Stainless steel nails are the best type to use for outdoor work to reduce the occurrence of rust. In many applications, including any exterior construction project, this is what you're looking for. This is especially true if you live and work in a climate with humid, salty weather conditions. Stainless steel is the optimal choice for your nails, because the last thing you want is all of your hard work ruined by an ugly stains and streaks that begin to creep across your wood. When dissimilar materials touch metals, such as with the nail, it creates an accelerated corrosion. This reaction happens even faster when copper or steel are involved. The answer is to buy stainless steel nails.

The name implies, stainless steel won't stain or rust. Regular steel consists of iron and carbon, along with a few other elements added to achieve desired characteristics. The result is that steel is an incredibly strong material, but it’s also prone to rust. This is why stainless steel was eventually developed a little over 100 years ago. Stainless steel is your best bet for avoiding rust. That being said, you can't always tell if a nail is stainless steel right away. How can you tell if a nail is stainless steel? It is not as difficult as it may seem!

Here’s how to identify stainless steel when you see it:

#1 Look for the distinctive color. You're going to need an eye for detail, here. Stainless steel is often a very shiny, especially if the manufacturer cleaned them by giving them a quick wash at the factory. Occasionally stainless steel nails can look dull and not shiny, but that in itself doesn’t mean it isn’t stainless steel.

#2 Pull out a magnet. If you're having a hard time looking at the difference visually don't worry. Stainless steel, in most cases, is usually non-magnetic. Simply see if it reacts to a magnet or not! It is important to know that the strength of magnetism depends on how the raw material stainless steel wire rod was processed. Cold stainless steel process will be non-magnetic. Hot process stainless steel increases stiffness and strength and will have a very slight magnetic pull. Non stainless steel pulls extremely tight to magnets and is difficult to pull away.

When you are working on an outdoor project, you want it to maintain its beauty for years to come. Fortunately, avoiding the reaction that causes wood rust oxidation is easy. All you need to do is choose the right nail for the job! Stainless steel is resistant to corrosion and regular steel is prone to stains and rusting. Stainless steel does not rust or corrode easily. This is exactly what you are looking for.

Hopefully, with these key identifiers in mind, you can tell a steel nail from a stainless steel nail and choose the right one for your project.