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Tinplate consists of sheet steel covered with a thin layer of tin. Before the advent of cheap mild steel, the metal used was iron. It was formerly a widely used material but is restricted to the manufacture of tin cans at present.

Tinplate is made by rolling iron or steel in a rolling mill, cleaning it of scale (rust) by pickling it in acid and then coating it with a thin layer of tin. This was formerly carried out by producing the plates (or small groups of them) individually in what was subsequently known as a 'pack mill'. These began to be replaced from the late 1920s by 'strip mills' which produced a larger quantity at once.