I have a pile of restoration hardware bath accessories sitting in my living room so I took a magnet to them and the magnets did, in fact, stick - but barely (it was not a strong attraction).

Then I took the magnet and tried to get it to stick to every chrome faucet in my house. It stuck to my bathroom faucets up here, but the PO put them in and I have no clue of their brand or composition (though the drain says Delta). Then I took it downstairs to the newer bath that the PO put in and it has a Kohler Revival faucet, which Kohler claims to be solid brass. It stuck to that too, just like it stuck to the RH accessories (weakly).

Next I hauled out my Sunrise Specialty clawfoot tub faucet, also solid brass. The magnet stuck to it too. I also hauled out my rohl faucets, advertised as solid brass, and the magnet stuck to that too. All of these (including the RH accessories) are a weak attraction.

So either the manufacturer of every faucet and chrome accessory in my house is lying or there is another explanation. I think another explanation is more likely, so I went to google to figure it out.

First of all, if the finish on your accessories is nickel, the magnet will stick to that as nickel is a ferromagnetic metal (that I already knew). So if you have a polished or brushed nickel finish, the magnet will stick and stick harder than chrome (it did stick harder to my Rohl brushed nickel kitchen faucet).

But that doesn't explain why it's sticking to chrome, since chrome is NOT magnetic (in fact, stainless steel flatware with higher chrome contents are less magnetic than those with lower chrome contents). Eventually I came upon a page discussing methods of chrome plating. Decorative chrome plating apparently involves first electroplating a layer of nickel onto the surface! (Of course that begs the question as to why polished nickel is a more expensive finish than polished chrome but that's a question for another day.) I have no idea if other finishes like ORB also have a layer of nickel electroplate and I have no items with that finish in my house to test it out.

Anyway, for me, the mystery is solved. My chrome plated stuff has a layer of ferromagnetic metal in it and that's what the magnet is sticking to. If the magnet had stuck much more strongly to the RH stuff, I'd worry that they were lying about the base metal - but since it had the same kind of weak attraction to it as to the other high end chrome fixtures I have lying around the house, I'm going to go out on a limb and say they are not lying about the construction of their accessories. BTW this is the bistro collection. I, of course, haven't checked any other of the accessories or any of the other finishes.

I'm including a link to the page on chrome plating, it's pretty interesting! (In case anyone is interested). It's kind of neat!

Here is a link that might be useful: chrome plating explanation

Restoration Hardware checked with their manufacturer and they said it was steel, so they were wrong at least with the particular style I ordered. That is why they said they would have to change their website ads because they were wrong in their description.

With the nickel plated brass one in the store the magnet would not stick. The one we got, the magnet stuck and couldn't shake it off.

On the Periodic Table Nickel and Ferrum (From the Latin meaning iron) are two different elments. They can't be the same. And nickel does not contain iron so a magnet wouldn't stick. Nickel is not magnetic.

We also looked on the inside and did the needle scratch test and it wasn't yellow underneath but steel colored.

You can believe what you want. I just wanted to give people a heads up in regards to their deceptive ads.

I didn't say that nickel was iron. Iron is NOT the only magnetic element though. Nickel and cobalt are also magnetic.

If you have any solid brass chrome plated faucets, put your magnet on it and see what happens. You might be returning a lot of plumbing fixtures.

Excerpt from an article on "how magnets work"

A magnet is any object that has a magnetic field. It attracts ferrous objects like pieces of iron, steel, nickel and cobalt.

I'm sorry but given the evidence I have seen with my very own eyes, plus basic physics, plus the little research I've done about the chrome plating process, I'm inclined to believe that my accessories are what they say they are.

Here is a link that might be useful: howmagnetswork.com

Restoration Hardware checked with their manufacturer and they said it was steel, so they were wrong at least with the particular style I ordered

What?? OK, now I am ticked. I ordered the Gilmore pulls for the master bath (13 drawers) and the Ephram handles (2 doors) b/c I thought they were solid brass. And also b/c I liked the styling. What a bummer...

I was all set to order towel bars from RH and now I read this post. The items I was looking at also say "solid brass". Apotsca...what did you order? Now I don't know if I should risk it.

Wow, do I feel stupid now. I actually took out one of my beautiful RH bath accessories from the box and scraped off some of the plating from the back of the bracket to see what was under there and I have to report - I hit brass. No vast conspiracy by the former CEO of William Sonoma (last time I checked they had pretty good stuff there too though - maybe I should take a steak knife to the back of the lacanche range they have in their display and see what happens).

Here's a picture so you know I'm not lying.

BTW I realized the magnet I was using might have been a strong one so I tried one of the others and it didn't stick to anything. Those dollar store magnetic thumbtacks are really strong though! So depending on how strong a magnet you use, it may not stick to your solid brass chrome/nickel plated faucets - but just because it does doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong.

I cannot vouch for every one of RH's products and I'm not going to go scraping every piece that I have. What I can vouch for is that if you have a semi-strong magnet, it WILL stick to solid brass that has been plated with either nickel or chrome. Nickel is a ferromagnetic metal and will attract a strong enough magnet with a weak attraction. Chrome plating is done by first plating with a layer of nickel.

I can also vouch for the fact that their bath accessories, at least in the bistro line and at least the back bracket of the wall mounted cup holder, is, in fact, brass. I believe their faucets, bath accessories and metal washstand legs are all made by newport brass which is a very reputable company.

I cannot speak for everything else they make but I'm very happy with my purchases, have been happy with customer service, and will continue buying from there.

kgwlisa...thanks...one of the lines I was going to order is Bistro. I agree with you about Williams Sonoma. I wouldn't put them in a different category than Restoration Hardware. I guess I am going to order my stuff and see what I get.

Where I come from, "solid brass" doesn't include speaking out of the other side of one's mouth about chrome, nickel, steel, or peanut butter.

And it appears that the item in question was still listed sometime later as still being for sale - and with unaltred specifications. Erroneous ones?

I appreciate the "heads up".

ole joyful

Thanks Aptosca!

I too appreciate the heads up. I think there is a lot of false and misleading advertising in our world today. RH should have corrected their error pronto imho.

Earlier this year, I discovered an error in an on line (flower) catalog and contacted the company. They investigated my report (email), thanked me, immediately corrected their on line catalog, and sent me a complimentary gift certificate as a way of saying "thank you."

That to me, is a company who cares about 'getting it right'.

Sue

"they have gone the way of big business and now sell cheap items. "

Your heads up was a fair enough warning to not trust everything a catalogue claims but to generalize broadly about a company such as in the above quoted sentence in your original post might be what prompted kgw to debate your claim.

here's one question; with a good quality plating, would a steel base vs brass base have a big impact over the longevity of the fixture, aside from feeling lighter and being a less expensive material?

( I recognize fully that they should not say brass if it's steel)

joyful, RH is not "speaking out of the side of their mouth" about the finish on their items. All bathroom items are labeled "solid brass" are labeled so in reference to their construction, not their finish. Faucets, light fixtures, accessories - all kinds of stuff. My point about nickel is that it's also magnetic, so the "magnet test" is not necessarily definitive if you have something that is plated in either nickel or chrome.

mitchdesj is right though. The original post did not say that you had a problem with a couple of items, it said "several" and "every single one of them" was steel, which implied a widespread problem due to RH going the way of "big business." I'm not arguing that you didn't have a problem with the piece you ordered, I'm just arguing against the generalization that RH now "sells cheap items."

I do think, though, that steel is much more corrosive in a wet environment than brass is - so it IS a big deal. We have presumably cheap chrome lights in our current bathroom (put in by the cheap PO) and poor ventilation, and they are rusting. I would not want to pay RH's prices for something and end up with something that rusted in a few years.

Love the posts! Thanks for the info all around ;)

FYI - Brass itself is an alloy of copper and zinc, neither of which are magnetic, nor can be made magnetic (according to many). However, there are chrome plating processes that can apply a magnetic field (albeit weak) to the underlying materials.

Found a nice link on that below.

Enjoy and relax ;) Bathrooms are fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: Some more about brass/steel magnetism

The issue is not residual magnetism from the plating, but the fact that nickel is ferromagnteic (weakly)and chrome plating forms a chromium oxide layer that can also be magnetic.
With thin plating you would not likely notice either unless you have a relatively strong magnetic field.
Some of the newer magnets available (called 'supermagnets' sometimes) are powerful enough.
Some of them are so strong you can move non-magnetic objects by induced current coupling.
I have a magnet with over 100 pounds of pull that is about 3 in x 3 in x 1 in. If you place a 1/2 inch aluminum plate on a smooth surface and slide the magnet over the plate it will make it move from eddy currents. There has to be a relative motion between the Al plate and the magnet, so it does not 'stick' like a ferromagnetic material does, but it will 'drag' the AL plate.
Depending in the exact alloy and processing some stainless steel is magnetic and some is not. Heating and changing the crystal structure of the stainless can alter the magnetic properties.

maybe it's old, but I have the same towel bar (in the single version) just installed in my kids' bath, and it's definitely brass. My understanding is that at least until recently, RH's lighting was manufactured by Hudson Valley. The Hudson Valley fixtures in my house are all brass. If Hudson Valley changed their manufacturing practices, that would be unfortunate. If RH dropped Hudson Valley to use a cheaper imitator, that would be even worse. I haven't seen anything other than anecdotal evidence of that, though, so for now the RH things in boxes will continue to be installed. They are all made in China, and with all the recent news and recalls, there might be some cause for concern. Off to scratch...

I prefer not to go scratching on our new hardware (description below) but I will call customer service to see what they tell me. I hope it is made of solid brass -- I like them and they are reasonably priced. They have a good feel in the hand.

Gilmore Pull $8 - $21.50
Crafted of solid brass
Manufactured to our exacting specifications
Period-perfect detail and modern freshness
In antique brass, polished nickel, satin nickel, polished chrome or oil-rubbed bronze finish
Mounting hardware included
In six sizes: 3", 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12" (center-to-center screw holes)

Susan ~

I bought the chrome shelf holder (train shelf) linked above since it was on sale for about $50 cheaper than most places. In fact I got 2. It looks the same as on the RH website.

I took a strong refrig magnet, and nothing attracted except for the screws they provided.

It did seem light for brass, but I'm not a metalurgist. Seems okay to me since it matches our other chrome fixtures. At the price, I guess I don't care if it isn't really brass underneath.

All the packaging, however, says it's brass. Is it possible, Atosha, that you received a different product? My box says "solid brass shelf and towel holder, Gatco, San Leandro CA, etc."

So what about Pottery Barn?:) I am pretty enamored of their recessed medicine cabinets (the amount of lotions and potions has exponentially increased with age). I also like the look of their sconces.
As long as we are bashing the Big Yuppie Boxes, tell me all your worst stories about PB too.
We may also buy one of their couches. Their Greenwich line is the first comfortable chair and sofa I have sat on in many years.
Appreciate your experiences and sharing.