What is the difference between stainless steel kick plates and aluminum door kick plates?  Well besides stainless steel plates being more expensive, there are a lot of differences.   Lets start with the materials.  Aluminum is a softer material and is porous (lots of air).  What this means is that the anodized aluminum kick plates tend to dent easily, are also harder to clean (dirt gets in there and will not come out) and will oxidize if in a corrosive environment.   Stainless steel is a harder material, and more dense.   What this means is the plates are more resistant to denting, and dirt is removed pretty easily.   What we recommend is that if you have any hand carts or hand trucks hitting your kick plates, then you definitely want to go with stainless steel.  Also, if you have a clean room, like in medical facilities, you would definitely want to use stainless steel.  Most schools and apartment buildings can get a way with the aluminum kick plates.  Our anodized aluminum kick plates are .050″ thick and we can make them to any size you would like, up to  1/32″ of an inch tolerance and are solid aluminum.   Our stainless steel kick plates come in either .037″ (18 gauge) or .050″ (16 gauge) thicknesses, and are solid stainless steel, not stainless steel plated..  If you are looking for large quantities, please call 1-800-642-2403 so we can discount the prices.   We sell the Aluminum and Stainless Steel Kick Plates on our website.  We can also get polished stainless steel, clear plastic, polished brass, lifetime polished brass, satin nickel and oil rubbed bronze (dark bronze)  kick plates.