I looked at sinks for a short time till the fabricator I used offered me a sink, so to save money I went with it (he gave a choice of 3). I got curious about the difference because of this post, so did a little research, this is what I found, hope it helps: The satin finish is general finer / smoother to the touch but both the terms are used to described multiple different finishes. There are various ways of applying mechanical polishes belts / brushes to stainless steel each can have different levels of roughness and so finishes can vary dependent on the requirement of the end use. Ideally it is best to look and touch but not always practical often these finishes can be very similar.

"brushed nickel in ... on one of these posts someone said that finish is plated" I've mentioned "plated". Almost all / options / colors / finishes / are plated. Underneath the plating is something solid. e.g. solid brass (hardware like handles) or a brass tube (the faucet body) or a strong plastic (the faucet's handspray). I used to find it confusing to read "all brass" and "chrome" in the same description. Not any more. Chrome is plated and always has been. For some people, it's considered such basic simple knowledge that it doesn't need to be stated. For some reason, it was not part of my general education and upbringing. So, I went digging for information and found that there was almost always a plated finish (on faucets and on hardware): chrome. brushed nickel, whatever other finish... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_plating "Types Decorative Decorative chrome is designed to be aesthetically pleasing and durable. Thicknesses range from 0.002 to 0.020 mil (0.00005 - 0.0005 mm), however they are usually between 0.005 and 0.010 mil (0.00013 and 0.00025 mm). The chromium plating is usually applied over bright nickel plating. Typical base materials include steel, aluminum, plastic, copper alloys, and zinc alloys.[2]" Most of the other finishes are by PVD method. Even stainless can be applied by PVD. The exception to this "finish plated onto something" is stainless hardware in general and stainless steel faucets that are stainless throughout (which are rare, and European). "Stainless" is a recipe with many ingredients; depending on the recipe it can end up looking any of an infinite number of shades: more nickel, more chrome, more silver, more white or more gray. Chrome also has color variations. It can be applied thin or thick. It can be applied on top of a layer of bright nickel plating. This changes the look. Look at chrome from a very high end manufacturer, and you will see beautiful color. -- I notice that the manufacturers of hardware and faucets almost never describe their chrome. -- some faucet manufacturers will lifetime warranty only chrome and one or two other finishes. sometimes they exempt the whole faucet from their lifetime warranty even though it's only the finish that has changed. (!). --

I echo what hollysprings said. Even a very expensive faucet will have mineral buildup on it and it won't be the faucet's fault. It has to do with the water. Have your water evaluated and treated. You gotta think, if it's doing that to the faucet surface, what's it doing to your pipe interiors or you? In the meantime, try some CLR on your existing faucet. You may need to build a dam around it with some clay in order to be able to soak it, or find a CLR type treatment in a gel form. It may darken the nickel to do this, but at least your faucet will be functional again until you can replace it. I'd choose a stainless one for the next faucet, as it will remain non reactive in the presence of harsh chemicals like CLR, and do the mineral removal at least once a month until the water treatment plan is implemented.

While I agree with the gist of what @M Miller said, there is a minor correction. The description of the corrosion process makes it sound as if visible rust is always just surface contamination from other items. That's often how this starts, but it isn't necessarily how it proceeds. Stainless steel gains it's stainless properties from easily forming a thin protective layer of corroded material all over its surface. But since stainless steel is an alloy of more than just iron, these oxides are primarily from the chromium in it. And unlike iron oxides (i.e. rust), those are transparent and form a solid passivation layer that protects the steel underneath. Usually, you are unlikely to disturb this thin layer of oxides and if you do (e.g. by scratching) it quickly forms again. It's self-healing. But that process breaks down if you contaminate the surface with rust, and that rust can very well originate from other iron objects that were left in the sink for too long. At some point, the actual stainless steel will start rusting as well. It's still a slow process and your sink won't rust through. But you'll need a lot more elbow grease than if you had to just remove some contamination on the surface. In other words, if you notice occasional rust spots, clean them up quickly. This process turns out to be even more problematic if non-stainless steel particles or iron somehow became embedded in the stainless steel. That is guaranteed to lead to rusting and will often even cause pitting of the stainless steel. This is not something you'd expect to happen under normal circumstances, but it is the reason why you should never use steel wool on stainless steel (unless the steel wool is also stainless). There are other things that can corrupt the chromium oxide layer and cause stainless to rust. The most common household chemicals prone to doing so are anything high in chlorides (e.g. cooking salt). And while the chemical process is different, oxalic acid in Barkeeper's Friend would similarly remove the chromium oxide coating. Neither one of these chemicals are a problem during brief exposure. But let salt or Barkeeper's Friend sit on the sink's surface for hours on end, and you'll see surface damage and blemishes that will need to be removed. Mechanical scrubbing with more Barkeeper's Friend should clean up the damaged area, and if you rinse everything off thoroughly, then in due time a new protective chromium oxide layer will form. And just for the record, it doesn't make a difference whether the original factory finish was satin or brushed. As long as the factory didn't use steel wool to do the brushing, you're all good. And if they did hypothetically use steel wool, you'd discover that mistake within days of owning the sink when it gets rust spots all over.