8 Uses of Steel You Didn’t Know

There aren’t many metals out there with as much of a household name as steel.

From the cars we buy to the MacBooks we write screenplays on, it’s an element that’s hard not to run into out in the wild.

Still, whether it’s in your home or in the world outside, sometimes it can surprise you. Join us today, as we take a closer look at eight uses for steel you didn’t know about.

Wash bays, shipping containers, road dividers, etc. everywhere you look around you, there is steel. As steel is a highly resilient and durable material, it has multiple uses in different industries. The rigidity, toughness, and easy availability make it great for different kinds of applications all over the world.

1. Unexpected Everyday Uses For Steel:

There aren’t many more elemental objects in the world than good, old-fashioned steel. We’ve built cities around it, and cars to drive through those cities, as well. We even named an age after it.

Leading types of materials like 230m07 steel products do not only offer exceptional strength and rigidity, but find applications in different fields. They are increasingly versatile and are adopted by different industries from construction to furniture making.

The earliest known fossils found with this precious metal in them date back to as early as 1800 BC. But, for all the things we’ve done with this metal, it’s the interesting things we use it for in our everyday life that we find particularly interesting.

2. Steel Wool For Cleaning:

As a parent, there’s no worse feeling in the world than coming downstairs first thing in the morning to find fresh new artwork on your living room wall.

Still, these things are known to happen, and it turns out there’s a relatively simple solution. Wire wool is a fantastic cleaner of an endless array of things.

Green, red, and yellow Power Rangers scribbled on your living room wall? Use soapy water and a handful of wire to lightly scrub it off.

New sneakers covered in dirt and brown sod from a run? Soap and wire wool will do the trick.

The point is, the lightly abrasive shape of the wool makes it perfect for scrubbing, for any cleanup.

3. Woodworking:

We’re so charmed by all the delightful little uses for steel wool, we thought we’d sneak one more in here before the end of the article.

Wire wool makes for an excellent alternative to sandpaper. It’s more malleable and easier to hold during lengthy sanding projects. Because of its flexibility, it also molds corners and other awkward shapes, making it extremely versatile.

For burnishing work, you may also want to try finer-grade steel wool.

4. Power Production:

Steel is a foundation element used in many building projects.

What you might not know, offhand, is that it’s also a central component in nearly every instance of the energy industry. These include nuclear and wind power, as well as electric and natural gas production. The common thread among these is a demand for steel to fortify these structures.

And the list is truly exhaustive:

• oil and gas wells
• pipelines
• wind turbines
• transmission towers
• electromagnets
• transformer cores and electromagnetic shields
• electricity power turbine components and pylons

5. Music (A Lot Of It):

If you’re a musician, you’re forgiven for being bored by this fact, but for the majority of people out there. the news that your music is steel-based may be a surprise.

Unless you’re a steel drum enthusiast.

Regardless, this metal is central to so much of the music we listen to in our daily lives. Brass instruments, gongs, symbols, and triangles are just the start.

Piano strings make good use of it, both at their core and wound around themselves. The same applies to guitar strings, bass strings, and harp strings. Everything from tuning pegs and drum frames, all the way down to the music stand your music is being read off of, comes down to steel.

6. Sharpening Scissors:

Of course, wire wool doesn’t stop being useful after you use it to clean off your keds. For the next point on our list, we’re going to discuss how perfect this product is for sharpening your knives, scissors, and other household blades.

When your knives start going a little blunt, get out a small handful of steel wool and clump it up. Making sure not to cut yourself, take your bundled-up wool and run it repeatedly from end to end along the knife blade.

Get ready for a better blade sharpening experience than you’ve ever had in your life.

7. Electronics:

You might not think about it often, but most of the electronics in your home rely on steel in some part of their construction.

It starts with the wiring. Insulated steel and copper wiring make up the internal components of our toasters, coffee makers, TVs, and computers.

But it doesn’t stop there. Retainers, containers, and screws all work together to make our home appliances safer. And they all rely on steel for their construction.

Giving this idea a larger scale, we see steel strapping in the packaging and shipping industries. Rigid straps are used to secure everything from metal bundles to bricks and baling wire.

To learn more on this industrial process, be sure to check out this informative blog over at Industrial Metal Strap

8. Renewable Energy:

The development of sustainable energy is perhaps one of the most important innovations in the modern world. And a big part of that development is their low-impact construction, which makes them easy to build.

These installations make good use of recycled steel scraps. Whether solar, tidal, or wind, this is a metal that is both solid in construction and unlikely to wear too much over time. It’s perfect, and you’ve probably seen at least a few around.

In Your Own Home:

By this stage, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to find this metal at work in places you wouldn’t expect. But, for those not in the know, you can also find this metal almost everywhere inside a standard home.

Over 50% of the world’s steel production is used by the housing industry. It goes into everything from roofing to reinforced support structures. Steel framed houses work also well at preventing insect infestations.

Steel: The More You Know:

Ultimately, steel is a metal with a lot of use in different areas.

Whether you’re adding some strength to your roofing, or trying to scrub out a crayon drawing from your den floor, it’s more versatile than you think.

Interested in learning more about other useful everyday items for business and personal use? Check out some of our other great blog pieces, and get a head start on the world around you, today!