Chrome subjected to expected long term moist conditions in the center of the agitator would not hold up as well as good quality stainless steel. A control panel would be a different situation as would auto trim not subjected to persistent moisture or SALT unless the chrome was heavily and regularly waxed. I remember discovering slight corrosion on the interior chrome in a friend's car who lived on the coast and tackling it with Flitz polish. There was an iconic coffee table from a foreign designer that was available in tubular stainless steel or, at a lower price, in chrome plate. A designer friend in Floriduh told me as I was admiring his table in his living room about a client who was complaining that her coffee table was pitting. She lived on one of the islands and he had her check her contract for the table. On it he had written that against his advice, the client ordered the chrome plate table instead of the stainless steel one and it would not stand up to the salt air as well as the stainless one.
