most durable and are resistive to any wear and tear. Both are good at hiding water spots, dirt, and smudges. And the cost difference between them also plays a vital role for their selection, as usually people opt for things which are easily available to them at considerable rate. Both can easily be maintained just by using water and soap. To keep them clean and neat brushed must be cleaned regularly.

Characteristics

Finishes

Satin Nickel Finish

Finishes obtained after the platting of nickel on other metals are known as Satin Nickel Finishes. This coating is mainly carried out by electrolysis process. These finishes are quite famous for their smoother surfaces and attractive look. Due to their charming and aesthetic look they preferred for faucets for bathrooms, kitchen furniture, and cabinet hardware. Few of these finishes are given below.

• Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) Satin nickel Finish: This is one of the satin nickel finishes which is achieved by thin film coating process. In this process satin nickel is vaporized in closed chamber and then this vaporized satin nickel is applied on a target. The main feature of this process is that it enhances certain properties of satin nickel like durability and resistive property to corrode and tarnish.
• Antique satin nickel finish: These finishes are quite famous for their aesthetic dark tone and are highly costlier than ordinary satin finishes. They provide a sophisticated look.
• Polished Satin nickel finish: These finishes have shinny surface. And these finishes are obtained when extreme polishing process is employed on the satin nickel finishes.

Brushed Nickel Finish​

Due to their subtle and textured surface brushed nickel seem as they are engraved by man. They also have great applications in bathroom faucets, fixtures kitchen, and also cabinet hardware. Some important brushed nickel finishes are given below.

• Oil-rubbed bronze finish: In these finishes, firstly the bronze are coated with dark material using a chemical procedure and then adding this dark coated material with brushed nickel. Due to this fact they are dark in appearance.
• Antique brushed nickel finish: These brushed nickel finishes are manufactured in such a way that the appearance of final product gets an old and antiqued touch. These finishes also involve the spraying of a special chemical on brushed metals.
• Matte brushed nickel finish: Homeowners and builders usually prefer these types of finishes due to their durability in any environment. Brushing metals simply yields these finishes. No further process or treatment is done on such metals.
• Polished brushed nickel finish: Polishing of brushed nickels involved the usage of a special chemical ingredient. This creates finishes with shiny and reflective surfaces.

Color

When it comes to color and design, you will find enormous no of varieties of both satin nickel and brushed nickel.

Satin Nickel color​

Satin nickel is liked for their grayish silvery color. These are also available in warm and cool hues. But these are painted in a way that attracts consumers and can be used to enhance beauty of any décor.

Brushed Nickel Color

One can find brushed nickel in a range of finishes with distinctive color and hues. Although Brushed nickel is famous for its hues of silver, gold, and copper finishes. With brushed nickel it is possible to get the color of your own choice.

Maintenance and Durability

In order to keep their look alive and increase their life span, it is highly required that their maintenance and cleaning is done after a certain period of time.

Satin Nickel Maintenance and Durability​

You can simply clean your satin nickel décor by soaking a piece of cloth and applying it on décor with a commonly used soap. Due to the smoothness of their surface, it is quite easy to clean them as they can’t catch the spots easily. When it comes to durability, they are resilient to wear and tear but not good as brushed nickel.

Brushed Nickel Maintenance and Durability

In terms of durability, these finishes are quite reliable as they are resilient to everyday wear and tear. However if they are not keep cleaned or maintained they may fail in small period of time. So similar to satin nickel they are also easy to clean but they required a little more effort than satin nickel due to the roughness of their surface. Try to avoid the use of abrasive agents, acids or phenols while cleaning brushed nickel as they can fade their color or may affect their surface finish. Their brushed finish helps in hiding minor scratches or scuffs.

Price Range

Satin Nickel Price Range

From economical perspective, there is no such difference between the prices of satin and brushed nickel. Satin nickel’s manufacturing process is expensive and requires heavy machineries to achieve desired results. Due to this reason they are costlier. Other factors which play role in their expensive costs are the brand name and the quality of finish available.

Brushed Nickel Price Range

Due to their lost cost manufacturing process brush nickel are available in the markets at very economical rate. They provide the charming and traditional look to your décor at low price.

Similarities Between Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel?

Nickel is the constituent element of both satin nickel and brushed nickel. Besides this they are two different materials with completely different properties. Although from a broader vision it seems like they have similar appearance, but in reality one has a lustrous matte surface while other has dull and textured finish. The other thing which separates them is their surface differences i.e. Matte vs. shiny surface. They also differ from each other in terms of durability and cost. Satin nickel is manufactured when a thin layer of nickel is coated on metals by the electrolysis process. These metals are usually zinc or brass and this process help in increasing the lustrous look of these metals. Whereas brushing of metals yield brushed nickel. This gives them a are traditional look and handcrafted feel.

Manufacturing Process

The manufacturing process involved in the creation of satin nickel and brushed nickel is completely different form each other and involves different process. Brief information about those manufacturing processes is given below

Satin Nickel Manufacturing Process

These finishes are manufactured when metals surfaces are plated with nickel. This platting is done by electrolysis. These metals are usually zinc or brass. Through this process a layer of nickel is made on the surfaces of these metals which is smooth, sheen and lustrous in nature. They can be made by using chemical or mechanical methods. A type of chemical lacquer is polished on them; it helps in increasing their durability.

Brushed Nickel Manufacturing Process

The formation of Brushed nickel involved a manufacturing process that is entirely different from that of the satin nickel. In this process, an abrasive agent like brush wire is used to brush a metal in order to give it a textured finishes. Due to brushing, they give a hand-crafted look. This manufacturing process can be achieved by using man labor or machines.

Versatility in Design and Style

There are a myriad number of designs and styles of satin nickel and brushed nickel available in the form of fixtures, faucets, and hardware. They also offer both traditional and modern looks. Selecting from these varieties depend upon you own personal preference and what look you are looking for. These finishes can also be used together or with other materials in order to provide a new versatility and to make décor a perfect and cohesive one.

Compatibility with Various Home Decors

Texture Comparison: Due to glittering surfaces of Satin nickel and brushed nickel, they are perfect for home fixtures. As they enhance their beautifulness and look. These applications involve home hardware, fixtures, door knobs, kitchen floors, bathroom faucets, and etc. These not only enhance the beauty of a home décor but also require less effort in maintenance and have a longer life span.

Choosing Between Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel?

This depends upon your own decision that whether you go with satin nickel or brushed nickel. This is because personal experience plays a vital role when it comes to selection between them. Several other factors include budget available, maintenance methods and available designs.

Brief information about those factors is given in the following chart:

Recommendations for Different Applications

On the basis of the experiences of a number of people, we have drawn some recommendations for you to follow while selecting your home, kitchen, bathroom décor, or hardware. We hope that these recommendations help you a lot and provide you with the best guidelines.

Conclusion

Nowadays, people are looking for such home designs, fixtures, or décors which make their homes perfect one and gave them an aesthetic look. Mostly people opt for satin nickel and brushed nickel for their home decors. This is due to their shiny vs. matte surfaces and longevity. They often look similar in appearance however they are entirely different in terms of their manufacturing processes, surface nature, durability, and needs.

Selection between them entirely depends upon your own choice and need; we just have provided you with the sufficient information about these materials so that you will make a wiser decision. A smooth, matte finish can be found in Satin nickel. Whereas brushed nickel comes with a traditional look at affordable price. Both are perfect against smudges, and dirt. Various other factors have also been discussed which you should keep in mind while selecting like aesthetic differences, cost, maintenance requirements, and effect of deterioration on durability.

After reading this article , if you still find it difficult in choosing between these two then we recommend you to consult an expert who help you in opting one that perfectly fits your lifestyle, and work best for your home.

FAQs about Satin Nickel and Brushed Nickel

Which one is better satin nickel or brushed nickel?

The selection of anyone from these mainly depends upon personal experience and the type of décor look you wanted. Also, there are distinct in terms of maintenance, manufacturing, and cost. So giving preference to one over other is hard however for certain conditions one is given some sort of preference than other. It mainly depends upon personal experience and certain conditions. So if you are searching for a décor that gives your home a traditional look then brushed nickel goes well for you. Contrary to this if you like to make your home a realistic, give it a modernistic look with elegant designs then Satin nickel must be your choice.

Between satin nickel and brushed nickel, which one has shinier surface?

When it comes to the shinning characteristics, no doubt Satin nickel is preferred. They have a smoother, shiny surface face as compared to that of textured surface of brushed nickel. The main reason behind their shiny surface is their manufacturing process as well much labor is done on them to achieve this surface property.

Is it possible that we can use satin nickel with brushed nickel?

 Yes, they can be used together. This is mainly done in order to give decors both a traditional as well as modernistic look. This enhances their beauty and provide quite pleasant look.