Whether it be washing your hands, dishes, or various food products, our kitchen sinks are subjected to high volumes of debris. After long periods of buildup, this debris can cause backups that are stubborn and costly.
To combat this, manufacturers began developing strikers that trapped this debris before entering your drainage system. Over the years, we have seen these strainers manufactured from various materials, such as woven wire mesh.
So, why should manufacturers use woven wire mesh to fabricate their kitchen sink strainers over other materials?
W.S. Tyler is a wire mesh supplier that has been weaving the material into dozens of industries for over 150 years. We aim to help customers like you stand out in a saturated market by helping you produce a good product that delivers accurate results.
With that, the following article was written to help you understand the benefits that come with using woven wire mesh kitchen sink strainers. You will learn:
- What a kitchen sink strainer is
- How woven wire mesh is defined
- Why you should be considering woven wire mesh
- The mesh count that will best accommodate your needs
What Is a Kitchen Sink Strainer?
Kitchen sink strainers are screens designed to fit within a kitchen sink flange and screen various forms of debris, such as loose food and packaging. This helps prevent the debris from entering your drain, causing costly and unsightly clogs, backups, and odors.
Instead, the end-user can simply remove the screened debris and discard it.
What Is Woven Wire Mesh?
Woven wire mesh is a metallic cloth constructed out of hundreds to thousands of individual wires that are interwoven after undergoing a centuries-old weaving technique. As it is heavily monitored, this weaving process allows for the fabrication of various weave patterns that offer a variety of performance benefits.
Now, prior to being woven, parameters such as wire diameter, alloy, mesh count, and opening size are designated by the customer. This is to ensure your wire mesh delivers accurate results consistently.
You also have the option to apply value-added service to your mesh after its been woven. Techniques such as calendering, welding, heat treatment, forming, etc., can be used to further enhance the performance of your mesh.
What Are the Benefits of a Wire Mesh Kitchen Sink Strainer?
When you think of a kitchen sink strainer, odds are you imagen the basket strainers that have been used for decades. These basket strainers are typically constructed from perforated plate and share similar functions as woven wire mesh.
The biggest drawback associated with these basket strainers is that they have a limited filtration surface area. In other words, the amount of water that can flow through is limited.
As a result, users must clear the strainer multiple times when cooking or washing dishes to prevent standing water.
Categorized as an open product, the property of woven wire mesh combat this issue by maximizing the screening surface area of the strainer. Because there are so many pore openings with such a limited amount of surface area taken by the wires, water can flow freely longer even after prolonged debris screening.
Additionally, perforated plate basket strainers feature relatively large pore openings. While they are capable of delivering adequate screening performance, they struggle to catch finer particles.
This can be problematic as these fine particles may settle, accumulate, and block off your drainage system over time.
The wire mesh used to fabricate kitchen sink strainers is woven to feature much finer pore openings. As a result, they have the ability to screen smaller particles while maintaining desirable throughput.
Woven wire mesh is generally constructed using a 300 series stainless steel, offering optimal corrosion resistance. This allows wire mesh kitchen sink strainers to combat rust and discoloration.
What Mesh Count Should a Wire Mesh Kitchen Sink Strainer Be?
The mesh count of a wire mesh kitchen sink strainer refers to the number of pore openings in a linear inch. To explain, let's say you use a piece of 25 mesh wire mesh to fabricate your kitchen sink strikers.
This means that an inch, either vertically or horizontally, would contain 25 pore openings.
Now, 18 mesh screens are commonly used to fabricate wire mesh kitchen sink strainers. This mesh count enables the screening of most, if not all, everyday debris while offering a pore size large enough to afford a flow rate identical to what you’d expect if there wasn't a screen in place.
But does this necessarily mean 18 mesh is right for you?
It is important to know that the smaller the mesh count, the larger the opening size, which translates to more debris entering the drain system. For this reason, mesh count selection should be based on the particle size range that is allotted to pass through the mesh.
Request a Wire Mesh Sample To Get a First-Hand Experience
Kitchen sink strainers are screening mechanisms that fit into your sink drains and are designed to prevent debris from entering your drains, causing troublesome clogs. While there are several options available, woven wire mesh strainers offer the percions, durability, and openness needed to deliver long-lasting screening of everyday debris while maintaining maxim water drainage.
But because there are so many solutions to choose from, it is recommended that you first try a sample of woven wire mesh before investing. This will ensure woven wire mesh is, in fact, the best possible solution for the results your product is trying to achieve.
For over 150 years, W.S. Tyler has made strides to help our customers feel supported in their endeavors. We do so by providing the knowledge needed to develop trust both in woven wire mesh as well as their product.
To learn how you can get your hands on woven wire mesh samples, read the article below: