A temporary coating which protects stainless steel from high-temperature oxidation and scaling during slab reheating for hot-rolling has been investigated. The coating precursor was prepared based on silicate by ball-milling, and then stainless steel substrates were coated by means of a low-cost and effective air spraying technique. Isothermal oxidation tests on coated and bare steel specimen were performed in thermobalance at 1523 K in dry air, with exposure time of 9 h. The results indicate that the coating not only reduced the oxidation rate but also facilitated oxide scales spalling off from steel substrate during the cooling process. Reduced reaction rate has been attributed mainly to a change over in the rate controlling process from outward migration of cations to the ingress of oxidant species. SEM observations present that thickness of scales spalled from coated specimen is much thinner than that spalled from bare specimen. Cross-section optical microcopy observations of steel specimen after scale spalling show that fewer scales adhered to coated specimen than bare specimen.