DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS 2490  
First  Edition  
2021 -October -dd 
 
 
 Reference number  
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© UNBS yyyy  
  
Steel wool  — Specification  
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ii © UNBS yyyy – All rights reserved  
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS yyyy  
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permission from UNBS.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to  
The Executive Director  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards  
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Uganda  
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 Foreword  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade , Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327 , of the Laws of Uganda , as amended .  UNBS is mandated to co -
ordinat e the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT  Agreement  of the World Trad e Organisation (WTO).  
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of key stakeholders 
including government, academ ia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending t he draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS /TC 108, Steel and Aluminium . 
 UGANDA STANDARD  US nnnn-n: yyyy  
 
© UNBS yyyy – All rights reserved  1 
 Steel wool  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This working d raft Uganda standard c overs the requirements for commercial steel wool of different grades . 
The commercial steel wool shall be of the following grades,  
Grade 0000 (Super fine)  
Grade 000 (Extra fine)  
Grade 00 (Very fine)  
Grade 0 (Fine)  
Grade 1 (Medium)  
Grad e 2 (Coarse)  
Grade 3 (Very coarse)  
2 Normative references   
There are no normative references in this document.  
3 Terms and definitions   
No terms and definitions are listed in this document.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standar dization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
4. General Requirements:  
4.1. Individual fibres shall have uniform sharp cutting edges and the edges of fibres shall not be blunt, when 
examined under  a microscope of magnification 50X.  
4.2. The length of the fibres shall be such that wool will cling together in handling without excessive 
unravelling.  
4.3. Finished wool shall present a smooth uniform appearance. The fibres shall be free from saw - teeth , 
ruggedness spirals or whirls, when examined under a magnification of 50X.  
4.4. The width of Steel Wool Fibres  shall be in accordance with Table 1, when tested as in 7.1.   
2 © UNBS yyyy – All rights reserved  
 5. Material  
Steel wool shall be produced from suitable carbon steel or alloy steel meeting the  requirements laid down in 
7.4. 
6. Manufacturing  
Steel wool  fibre shall be of uniform  width as per Table 1. long fibre strands of steel having sharp, smooth 
cutting edges and shall be free from  chips, short ends and materials other than steel fi bres, examined under a 
magnification of 50X.  
7. Tests:  
7.1 Width of fibre  
A specimen of 20 fibres shall be selected at random from a lot. Each  fibre shall be measured under a 50X 
magnification microscope, graduated in micrometres. Not more than one fibre in each specimen shall have a 
value less than the value specified in column 3 of Table 1. Not more than one fibre in each specimen shall 
have a width greater than the values specified in column 4 of Table 1 and if this one fibre has width greater 
than the values specified in column 5 of Table 1 the specimen shall be declared as fail.  
7.2 Ductility  
A single fibre of each grade of steel wool shall be capable of winding in a single loop tightly around the 
mandrel of size 1.5mm in diameter.  
7.3 Moisture and Oil  Content  
The loss in mass of a 50g sample of steel wool after drying in an oven at 1200C for an hour shall not exceed 
1.5 percent.  
7.4 Corrosion Resistance  
7.4.1  For Steel Wool ( used for filteration purposes) - Prepare a nitric acid solution by adding 5 m l 
concentrated nitric acid and 95 ml of distilled water. Put two drops of this  
solution on a compressed tuft of the steel wool and observe for any evidence of   corrosion attack. Steel wool 
shall not show sign of corrosion attack.  
TABLE 1. Width of steel wool fibres  
 
Grade   
Mean Width of  
Fibre  
µm  
Not more than  
5 percent  
Under  
µm  
Not more than  
5 percent Over  
µm  
Not Fibre to  
Exceed  
µm 
 
(1)  
(2)  
(3)  
(4)  
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0000  
000 
00 
0 
1 
2 
3  
15.25  
20.35  
30.50  
50.75  
50.100  
100.150  
150.250   
5 
5 
5 
10 
15 
25 
50  
75 
100 
125 
200 
250 
350 
450  
150 
200 
250 
300 
400 
635 
1000  
7.4.2  For steel wool (used for other purposes except filteration) - A tuft of steel wool shall be tightly 
compressed in a ball shape about 20mm in diameter and then slightly flattened. Dip a small sheet o f white 
blotting paper in distilled water and then remove from water, shaking off the excess water. Place it at the 
bottom of a glass container. Place the wool specimen on top of the blotting paper and cover the container. 
The temperature of the container shall be maintained at 27 ± 2.5ºC for a period of 5 hour. Steel wool shall not 
show sign of corrosion attack.  
 
8. Sampling:  
8.1 Unless otherwise agreed between the supplier and the purchaser, the procedure as given in 
ISO 2859 (part 1) shall be followed fo r sampling inspection. The sampling plan and 
inspection level as given in 8.2 and 8.3 shall be followed.  
 
8.2 For inspection of which of fibres, cutting edge of fibres and foreign materials in fibres, the 
sampling plan with inspection level II and acceptan ce quality level (AQL). 4 percent given in 
ISO 2859 -1 shall be followed.  
8.3 For inspection of ductility, moisture and oil contents and corrosion resistance, the 
sampling plan with inspection level II and AQL 65 percent given in ISO 2859 -1 shall be 
followe d. 
9. Packing  
The packing of commercial steel wool shall be as decided by the purchaser and  the supplier. However,  
standard packages shall be 25g pads, 250 g and 500g rolls, 5 kg, 10kg and 20kg industrial coils.  
10. Marking  
The packages shall be marked wit h the name of the material, the grade, the quality, manufacturers' initial 
trade -mark and month and year of manufacture.   
4 © UNBS yyyy – All rights reserved  
 Annex  A 
(infor mative)  
INTENDED USES OF COMMERCIAL STEEL WOOL  
A-1. Steel wool complying with this specification is intended to be used a s an abrasive material for the 
following purposes:  
Grade 0000     For the rubbing down paint, varnish, polish or shellac 
before final coat on any  
 surface for quality job.  
Grade 000  For work on anodized surfaces and rubbing down paint, varnish, etc, 
also on 
furniture before polishing and for aluminium and 
aluminium utensil. In dairies, for bottles and stainless 
steel equipment.  
Grade 00  For polishing of surfaces and household uses.  
Grade 0  For polishing and buffing surfaces.  
Grade 1  For cleaning of meta l surfaces and light stripping of floor waxes and 
polishes,  
and for the preparation of wood surfaces for first coats or fillers.  
Grade 2  For general abrasive cleaning, for example, removal of rust and 
old paint,  
and rapid stripping of floor waxes and poli shes.  
Grade 3  For heavy abrasive cleaning, smoothing of rough surfaces. Also for 
cleaning  
of rubber mould in tyre factories, cleaning of bottoms of ships.  
A-2. Steel wool of grades 1, 2 and 3 also meeting the requirements of 7.4.1 
are used for filteration  purposes in the chemical industry.  US nnnn -n: yyyy  
© UNBS yyyy – All rights reserved  5 
 Bibliography  
[1] ISO ##### -#, General title — Part #: Title of part  
[2] ISO ##### -##:20##, General title — Part ##: Title of part . US nnnn -n: yyyy  
© UNBS yyyy – All rights reserved  7 
 Certification marking  
Products that conform to Uganda standards may be marked with Uga nda National Bureau of Standards 
(UNBS) Certification Mark shown in the figure below.  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act, and the Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be used only by those licensed under the cert ification mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and in conjunction with the relevant Uganda Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a product or in relation to a product is an assurance that the goods comply with the 
requirements o f that standard under a system of supervision, control and testing in accordance with the 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. UNBS marked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for conformity to that standard.  
Further p articulars of the terms and conditions of licensing may be obtained from the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
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