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Powder Mesh Sizes

Table to convert US and European units of powder particle size (granulometry) – Mesh / Sieve / Microns / mm / inches.

Most of our food ingredients are in the range 20-200 Mesh

Please contact our friendly and knowledgeable technical sales colleagues to help guide you to the best grades of powders to suit your products.

 Mesh

Sieve Designation

Microns (μm)

mm

inches

 Examples
 1 in. 25.4 mm 25400 25.400 1.0000  
 7/8 in. 22.6 mm 22600 22.600 0.8750  
 3/4 in. 19.0 mm 19000 19.000 0.7500  
 5/8 in. 16.0 mm 16000 16.000 0.6250  
 0.530 in. 13.5 mm 13500 13.500 0.5300  
 1/2 in. 12.7 mm 12700 12.700 0.5000  
 7/16 in. 11.2 mm 11200 11.200 0.4380  
 3/8 in. 9.51 mm 9510 9.510 0.3750  
 5/16 in. 8.00 mm 8000 8.000 0.3120  
 0.265 in. 6.73 mm 6730 6.730 0.2650  
 1/4 in. 6.35 mm 6350 6.350 0.2500  
 No.3 1/2 5.66 mm 5660 5.660 0.2230  
 No. 4 4.76 mm 4760 4.760 0.1870  
 No. 5 4.00 mm 4000 4.000 0.1570  
 No. 6 3.36 mm 3360 3.360 0.1320  
 No. 7 2.83 mm 2830 2.830 0.1110  
 No. 8 2.38 mm 2380 2.380 0.0937  
 No. 10 2.00 mm 2000 2.000 0.0787  
 No. 12 1.68 mm 1680 1.680 0.0661  
 No. 14 1.41 mm 1410 1.410 0.0555  
 No. 16 1.19 mm 1190 1.190 0.0469  
 No. 18 1.00 mm 1000 1.000 0.0394  
 No. 20 841μm 841 0.841 0.0331  
 No. 25 707μm 707 0.707 0.0278  
 No. 30 595μm 595 0.595 0.0234 ~ Granulated Sugar
 No. 35 500μm 500 0.500 0.0197  
 No. 40 420μm 420 0.420 0.0165  
 No. 45 354μm 354 0.354 0.0139  
 No. 50 297μm 297 0.297 0.0117 ~ Caster Sugar
 No. 60 250μm 250 0.250 0.0098  
 No. 70 210μm 210 0.210 0.0083  
 No. 80 177μm 177 0.177 0.0070  
 No. 100 149μm 149 0.149 0.0059  
 No. 120 125μm 125 0.125 0.0049  
 No. 140 105μm 105 0.105 0.0041  
 No. 170 88μm 88 0.088 0.0035  
 No. 200 74μm 74 0.074 0.0029 200 Mesh and finer is normally considered Micronised
 No. 230 63μm 63 0.063 0.0025 ~ Icing Sugar
 No. 270 53μm 53 0.053 0.0021  
 No. 325 44μm 44 0.044 0.0017  
 No. 400 37μm 37 0.037 0.0015  

 

Larger sieve openings (1 in. to 1/4 in.) have been designated by a sieve “mesh” size that corresponds to the size of the opening in inches. 
Smaller sieve “mesh” sizes of 3 1/2 to 400 are designated by the number of openings per linear inch in the sieve.
The following convention is used to characterize particle size by mesh designation:
a “+” before the sieve mesh indicates the particles are retained by the sieve;
a “-” before the sieve mesh indicates the particles pass through the sieve;
typically 90% or more of the particles will lie within the indicated range.

For example, if the particle size of a material is described as -4 +40 mesh, then 90% or more of the material will pass through a 4-mesh sieve (particles smaller than 4.76 mm) and be retained by a 40-mesh sieve (particles larger than 0.420 mm).  

If a material is described as -40 mesh, then 90% or more of the material will pass through a 40-mesh sieve (particles smaller than 0.420 mm).

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_(scale)

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