All Fastener Finishes & Plating Explained Easily

Reference Chart

Advantages of Yellow Zinc

All zinc plated coatings, including yellow finishes, have some shared characteristics and are designed to combat rust formation. Yellow zinc offers more corrosion resistance especially in humid or salty environments. Around 150 hours or more when exposed to salt spray. Although 316 stainless or hot dipped galvanized parts are far more suitable in applications where salt water is present.

Yellow Zinc is commonly used with grade 8 hardware. Zinc is mostly used with grade 5 hardware. Want to know the difference between grade 8 and grade 5?

Please Note: This list is NOT exhaustive. These are the most commonly used plates & finishes and the ones Hanover Fasteners LLC distributes. Some other, often rarer finishes include green zinc, blue zinc, color phosphate, nickel, chromate, iridate, anodizing. These offer more or less corrosion resistance and have different use cases. They are generally more expensive and harder to source.