Stainless steel or aluminum hookah: the difference

Anyone looking for a new hookah comes across two materials most often: stainless steel and aluminum. Of the more than 230 hookahs at ShishaSmaak whose material we have recorded, 144 are stainless steel and 63 are aluminum. You do not always see the difference in a photo. You notice it in your hand, in the price and after a few years of use.

Below we put a stainless steel hookah and an aluminum hookah side by side: weight, rust, scratches, cleaning and price, with the figures from our own range. All models are in buy a hookah.

Where the material sits on a hookah

When we talk about stainless steel or aluminum, we mean the stem, the tray and often the hose ports. The base is almost always glass, and the bowl is clay, stone, glass or silicone. So the material of the stem mainly decides the weight, how sturdy the hookah feels and how it looks after years.

Stainless steel, RVS or inox

They are three names for the same thing. In Dutch it is called RVS, short for rust-resistant steel; in French it is called inox. It is steel with at least 10.5 to 12 percent chromium. That chromium makes the difference, as you read below.

Weight: aluminum is almost three times as light

Aluminum has a density of about 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter. Stainless steel sits between 7.5 and 8.0. With the same shape and wall thickness, an aluminum stem therefore weighs about a third of a stainless steel stem. You feel that as soon as you lift a hookah.

Light for on the road, heavy for at home

A light hookah is easy to take along. The Aladin 2Go is made of aluminum, 23 centimeters tall and costs 29.99 euros. If you take your hookah on holiday, also read what is allowed in this guide to taking a hookah on a plane. A stainless steel hookah is heavier, feels sturdier and is more made to stay at home.

Rust, scratches and dents

Neither of them rusts. The chromium in stainless steel forms an invisible layer of chromium oxide in the air, and that protects the steel underneath. Aluminum forms a thin, closed oxide skin by itself that stops further corrosion.

The difference is in the hardness. Aluminum is softer than steel: it scratches and dents faster when you knock or drop the hookah. A stainless steel hookah is harder and usually still looks better after years of use.

What anodized aluminum is

Many colored aluminum hookahs are anodized. The aluminum gets a thicker oxide layer that is hard and wear-resistant and can be colored. That is how the Aladin 2Go gets its red, blue or gold color. If a scratch goes through that layer, you see the bare metal underneath, and that does not go away.

Price: what stainless steel and aluminum cost with us

We lined up the prices of our own hookahs by material. The middle half of the stainless steel models costs between 120 and 180 euros, with 139.99 euros in the middle. For aluminum the middle half is between 60 and 90 euros, with 64.99 euros in the middle.

That aluminum is cheaper partly comes from the type of models. Many travel and entry models are aluminum, while the big, elaborate hookahs are more often stainless steel. Of the stainless steel models, 55 come from Amy Deluxe, 36 from DUM and 25 from Oduman; for aluminum it is mainly Amy Deluxe, H2 and DUM.

Expensive aluminum and cheap stainless steel exist too

The material is not the only thing that sets the price. Our cheapest stainless steel hookah costs 39.99 euros, our most expensive aluminum one 199.99 euros. So also look at the design, the brand and what is in the set.

Cleaning and maintenance by material

The same basic recipe applies to both: warm water and a brush, and no dish soap. How to maintain the whole hookah is in cleaning a hookah. Per material there are two things to watch out for.

What you better not use on stainless steel

Do not use chlorine or bleach. Stainless steel is sensitive to chlorine: it can make small pits in the surface, and there the steel can still corrode.

What aluminum cannot handle

Do not put untreated aluminum in the dishwasher. It turns dull and gets white spots that do not go away. Also do not use strongly alkaline products such as drain cleaner or oven cleaner: aluminum dissolves in them.

Brass, copper and carbon

Besides stainless steel and aluminum you see brass and carbon. Brass is a mix of copper and zinc and gives the classic, gold-colored look. We have 23 brass hookahs, mostly from Amy Deluxe, such as the Amy Deluxe 058 Middle Zoom R and the Mini Hayil, both 79.99 euros. Brass can turn dull over time.

You see carbon on a few models, such as the DUM SS17 Buffer. Amy Deluxe makes hookahs in all three main materials: the SS line in stainless steel, the Alu line in aluminum and classic models in brass. How to assemble such an Amy, with a click system or screw system, is in this guide to assembling an Amy Deluxe.

Which one suits you?

It is not a matter of better or worse. It depends on where and how you smoke.

Choose aluminum if you

often take your hookah along, want to spend little or want a cheerful color. The Aladin models and the Amy Deluxe 066.02 Alu S are examples. All Aladin models are in the Aladin hookahs.

Choose stainless steel if you

are looking for a hookah that stays at home for years, feels sturdy and scratches less easily. Think of the DUM SS23 Ragnarok or the Smokah FUA Pro. Many stainless steel models are in the DUM hookahs and the Oduman hookahs.

Choose brass if you

are looking for the classic, gold-colored look. Traditional Egyptian hookahs, such as those from Khalil Mamoon, have that look too.

Stainless steel and aluminum hookahs at ShishaSmaak

At ShishaSmaak you find more than 140 stainless steel hookahs and more than 60 aluminum ones, from small travel models to big hookahs for at home. See everything at buy a hookah, or search by brand at DUM, Oduman, Aladin and Khalil Mamoon.

Ordered before 18:00, delivered the next working day (NL), and from 89.99 euros we ship for free (NL).