Knowledge

Aluminium or Powder-Coated Steel: Choosing an Airer Tube

Every rotary airer in this catalogue is offered in more than one tube material, and the choice changes the weight, the landed cost, the warranty exposure and how the product reads on a shelf.

Weight is the clearest difference

LYQ202, a 50 m four-arm powder-coated steel airer, weighs 4.7 kg. LYQ203, the same architecture in aluminium, weighs 2.4 kg. That is the difference between a two-hand carry and a one-hand carry, and on a parcel network it is a whole weight band.

Corrosion is the warranty question

Powder coating chips at the socket line, where the pole is repeatedly lifted in and out. Once the coating is through, a steel pole corrodes from the inside. In coastal, Atlantic and high-rainfall markets this shows up as claims within two seasons. Aluminium removes that path; galvanised steel slows it down.

Galvanised is the middle option

LYQ201 is offered in both finishes: the S suffix is powder coated, the X suffix is galvanised. Galvanising gives sacrificial protection at the cut edge that paint cannot, at a lower cost than aluminium.

Market expectation is real

In some markets a painted green steel airer is what the customer recognises as a proper washing line, and bare aluminium reads as cheap. LYQ225 exists for exactly that reason.

Where the cost lands

Aluminium costs more per kilo but uses less mass for the same stiffness, and it skips the coating line. Powder-coated steel is cheaper on raw material and carries a coating step. On a 50 m four-arm airer the two finish close enough that market preference, not cost, should decide.