Things You Might Not Know About Stainless Steel Appliances
We’ve all been here: you’re in the middle of the Home Depot appliance aisle, drooling at the long row of sparkly stainless steel appliances. They’re absolutely gorgeous, aren’t they? I mean, those grey lines are esthetically pleasing and they sell the lifestyle so well in that fluorescent indoor lighting. You say to yourself:
“Goodness, if it looks this good, it’s definitely going to look even better in the mood lighting at home.”
“Imagine all of the cooking I’ll do with that stovetop!”
“How organized my stainless steel fridge will be.”
So you purchase it, it gets delivered one week later, and your kitchen dream life unfolds.
THEN…two weeks later, the sunlight shines through your kitchen window and you notice all of the smudges. It cannot be...my sparkling stainless life has come to halt. You ask - “is it me?! Why can’t I keep this surface clean?”
It’s not you. It’s the stainless steel. Here’s a few things you might not know about stainless steel:
#1: It takes longer to clean
From a professional cleaners perspective, stainless steel is the most arduous surface to clean and polish. It looks really pretty when it’s untouched (like, in a showroom), but from a practical perspective, it doesn’t stay smudge free for long.
Kitchen appliances are some of the most used areas in a home. Cooking up to 3x a day in a household creates high traffic stovetop use. Opening up the fridge multiple times a day also causes lots of fingerprints to collect around the handles of the fridge. While this article isn’t meant to deter you from purchasing a stainless steel appliance, it’s important to consider this factor when making your appliance purchasing decisions. The better informed we are, the better.
#2: ...it’s not actually stain-less
Not all stainless steel products are created equally. Chances are, if you’ve purchased a stainless steel appliance it’s been created with one of fifty different types of stainless steel varieties. Some of which are actually not that resistant to corrosion. In my years as a professional house cleaner, I’ve seen a number of fridges with built in water stations inside of the door. They sometimes can leak water down onto the stainless steel fridge door, unnoticed. If stainless steel is left wet, corrosion begins with small rust spots.
To find out the quality of your stainless steel appliance, try placing a magnet on it. If a magnet sticks, this means it isn’t true stainless steel. Be extra careful when caring for this surface.
#3: Some stainless steel appliances come with a thin plastic protective layer
To bypass the corrosion issue that can occur, manufacturers have started to put a thin layer of protective plastic on top of their appliances.
This is great, until you start scrubbing smudges, dirt, and debris off and unknowingly gouge into the plastic layer. This is the point of no return. You either leave the plastic layer half gouged, or scrub the entire plastic off. This becomes an arduous process.
How to Clean and Care for Your Stainless Steel Appliance
(1) spray and wipe the area with The Tidy People All Purpose Spray
(2) then, dry it with a super dry towel immediately
(3) polish it with a fresh dry towel and then stainless steel polish
Recommended All Purpose Spray
Spray a non-toxic all purpose spray, directly on the surface of the stainless steel to saturate any dirt + debris, then wipe immediately with a fresh dry cleaning towel.
Recommended Cleaning Towels
Terry cloth cleaning towels are a great multi-purpose towel that can be used in almost every area of the house AND are safe to be used on stainless steel appliances.
Recommended Stainless Steel Polish
Polishing stainless steel doesn’t need to be complicated. Mineral oil will do the trick! It will conceal any fingerprints and imperfections for a bit. Just apply the mineral oil to a super dry terry cloth towel and polish “with the grain” (in the same direction as the stainless steel grain lines).
In closing, I caution you when buying a stainless steel appliance. Do your diligent research:
(1) Find out the quality of the stainless steel.
(2) Understand if this appliance is right for you. The realistic expectation is that stainless steel will rarely be smudge free — it will look dirty most of the time, aside from right after cleaning and polishing it.
