What could the impurities in steel wool be?

Question

What could the impurities in steel wool be?

And why are they there?

Thanks for your help :)

Answer 1

Impurities in steel wool would be of the elemental type. I'm sure steel wool is a mixture of different low grade not good for much of anything else materials. There may be excessive impurities such as lead, cobalt, boron, aluminum etc... in the steel wool. There may also be solvent residue on the wool i.e cleaner, lubricant etc.. I'm sure every batch is different - I know the iron level is high thats what makes them rust quickly.