Cost and Eco-Friendliness of Paint or Finishing 302 Steel

Skills materials and processes
1

HI,

I need to get a bright matte, as close to “white” effect from a piece of 302 stainless steel. I can either surface treat the steel to look brighter like some satin aluminum or simply paint it white.

My question is is it cheaper to do a surface treatment to teh metal or paint it?

My other question is is painting on metal considered “eco-friendly?” or “recyclable?”

Thanks for insights.

2

What’s the application? There are some Ultra Low VOC polyurethane paints out there that you could tag as eco-friendly.

I’d guess that any surface treatment to make stainless steel white would involve chemical etching and a number of other methods, all of which would likely be eco-UN-friendly.

3

Powder coating is a pretty eco-friendly finishing option (Zero VOC), although powdercoating stainless is a bit pointless.

4

although powdercoating stainless is a bit pointless

just curious… why are we using 302 (instead of CRS)? Is it the primary material used in the shop? Some other mechanical issue requires it, i.e. a marine application?