Bio Etch stainless steel

Conventional pattern etching dissolves the exposed metal with an acid etchant. The group describes Bio Etch as the same idea carried out without those chemicals; the page says no toxic chemicals are used and does not name the process that replaces them, so this copy stops there. What the sheet shows is familiar: a pattern set into the surface with a glossy face and enough depth to catch light along its edges, so the figure reads at a distance as well as close up.

The stock patterns carry BE numbers on a hairline ground, with one mirror-ground example, and custom patterns are taken on request. The page lists Gold, Bronze, Copper and Black as the colours available, which are PVD shades laid over the etched sheet. Approve any of them from a physical sample; a screen does not show how the etched and polished areas split the colour.

• Grades: the page names stainless steel 304 and 316 as the material options. Both are covered by ASTM A240 and EN 10088-1.
• Base materials: the group's compatibility matrix extends the finish to mild steel, galvanised steel, Corten, aluminium and copper as well as stainless. Confirm availability on a non-stainless base before specifying it.
• Placement: the page rates the finish for indoor and outdoor use and the matrix adds seaside. Outdoors, the grade carries the corrosion duty; in Jeddah or Dammam that means 316.

Wash with warm water and a mild detergent on a soft cloth, rinse and dry. Wipe along the grain of the hairline ground; the etched figure sits below the polished face and holds dust, so rinse thoroughly rather than rub. Keep bleach, chloride cleaners and abrasive pads off the sheet, and avoid solvents on PVD-coloured panels.

Externally, the finish does not change the grade's needs: 316 for coastal air, and a periodic rinse to remove salt and dust before they sit on the surface through a summer.