While purchasing any delicate item, you will come across terms like scratch-proof and scratch-resistant. Manufacturers and even advertisements of such products use these two terms to be synonymous. But these terms do not bear the same meaning.
While it is impossible to ensure a delicate product is scratched proof, however, it is possible for things to be scratch resistant. Knowing the differences between the two will help to distinguish their features.
Key Takeaways
- Scratch-proof means that the material is completely immune to scratches and cannot be scratched, while scratch-resistant means that the material can resist scratches to a certain degree but may still be scratched.
- Scratch-resistant coatings are applied to surfaces such as phone screens and eyeglasses, while scratch-proof materials are used in extreme environments such as industrial equipment and military vehicles.
- Scratch-resistant coatings can wear off over time, while scratch-proof materials are designed to be permanently scratch-resistant.
Scratch Proof vs Scratch Resistant
Scratch-proof is a term used to describe a surface or material that is completely resistant to scratches and cannot be scratched under any circumstances. Scratch-resistant means a surface or material that is resistant to scratches than an unprotected surface, but can still be scratched.
Scratch-proof is a quality of a product that implies the toughness of that particular product. This means no amount of external pressure can break the product. Many advertisements use this term to promote their products to be of premium quality.
But a product can not be scratched proof, rather, it can be scratched-resistant.
When a product is labelled as scratch-resistant, that means it is strong enough to survive minor external force, and scratch-resistant products can avoid minor scratches.
Delicate products like glasses get a layer of a combined chemical coating that helps the glass survive trivial scratches.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Scratch Proof | Scratch Resistant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A scratch-proof thing will never be subjected to any scratch. | A scratch-resistant thing is less likely to be subjected to scratch. |
| Materials Used | Mineral glass or sapphire glass is used to make scratch-proof surfaces. | A surface is made to be scratch resistant by applying a chemical coating. |
| Durable | A scratch-proof surface is very durable. | A scratch-resistant surface is less durable comparatively. |
| Scratch | A scratch-proof surface is immune to any scratch. | A scratch-resistant surface can resist some minor scratches. |
| Products | Products like glasses, lenses and different jewellery get made as to scratch proof. | Products like lenses, watches, photographic film etc., get a surface of scratch resistance. |
What is Scratch Proof?
Scratch-proof appears to be a broad term. When you claim a thing to be scratch-proof, you imply that it can survive any external force, no matter how strong it is.
And this term gets associated with delicate items such as glasses, lenses, watches, etc. But it is difficult for these things to be immune thoroughly to harsh external forces.
If a product is truly scratch-proof, then it is considered to be of premium quality. This feature proves that the product has been gone through infinite forces and came out without any damage. The toughness of scratch-proof products is unbeatable.
Things made with mineral glass and sapphire glass can attain the power that will not let them break down by external forces. Nothing in this world can be stamped as scratch-proof.
A delicate nature product can not be so strong to withstand all kinds of forces. Watches and lenses are meant to be subjected to scratches, they can tolerate scratches to some extent and become less vulnerable, but they can not be entirely immune.
What is Scratch Resistant?
Glasses, screens, lenses and watches get a chemical coating over them to resist pressure and forces. This coating makes the surface strong enough to overcome minor injuries. This looks the same and also does not make any changes in the vision.
The only thing this coating does to a fragile product is that it makes them less vulnerable and prone to shatter. Minor scratches can be avoided from occurrence easily with this scratch-resistant coating.
If it comes under heavy pressure, then it will inevitably collapse.
So these scratch-resistant products should be handled carefully. The resistance coating of synthetic crystals can only work to some extent and make the product more durable than its original form. But it does not make it immortal.
People nowadays prefer scratch-resistant products on their daily used things such as watch screens, mobile screens, glasses and many more prone to break things. No kind of thing can be scratched proof, but they can all be scratch resistant.
Main Differences Between Scratch Proof and Scratch Resistant
- A scratch-proof thing will never be subjected to any scratch. But a scratch-resistant thing can be subjected to scratch.
- Being immune to scratches, the scratch-proof surface is very durable, whereas a scratch-resistant surface, comparatively, durability is less than scratch-proof.
- A scratch-proof surface is immune to any kind of scratch, whereas a scratch-resistant surface can only resist some minor scratches, which will be affected by hard scratches.
- Mineral glass or sapphire glass gets used to formulate scratch-proof surfaces. While on the other hand, to make a surface scratch-resistant, it goes under a chemical coating.
- Many products, such as glasses, lenses and even different kinds of jewellery pieces, get made to be scratch-proof. While products, for instance, lenses, photographic film, watches etc., get made to be scratch resistant.
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
The comparison of the materials used to make scratch-proof and scratch-resistant surfaces was particularly interesting. It really helped in understanding the fundamental differences between the two.
This was a very informative article, providing a deep insight into the differences between scratch-proof and scratch-resistant materials.
The detailed explanation of what scratch-proof means and what scratch resistant signifies was very enlightening. It was a great read.
The comparison table was particularly helpful, it nicely summarized the main differences between scratch proof and scratch resistant.
The references provided at the end of the article are a great touch. They point to credible sources backing up the information and give credibility to the content.
This is an extremely informative article. It’s important to understand the differences between scratch-proof and scratch-resistant, especially when purchasing delicate items. Thank you for this insightful piece.
Excellent distinction between scratch-proof and scratch-resistant. The durability difference highlighted between the two is quite significant.
The main differences between these two concepts were very clearly laid out. It made it easy to understand the distinction and make informed decisions about purchasing products.