{"id":1613,"date":"2016-06-25T20:55:02","date_gmt":"2016-06-26T00:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/?p=1613"},"modified":"2016-06-25T21:53:27","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T01:53:27","slug":"pails-usa-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/pails-usa-made.html","title":{"rendered":"Pails: What Does “Made in U.S.A.” Really Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pails\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s a big difference between our American-made stainless steel milking pails<\/a> and others that just\u00a0claim<\/em> to be made in U.S.A.!<\/p>\n

When\u00a0a product is marked “Made in U.S.A.”, you’d think it was made in the United States from start to finish, right? But that’s not necessarily the case!\u00a0Some manufacturers apply\u00a0the\u00a0“Made in U.S.A.” label to products that were made offshore, but in an American-owned factory. Others\u00a0source their\u00a0parts from\u00a0other countries, assemble them\u00a0in the United States, and then claim the product is American made.\u00a0And all of these practices are\u00a0perfectly legal!<\/p>\n

How our Milking Pails are Made<\/h2>\n

Since 1997, our\u00a0stainless steel milking pails have been made using the same quality construction and materials, in an American factory, right here on American soil. Even the stainless steel we use is sourced in the United States. (Today, most stainless steel is sourced from China.) When we say our pails are “Made in U.S.A.”, we\u00a0really mean it!<\/p>\n

You’ll find other companies selling stainless steel pails\u00a0that cost less than ours. Initially, you might think you’ll be saving money if you buy\u00a0theirs instead.\u00a0After all,\u00a0in the photos, their pails probably look a lot like ours. And those companies claim their pails\u00a0are “Made in U.S.A.” too. So, what’s the big difference? Why should you pay\u00a0more for ours\u00a0when it looks like you can get the same thing from another company for a lot less?<\/p>\n

Well, looks can be deceiving! And so can marketing practices.<\/p>\n

You already know that the “Made in U.S.A.” label can be misleading. Chances are, those other pails were made offshore; or, the components used to assemble\u00a0them came from\u00a0a source outside the U.S. Either way, they\u00a0weren’t made here from start to finish. We think that’s important, and our fellow Americans agree.<\/p>\n

Even though the milking pails other companies sell can look similar to ours in photos,\u00a0we assure you, their quality is not nearly as high. But we don’t expect you to take our word for it. We want to empower you with information, so you can see\u00a0the difference for yourself.<\/p>\n

How to Determine the Quality of a Pail<\/h2>\n

One of the keys to determining the quality of a milking\u00a0pail lies in knowing\u00a0what type of stainless steel was used to make it. You can find this information in the\u00a0product description. Look for a pair of numbers like\u00a0“300 18\/0 steel.” Our\u00a0American-made pails\u00a0are manufactured using\u00a0“304 18\/8 steel.” Let’s take a look at what these numbers mean, starting with the first one.<\/p>\n

The 300 series number indicates\u00a0the relative hardness of the stainless steel. Don’t be fooled if the description\u00a0simply\u00a0states “300 series.” That’s a trick marketers sometimes use to\u00a0hide the fact that the product\u00a0is made from a lower grade, such as 301. You won’t find another milking pail with a hardness grade as high as ours (304).<\/p>\n

Steel manufacturers add various alloys to give\u00a0stainless steel different properties. They use chromium because it lends hardness and has stain-resistant properties. Often, they\u00a0also use nickel–a corrosion-resistant, rust-resistant, silvery-white metal–for its shine. Together, chromium and nickel give stainless steel a hard wearing quality, stain- and rust-resistant properties,\u00a0and a brighter, more polished look.<\/p>\n

You can determine the\u00a0chromium and nickel content of\u00a0stainless steel by the other numbers in the description. For example, you might see\u00a018\/8 (18% chromium\/8% nickel) or\u00a018\/0 (18% chromium\/0% nickel). Products graded\u00a018\/8 are more durable and have more rust resistance\u00a0than 18\/0 products. That’s another reason why our 18\/8 milking pails cost more than the lower-grade pails\u00a0our competitors are selling.<\/p>\n

FUN FACTS:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Our pail appeared\u00a0twice as\u00a0a\u00a0“Martha’s Pick” in Martha Stewart Living Magazine! We got our first mention in the September 2010 issue,\u00a0and our second\u00a0in the March 2012 issue. Martha\u00a0promoted it as the “best and last pail you’ll ever need to buy” and recommended it for holding your cleaning products.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stainless steel manufacturers sometimes add molybdenum, too.<\/span>\u00a0Molybdenum is an alloy that greatly increases the product’s resistance to pitting corrosion. Grade\u00a0316 stainless steel\u00a0contains molybdenum, and is considered acid resistant. It will also resist corrosion in\u00a0sea water. Grade 316 pails are VERY expensive!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why Our Milking Pails are Better than Other Brands<\/h2>\n

One of the\u00a0major reasons why we sell\u00a0these higher-quality pails instead of the less expensive ones\u00a0is because they hold up better. We’ve tried all sorts of\u00a0pails for milking our cows on the Homesteader’s Supply farm. All\u00a0of them, except for the kind\u00a0we sell today, were manufactured offshore or assembled from parts\u00a0that were procured from a source in another country. The\u00a0quality of the construction was lacking in the other brands, too. All the other pails had thinner walls than ours, and even the handles were thinner. None of the other brands were strong enough to withstand the rigors of daily use on our farm.<\/p>\n

When we found\u00a0an American-made product\u00a0that was superior to all the others we tried, we started selling it\u00a0to folks who were hand-milking their farm animals. Our pails are the strongest on the market. And\u00a0because\u00a0they’re made from a single piece\u00a0of steel that has no welds to break, they are more resistant to bending and cracking. And because our pails\u00a0have no welds, they will never rust at weld points like some other pails\u00a0do. Our milking pail will hold up, even if an animal should kick it, or step back into it. And, because they contain nickel, our pails are rust resistant and\u00a0look brighter and more polished than the cheaper brands.<\/p>\n

After promoting the benefits our stainless steel milking\u00a0pails for so many years, we now have food and agriculture industries purchasing them!<\/p>\n

Why You Should Buy Your Pails from Us<\/h2>\n

So, if you’ve ever wondered why our milking pails cost more than the similar-looking pails sold by\u00a0other companies, now you know. It’s because they are\u00a0sturdier,\u00a0rust resistant, bend resistant, break resistant, and easy to clean. Taken together, these qualities\u00a0mean our stainless steel milking pails will last longer and serve you better\u00a0than any other pails on the market. You get a lot for your money when you buy\u00a0a pail from us. And, you will\u00a0save money in the long run because ours\u00a0will be still going strong long after the cheaper one has kicked the bucket.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a big difference between our American-made stainless steel milking pails and others that just\u00a0claim to be made in U.S.A.! When\u00a0a product is marked “Made in U.S.A.”, you’d think it was made in the United States from start to finish, right? But that’s not necessarily the case!\u00a0Some manufacturers apply\u00a0the\u00a0“Made in U.S.A.” label to products that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165,164],"tags":[166,167],"class_list":["post-1613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milking-pails-and-buckets","category-milking-products","tag-made-in-u-s-a","tag-product-quality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homesteadersupply.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}