# Why do tin cans rust like steel?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 8, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307 "2003-09-08T14:49:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307/1 "2003-09-08T14:49:53Z")

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Why do tin cans rust like steel?

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**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307/2 "2003-09-08T14:54:06Z")

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Because the are mostly steel. The “tin” in tin-can comes from the tin/lead solder used to make the can. An actual tin-can would be a tad expensive. I think I remember seeing someplace (great cite, huh) that they would cost $5-6 dollars each.

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307/3 "2003-09-08T14:54:55Z")

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Because most of what we commonly call “tin” cans ARE steel, actual tin having been displaced as primary canning material way back in the early 20th century.

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**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307/4 "2003-09-08T15:01:55Z")

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Also, stuff like ‘cookie tins’ (you know, those boxes that special-edition baked goods, or those Danish Butter Cookies come in) are made of ‘tinplate’, which is a thin sheet of steel with tin plated onto both sides (or sometines just one). If you sratch the surface of tinplate with, say, a nail, the scratch and the area right next to it is open to rusting.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307/5 "2003-09-08T16:22:26Z")

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They aren’t, and I believe never were, cans made of tin. They were called “tinned cans,” meaning steel coated with tin, shortened over time to “tin cans.”

[http://www.solidwaste.org/recdetin.htm](http://www.solidwaste.org/recdetin.htm)  
[http://www.uoregon.edu/~recycle/after\_collection.html#tincans](http://www.uoregon.edu/~recycle/after_collection.html#tincans)

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**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tin-cans-rust-like-steel/200307/6 "2003-09-08T16:27:00Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by SandyHook \*  
> \*\*Because the are mostly steel. The “tin” in tin-can comes from the tin/lead solder used to make the can. An actual tin-can would be a tad expensive. I think I remember seeing someplace (great cite, huh) that they would cost $5-6 dollars each. \*\*

I think most cans with a seam are welded today. While tin is a component of solder that is not the answer to the OP, cans were originally made of tin and then tin-plated steel.