Vibration finish stainless steel

A vibration finish is made by working the sheet with fine abrasives in a random, overlapping motion instead of a single pass direction. Each stroke leaves a short curved scratch; thousands of them crossing at every angle produce a surface with no grain at all. That is the practical difference from brush and hairline: there is no direction to match at panel joints, and a repair can be blended locally rather than re-finishing a whole panel. Neither ASTM A480 nor EN 10088-2 gives this finish a designation, so specify it by name and sample.

The group offers two patterns. Short vibration, also called regular, is a dense field of small arcs that reads as an even, slightly frosted grey at arm's length. Long vibration has larger sweeping arcs that stay visible from across a room and give the sheet a hand-worked look. Both are made on a matte base or on a mirror base; on mirror the bright metal shows between the scratches and the surface sparkles under downlights. Light is scattered in every direction, which is why fingerprints and small scratches are far less visible than on hairline or mirror; the page describes the finish as easy to keep clean, which holds for hand contact but not for chlorides.

The compatibility list places vibration under PVD colour in every option the group offers, plus anti-fingerprint coating, etching, Electro IH, embossing, mirror and matte. The PVD colour is a thin, hard ceramic layer over the finished texture. The page names no grades for this finish.

Wash with warm water and a mild detergent on a soft cloth, rinse and dry. There is no grain, so wipe in any direction. Do not use scouring pads, powders or steel wool: they add scratches of a different size that show against the pattern. Keep chloride cleaners such as bleach off the surface. On PVD-coloured vibration avoid abrasive metal polishes, which wear through the thin colour layer. Coastal exteriors need a fresh-water rinse on a schedule.