What is the Difference Between Aluminum Foil and Tin Foil

The key difference between aluminum foil and tin foil is that aluminum foil is comparatively mild, whereas tin foil is comparatively stiffer than aluminum foil.

Aluminum foil and tin foil are very important as wrapping materials. Tin foil has been used for this purpose since old times; however, tin foil is now widely replaced by aluminum foil.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Aluminum Foil
3. What is Tin Foil
4. Aluminum Foil vs Tin Foil in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Aluminum Foil vs Tin Foil

What is Aluminum Foil?

Aluminum foil is aluminum that is prepared in thin metal leaves, having a thickness of less than 0.2 mm. However, there can be thinner gauges down to 6 micrometers, which are also commonly used. Standard household aluminum foil has a thickness of 0.016 mm, and heavy duty household aluminum foil is usually 0.024 mm thick. This foil is pliable and is readily bent or wrapped around objects. Moreover, aluminum foils are fragile and sometimes can be laminated with other materials, including plastics or paper, making them stronger and very useful.

When considering the production method of aluminum foil, the continuous casting method is considerably less energy intensive and has nowadays become the preferred process. Generally, for a thickness below 0.025 mm, two layers of foil are put together to get the final pass, and then they are separated to produce foil with one bright side and one matte side.

What is Tin Foil?

Tin foil is a thin foil made of the chemical element tin. Foil made from a thin leaf of tin was used commercially before its aluminum counterpart. Moreover, tin foil was commonly used in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. This type of foil was superseded after World War II using cheaper and more durable materials such as aluminum. In many regions, aluminum foil is also known as tin foil, though they are different from each other chemically. Tin foil is stiffer than aluminum foil. But when the tin foil is used to wrap food, the food tends to have a slight tin taste. This is the major reason for its replacement by aluminum and other materials in food wrapping.

Moreover, tin foil shows corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, availability, low cost, low toxicity, and slight malleability. Tin foils were also used as a filling for tooth cavities prior to the 20^th century.

What is the Difference Between Aluminum Foil and Tin Foil?

Aluminum foil and tin foil are very important types of packaging materials. We can identify them differently according to their stiffness. The key difference between aluminum foil and tin foil is that tin foil is comparatively stiffer than aluminum foil. When using these foils as packaging material, aluminum foil does not add a taste to food, but tin foil can give a bitter/metallic taste to food.

Below is a summary of the difference between aluminum foil and tin foil in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Aluminum Foil vs Tin Foil

Aluminum foil is aluminum that is prepared in thin metal leaves, having a thickness of less than 0.2 mm, while tin foil tin that is prepared in thin metal leaves. The key difference between aluminum foil and tin foil is that aluminum foil is comparatively mild, whereas tin foil is comparatively stiffer than aluminum foil. Both these foil types have two different sides (a shiny side and a dull side). Generally, the dull side is kept open to the surroundings while the shiny side is used to wrap the material because the shiny side shows a high reflection, which is important in heating up things.

Reference:

1. Gallagher, Sophie. “Shiny Side up or down? Chef Tom Kerridge Says We’ve All Been Using Tin Foil Wrong.” HuffPost UK, HuffPost UK, 11 Jan. 2019.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Aluminio” By MdeVicente – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “DSC01266 – A Delicate Balance (29773086657)” By Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada – DSC01266 – A Delicate Balance (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia