HOW TO CLEAN STAINLESS STEEL
I‘ve had stainless steel appliances for over eight years. For eight years, I have dealt with those pesky finger prints and who-knows-what smeared all over the front of the appliances. My appliance manuals always recommend special cleaners for stainless and have warnings against using other chemicals that could ruin the finish.
But I have never found those special cleaners to work as well as good ol’ Windex.
I know it was a risk to put Windex on my appliances, but we got sick and tired of how awful our stainless looked all the time! We reasoned the finish couldn’t look any worse than it did! But even after years of using Windex and paper towels to clean them, we have never had any problems with the finish at all. It works BEAUTIFULLY! We’ve had many of the major brand appliances and found Windex to work on all of them.
We have what appears to be a “stainless” sink and it is AWFUL to clean. The sink gets rusty, it is impossible to clean and I just don’t like it. Not all stainless steel is the same quality, apparently. Windex does NOT work on my sink, FYI.
So, I’m wondering if you have any of your own tips for cleaning stainless?
I love the inside of my new dishwasher, seriously, this Electrolux is like a TANK inside and always looks clean and shiny!
If you could choose any appliance finish for a new kitchen, would you choose stainless or not? What would be your finish of choice?
And please share your stainless steel cleaning tips in the comments!
disclaimer: use products on your stainless appliances at your own risk.
This post is the last of a six part series on Homemaking, sponsored by Electrolux as part of Homebuzz. I received an Electrolux appliance in exchange for my participation. The opinions stated in this post are my own. My old dishwasher is being donated to a worthy cause.
The other posts in this series are here:
My New Dishwasher, Order from Chaos,
3 Truths and a Lie, How to Organize a Kitchen
We were expectant parents when we were shopping for a new stove. I wanted stainless, but the hubs put his hand on the front of the model in the store. Big handprint. “Imagine a small child and this stove.” I cringed. We found a stove with a finish called “clean steel.” It’s not as shiny as stainless, but looks great! I use windex on it, too.
I have stainless steel . . .not sure if I would choose it again. It does show everything! I generally use a soapy paper towel to soap up the surface and then buff dry with another papertowel. Every few months I follow this up with an oil rub (little olive oil on cloth and buff dry). Have tried all sorts of cleaners but haven’t found anything that works better. This works best on my LG fridge. My whirlpool dishwasher is the worst to clean. Would go for the “clean steel” next time.
Thanks for the tip, Stacey, I’m going to try the olive oil!
Soft scrub with bleach for my stainless steel sink.Looks brand new everytime!
Word of caution…stainless steel sinks are NOT the same as stainless appliances. DO NOT use soft scrub on appliances or you’ll eventually rub off that shiny finish
The best way to clean stainless steel is to use Cameo cleaner. It works well.
Try WD-40 on stainless. Spray on and wipe off.
A little bit of hot water on a rag and straight pinesol will make your sink shine like new, as well as make the house smell good!
any suggestions on getting lime stains off of stainless steel
You could try sprinkling the stain with baking soda then pouring white vinegar over it.
I use lemon pledge with a soft cloth, works like a dream!
Lemon pledge works for my refridge too though my husband likes the WD40
Susan
I have the exact same dishwasher. I use a little bit of Pam and a paper towel. Cleans it so nicely and it doesn’t get fingerprints for a long time!!
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@Pam try CLR. It worked really well on our shower head.
The best and only thing I ever use now is plain lemon Pledge. It works better than anything I’ve ever used!
shhhh I have the best tip ever! All of my appliances are stainless. I have 2 young children and 2 crazy dogs! Ready???? I use 2 microfiber cloths! One damp with water and the other dry/polish. That is it! Water and microfiber cloths! Works great on granite too!
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Is there a “like” button for this post? Great tip! i have four kiddos and had my little girl helping me wipe down the kitchen yesterday (walls and all). get the kids involved. I personally don’t mind stainless steel, it seems to last longer. I ‘m not to concerned about polished houses as I am in the lasting ware and tare on a large family.
De-Solv-It is one of the best cleaners I have ever tried! It is a gift from God for us who are trying to sell our house and clean up much dirt and grime from 2 kids and 2 large dogs! Plus, our 15 year old shower pan looks like brand new!
I use a vinegar water solution for all my cleaning. It works great on my stainless appliances, and makes my sink sparkle!
I won’t buy stainless appliances again. White is easier to keep clean. I learned while working as a hotel janitor that the best way to scrub stubborn, sticky stuff off stainless steel is with a baking soda paste. Once the baking soda has done its job, wipe it off and rinse the stainless with a mild vinegar solution. If you’re just polishing out fingerprints or water drips, or if you’re finishing up after a baking soda scrub, the least expensive, most effective treatment is a think film of vegetable oil. Use a soft cloth to buff off any surface film so the stainless steel doesn’t feel oily. Perfect results every time.
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Orange oil cleans and protects from future prints.
I completely second the use of olive oil to buff out stainless steel appliances after a Windex cleaning. Works every time, and the shine lasts.
So funny,the Electrolux factory is in our town. I may know the people that made your dishwasher!
The absolute easiest way to clean a stainless steel sink is to use the baking soda in your fridge. It’s even removed rust caused by a wet can from my sink…and very easily I might add!
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I didn’t read all of the posts so I don’t know if anyone mentioned this yet. When we bought our refrigerator 14 years ago the salesman gave us the best Stainless Steel cleaner around. We went back and bought it often but one day they told us it was no longer made in that container. So I asked him what he meant. It was made by the same people that make Liquid Gold wood cleaner and it was the exact same product. So now I buy it at the grocery store. Cleans and leaves a nice fingerprint proof finish. It smells good too. I’ve tried a lot of stainless cleaners but this is streak and fingerprint proof.
If I could choose any appliance finish, it would be turquoise! On retro-style appliances
For modern appliances, I’d say probably boring white. We have black now, and they show so much dust! Besides looking like big black holes.
To clean my rusty stainless sink, I use one of those metal pot scrubbers. If your sink is pretty new, it might not work as well though. At our old house, the sink from 1978 shined up beautifully that way, but I think that’s because it had 40 years of scratches to give it an even finish. When we moved here, I noticed a few scratches on the bottom of the 1-year-old sink the first time I did it, and it didn’t look as clean. But now after three years. It’s looking better.
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I love my stainless appliances. I clean them with eucalyptus oil – I know it sounds strange but it works. I add about 12 drops to a small glass pump spray bottle then top it up with hot water. Once it’s cool, I spray it on and buff it off with a paper towel. Works a treat and stops the fingerprints coming back so bad. It’s also good removing stickiness. My dryer arrived covered in stickers and when I removed them all they left nasty sticky marks. I worked them with straight eucalyptus oil and they all disappeared.
My parents have nice stainless appliances and they have used olive oil to clean them for years and it works great!
1) clean off any grime with a warm, moist cloth 2) put a dab of olive oil on a paper towel and work it in 3) polish it off with a soft cloth. I tried this on my not-so-expensive stainless fridge and it didn’t work so great though. I guess ya get what ya pay for! lol
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I have found that Mineral oil on a paper towel works best for my SS dishwasher. I keep the same paper towel in a little plastic baggie and just add a little more Mineral oil to it each time. Granted, I don’t have little ones any more, so there’s no gunk on the paper towel, but you don’t have to do multiple steps with this, just wipe across and your done, and it’s cheap. We also bought a Titanium fridge that I would highly recommend. You can wipe that down with a damp rag( have even done that on the dishwasher sometimes). I haven’t found ANY of the commercial SS cleaners that work. Good luck.
I have been using baby oil for over 5 years and it works great.
I had hired an all natural cleaning service and the one thing they were able to clean was the stainless steel applainces. But only use a little. Take a paper towel and dap just a little on, no streaks!
This isn’t an appliance cleaning tip, but to clean windows, I use the UK version of Windex and then remove all smudges with newpaper pages. Works amazingly.
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I would not get stainless appliances again. However, I have just redecorated what I hope will be my last kitchen, so I am stuck with them. When I watch house hunting shows on TV, I am always yelling at the TV, trying to get the young people who really must have stainless to listen. I don’t have little ones and I still have fingerprints. The best thing I have found is Pledge (regular Pledge, not Pledge for stainless steel, which for some reason does not work as well.)
For my SS sink I will clean it with dish soap or hand soap, using my hands, almost every time I wash my hands or something else and it looks great. If I’ve been away and come back to a mess I will use Barkeepers Friend, and I prefer the liquid. It gets everything, even rust, off easily.
My problem are the SS handles on my range. The oven handle get splashed and touched with everything. The handle for the bottom drawer seems to get used as a footrest. No matter what I’ve tried, these never look clean.
One summer during college, I worked in a restaurant that had stainless steel everywhere. Part of our job was cleaning the servers’ side of the stainless. We were taught to clean it using club soda and coffee filters. The stainless was always shiny and gorgeous when we were done.
Also, I’ve read that car polish (like turtle wax) was really good for keeping stainless shiny and print free.
I know that I usually use olive oil, and it looked great for five minutes until my dog comes in the room and licks the oil on the finish(!)