Stainless steel appliances

[Hummingbird]

I've heard that stainless steel appliances are difficult to keep clean. Do you like or dislike your stainless steel appliances? What do you use to clean them?

[mommullr]

A salesman at Home Depot told me to use Pledge in the Orange Can. it works!

[Uptown Girl]

I have them up north. After trying many products with underwhelming results I decided to try WD-40.
I washed everything down first to get rid of any old, residual product, using Simple Green and rinsing it off well. Dried it with paper towel.

Applied WD-40 with a soft, old washcloth and lightly buffed any excess with another dry cloth. No real elbow grease required, just move with the direction of the grain of the stainless.

I was impressed. Most smudges after that were easily wiped off with just my (reserved) buffing cloth. Water did not leave spots or stains if we dribbled when using the water/ice feature in the fridge door. The stainless sink even cleaned up easier. Ditto for the range hood exhaust column, other stainless appliances and even the faucets and outside of the coffee pot.
I also have stainless steel tile over the range, in a herringbone pattern. Worked there too, and totally eliminated wrestling with cooking splatters.
I hesitated to use it at first, as I thought it was a petroleum product. But I am told it is derived from fish oil. I DO wash the application cloths away from the regular laundry, though.

[KatzPajamas]

Sheila Shine.http://www.sheilashineinc.com/
My very first job was in the kitchen of a hospital and we used this to clean the stainless steel doors of the giant coolers. It worked great!:D

[Uptown Girl]

Sheila Shine.http://www.sheilashineinc.com/
My very first job was in the kitchen of a hospital and we used this to clean the stainless steel doors of the giant coolers. It worked great!:D

WOW! That looks like a superior product, with no smudges afterward at all??
Do you have to remove it before re-applying? Much odor?
Thanks for sharing!

[Bill-n-Brillo]

We use Cerama Bryte Stainless Steel Cleaning Polish and Conditioner:

http://www.ceramabryte.com/productDetail.asp?CategoryID=36&ProductID=44262

I believe we received a small sample of it with one of our appliances when it was purchased new. We found the 16 oz. bottle (individually, with a trigger sprayer) available at our local Home Depot in OH.

We've tried a couple of other products without much success. The Cerama Bryte product has given us the best results to-date.

Bill :)

[KatzPajamas]

WOW! That looks like a superior product, with no smudges afterward at all??
Do you have to remove it before re-applying? Much odor?
Thanks for sharing!

I am sitting here laughing because I had the same reaction to your WD-40 use! No, we didn't remove it, just re-apply and buff it. It did the cleaning and polishing all at once. The odor is kind of citrusy. Doesn't leave a residue on your hands either which is nice.
:cool:

[Oren L Miller]

WD-40 will take a grease stain out of clothes very nicely. Spray the spot with WD-40 - put a drop of dishwashing liguid that rhmes with the time of day that the sun comes up. Magic - the WD-40 lifts the grease right up and away. :thumbup::thumbup:

[obxgal]

Sheila Shine.http://www.sheilashineinc.com/
My very first job was in the kitchen of a hospital and we used this to clean the stainless steel doors of the giant coolers. It worked great!:D

According to their website Ace hardware on Wedgewood carries it.

[KatzPajamas]

WD-40 will take a grease stain out of clothes very nicely. Spray the spot with WD-40 - put a drop of dishwashing liguid that rhmes with the time of day that the sun comes up. Magic - the WD-40 lifts the grease right up and away. :thumbup::thumbup:


That is great to know. I do alot of road biking and recently bought a nice yellow jersey to wear. After pumping up my tires, I had a couple of big grease stains on the front...ugh!
I will try the WD-40 trick with my dishwashing liquid @ the crack of ...uh...morning-lol:D

[John_W]

In our last house we had all Whirlpool stainless steel appliances which have a sort of matte stainless finish which doesn't show any fingerprints and needs almost no work. Only the dishwasher needed an occasional touch up and I usually just used windex. If I had to buy them again, then it would definitely be Whirlpool, the appliances were also really good. I think LG and GE are the ones that make the high shine finish which could be a real problem.

[laryb]

We've been using Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner at the recommendation of the GE repairman and like it. As far as WD-40 goes, we used it in every application imaginable at the power plant, so when it cleans and polishes stainless appliances, it doesn't surprise me since we cleaned 304 and 316L stainless with it. We even would wash our hands and arms with it since the rep. told us it was lanolin based and safe.(I hope he was right) The downside is the smell. I've used it to bring back the color on black plastic car parts that faded.

[mrfixit]

As far as WD-40 goes, we used it in every application imaginable at the power plant. WE WOULD EVEN WASH OUR HANDS AND ARMS WITH IT, since the rep. told us it was lanolin based and safe.(I hope he was right)


...that scares me.....Were there "NOT" any Material Safety Data Sheets posted in your place of employment ? :22yikes:

[GeorgeT]

...that scares me.....Were there "NOT" any Material Safety Data Sheets posted in your place of employment ? :22yikes:

Good point mrfixit. I googled the WD-40 MSDS. It's not something I would use in the kitchen or laundry, I wouldn't wash my hands with it either.

[graciegirl]

I use a CLEAN from the laundry* cloth immersed in warm soapy water, (the soap is that same dishwashing liquid that you are all talking about) and wipe my appliances down in the same direction...and than dry them with a CLEAN directly from the laundry cloth.

Than five minutes later, I will probably have to do it again.

AND I chose stainless steel AGAIN in the new house. :(


*If you have even used the cloth to even dry your hands on, there might be just enough oil to streak it again. Cloth has to be pristine.

[robertj1954]

We updated our entire kitchen upon purchase, new tile, paint, granite tops re-finished cabinets, Window treatments (Window Tint a must in Breakfeast Knook) and STAINLESS appliances. It makes a 15 year old kitchen look brand new! As for maintenance, we always have a bottle of windex close at hand. A few sprays and wipes with soft paper towels and they are always shiny bright. We love the look and we love the new kitchen.

[laryb]

...that scares me.....Were there "NOT" any Material Safety Data Sheets posted in your place of employment ? :22yikes:

Yes, MSDS sheets were available and of course mandatory. We had "WD" everywhere. In our stationary and portable tool boxes, trucks, cranes, etc., because it was so versatile. We new it wasn't the proper thing to do, but when your covered in oil, grease, and especially never-seez (like liquid graphite) and soap and water aren't working, you're not worried about msds sheets. What you must keep in mind is, this was a coal burning power plant, and we were subject to so many toxic things, a little "wd" didn't seem to bad. Not right, but back then when things didn't get reported, or when they did and were ignored, you did what you had to do.

[graciegirl]

We updated our entire kitchen upon purchase, new tile, paint, granite tops re-finished cabinets, Window treatments (Window Tint a must in Breakfeast Knook) and STAINLESS appliances. It makes a 15 year old kitchen look brand new! As for maintenance, we always have a bottle of windex close at hand. A few sprays and wipes with soft paper towels and they are always shiny bright. We love the look and we love the new kitchen.

Sounds lovely.

Pictures please.

[BeeGee]

and will do it again. Everybody, including my SIL told me I'd be sorry.....not sorry and I love the shine!! Pledge, multi-purpose - a clean microfiber cloth - fingerprints get on the handles sometimes, with general use, but come right off...a lot of the cleaners that are specifically for SS appliances warns not to use around food...hello, this is a kitchen...and I'm sorry, but the WD40 just sounds too smelly for me..I'll stick with the Pledge, since it works well. And BTW my SIL got SS appliances when she recently redid her kitchen, but I didn't say a thing about what she said about mine:angel:

[l2ridehd]

WD-40 works great for lots of things, but it drives the cat crazy.

[nitehawk]

Yes, MSDS sheets were available and of course mandatory. We had "WD" everywhere. In our stationary and portable tool boxes, trucks, cranes, etc., because it was so versatile. We new it wasn't the proper thing to do, but when your covered in oil, grease, and especially never-seez (like liquid graphite) and soap and water aren't working, you're not worried about msds sheets. What you must keep in mind is, this was a coal burning power plant, and we were subject to so many toxic things, a little "wd" didn't seem to bad. Not right, but back then when things didn't get reported, or when they did and were ignored, you did what you had to do.

Well said :BigApplause:

[retiredguy]

I just don't like the look of SS. I think it looks industrial. Nice in a restaurant kitchen, but not in mine. But, to each his own.

[aljetmet]

WD-40 works great for lots of things, but it drives the cat crazy.

Glad to see the how everyone likes WD-40.

My chemical plant makes the key ingredient for WD-40.

Beef tallow is the key raw material. Fat is slippery. Nuff said.

:BigApplause:

[kandj]

I never cared for the look of stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. Now that I have them I can't stand them. Every time water drips from the dispenser in the 'fridge the whole door needs to be wiped down all over.

I can't wait til we can replace them with black like I chose for my kitchen up north!

[Hummingbird]

Thank you all for the wonderful information...I love this forum :-)

[mikeandnancy1112]

Awesome! WD-40 is exactly what we use.