Stainless steel

Joining me is the History Guy himself and friend of the History Guy, Brad Wagdon.

Today we talk about an incredible material that has become ubiquitous in all of our lives, stainless steel.

It might not actually be rust-proof, but a world without it would be substantially rustier.

Without further ado, let me introduce the History Guy.

The weighted cantonary arch is 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide.

It's the tallest accessible building in Missouri and the tallest man-made monument in the United States.

Some 804 of its approximately 38,898 tons is structural stainless steel, making it the tallest stainless steel monument in the world, meaning that it used more stainless steel than any other single project in history.

The reason for all that stainless steel is simple, because as the name implies, stainless steel is particularly resistant to rust.

You are listening to the reading of articles and features from Off-Duty from the Wall Street Journal on the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service.

From the design page, stainless steel is pricier and trendier in the home than ever.

High-end home goods and furniture made from the meadow are popping up everywhere as demand rises among young shoppers.

And this is by Misty White Siddell.

It was a material once used reserved for dishwasher facades, industrial kitchens, and medical supplies.

Now stainless steel is featured in some of the most sought after luxury design shops, becoming the first home goods phenomenon to buck President Trump's tariffs.

Stainless steel flatware, furniture, and dishes are often imported from countries like Italy and Japan and have seen prices climb as much as 45% since the tariffs on foreign-made steel were implemented in April 2025.

These duties, however, haven't deterred young shoppers from scooping them up, nor has it stopped interior designers from applying the humble, tiny, shiny material on the interiors of hotel bathrooms and home kitchens.

THEY WERE PART OF THE TOP OF THE ARCH CLUB.

WE EVEN WENT DOWN THERE AND GOT SHAVINGS OF STAINLESS STEEL WHEN THEY WERE TRIMMING IT UP.

WE STILL HAVE THEM AT MY HOUSE TO THIS DAY.

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING LAST CALL.

he just messaged me.

I asked him about two weeks ago how he was doing, because it was his first try on Stainless, and he didn't answer me.

And after like a week, I was like, so should I be worried now because you're not answering? And he just wrote, oh, sorry, sorry.

I was on vacation with the family, but everything's fine.

Good morning.

I've put liquid chlorine down my kitchen sink but it's stained the stainless steel

okay um you will be able to fix that you can just get some some some really fine steel wool and virtually polish that stainless steel it will come back um even you know even some gumption or something it will come back

but not enough

Yeah.

So the finest one you can get.

And if you just, if you do it, don't do it in a circular motion, do it back and forth like a grain.

So you get, you know, you keep a nice grain to the stainless steel.

The only mistake that we made was the finish that we chose.

We opted for stainless steel, which was all the rage when we purchased those appliances.

And when they're clean,

they look great.

But honestly, I find it nearly impossible to keep the stainless steel clean.

And that's even using those stainless steel cleaning solutions.

You just can't keep them clean.

I swear, you just look at one of these appliances and they look awful.