Cleaning and maintenance of stainless steel balustrades and handrails

Stainless steel is widely in use for balconies and handrails. Many apartments now have a stainless steel balustrade or stainless steel handrail. Stainless steel is known for its ability to be a clean surface that resists corrosion and rust. Dirt, dust and grime, however, put stainless steel at risk for corrosion, contamination and rust. Luckily, stainless steel responds well to cleaning, never wearing out from excessive cleaning, as long as certain rules are followed.

1. Water and a cloth. Routine cleaning can be accomplished by using warm water and a cloth. This is the least risky option for cleaning stainless steel handrails. Dry with a towel or cloth to prevent water spots. Wipe in the directions of the polish lines.

2. Mild detergent, (dish washing liquid) and cloth. If the stainless steel handrail exhibits corrosion marks or contamination marks, or has been a long time since last clean and for cleaning that needs more power, mild detergent and warm water can do a great job without damaging the stainless steel. Make sure you rinse the surface thoroughly to prevent staining and spotting. Dry using a towel to prevent water spots which can be caused by minerals such as calcium in water (hard water).

3. Glass cleaner for fingerprints. Fingerprints are one of the biggest complaints about stainless steel handrails and parts, but can be taken care by using glass cleaner. Rinse thoroughly and towel dry. There are some newer types of finishes for stainless steel that resist fingerprints.

4. Stainless Steel Cleaner. If the handrails have had staining or scratching, or need to polish your stainless steel balustrade, a stainless steel cleaner may be a good option. Some of these cleaners and polishes can help minimize scratching and remove stains. They also can polish stainless steel surfaces nicely. Read the directions on the stainless steel cleaner and test in an inconspicuous spot. Be sure to rinse thoroughly and towel dry.

Using the guide above you should be able to keep the look of your stainless steel handrails and balustrades clean and looking new for years and years.

What does Balcony Systems Solutions Ltd Glass Railings offer architects, specifiers and engineers?

When an architect, specifier or engineer is given a railing or balustrade area he or she has much to consider; Building regulations, loadings, weight, materials aesthetics..and much more.

In regards to railings, balustrades and barriers that protect a fall and because of the requirements that need to be met in terms of loadings and forces, many times aesthetics are compromised for the sake of safety, and rightly so. After all safety first.

But what if you didn't need to compromise anything?

The Balcony System glass balustrade offers the architect, engineer or specifier the ability to achieve a pleasing clean aesthetic glass railing, with a lightweight, strong and easy to implement system.

Specially designed the handrail system has a shape that provides and exceptionally high moment inertia relative to it's size and weight, this allows the handrail to span large openings without the need for vertical balusters or rails. Taking the load at the handrail reduces significantly the loads transferred to the structure and allows a clear railings system. Using 10mm clear glass that weighs 27 kg per linear metre the system barely impact on the floor loads.

The glass balustrade system has a small bottom rail 43mm high that is fixed every 400 to 500mm The glass fits inside this bottom rail and into the handrail. Glazing beads are used top and bottom, allowing easy glass installation, easy glass alignment and in future if ever required, easy glass replacement. This glass railing system does NOT employ ugly glass clamps or lugs and has very clean lines.

Glasses are polished on the sides that are on show, this gives a very nice feature particularly on sunny days when the sun bounces of the polished edges and breaks into a spectrum as through a prism. The glass panels are spaced with a 30mm gap from one panel to the next, this ensures no fingers get trapped and allows for expansion and contraction in the balustrade system.

Sometimes the lengths of the balustrade required surpass the ability of the handrails to take the full load by itself. At this point vertical posts are introduced into the railing system Again these vertical posts are designed to be extremely aesthetic. The glass does not connect or intersect with the posts and the glass railing maintains its clean lines.

The approach balcony systems have taken with the posts is ground breaking. The main problems when designing such balustrades is usually trying to determine the end height above FFL (finished floor level). We have come to realize if you guess too much at the build stage you work hard at the end. And so the balcony vertical posts are designed to work telescopically!

The primary posts are appx 1.0m long and are made from structural steel and is hot dipped galvanized. These can be bolted to the structure at the start of the build or balcony construction. Then the insulation, finishes, decking etc can be laid and finished, leaving the remainder of the primary post sticking out. This then gets fitted with the system post, which covers it AND gives the correct finished height. The glass railing or glass balustrade can be installed at the correct height while having a strong member fitted down to the structure.

Balcony systems offer architects, specifiers and engineers all the details mentioned above freely on the website, both in pdf format and in AutoCAD format which can easily be inserted into their working drawings.

Balcony systems glass railings are proven and both test information and structural calculation information is readily available giving professionals the confidence with which to specify, use and enjoy these glass railing systems.

Many finishes are available but most popular is Balcony Systems innovative stainless steel lookalike called "Royal Chrome" having all the visual effects of a polished stainless steel handrail, the Royal Chrome finish is an anodize finish that is extremely corrosion resistant and employs no welding whatsoever.