How to Clean Stainless Steel Appliances

There are a few tricks to keeping stainless steel appliances clean and looking shiny new that a homeowner could employ so that their kitchen always looks well maintained.

To polish a stainless steel appliance such as a sink, refrigerator or stove-oven combination, use a soft cotton cloth dipped in ammonia or vinegar. Another simple method is to shake some baking soda on a damp sponge and polish the stainless steel with gentle circular motions and then use a clean wetter sponge to wash the baking soda off. This will leave the stainless steel bright and shiny.

It is not recommended to use a household window cleaner such as Windex to remove fingerprints from a stainless steel appliance. There are several products on the market that are specifically made for cleaning stainless steel such as the Weiman products line.

Another couple of tricks are to use straight vinegar to clean stainless steel or to remove heat stains which are sometimes gray or smokey colored. Using olive oil will also help to remove streaks from previous cleaning attempts on stainless steel.

Step 1: Begin by rubbing the entire stainless steel appliance with a clean, damp cotton cloth that has been soaked and rung out with warm soapy water.

Step 2: Use another cotton cloth that has been soaked in vinegar and rung out so it is only damp.

Step 3: Apply a small dollop of commercial stainless steel cleaner to a cotton cloth and then rub the stainless steel appliance with it going with the lines or 'grain' of the steel inlay.

Step 4: If there are hardened food stains, baked on food or grease, remove these with a nylon scouring pad and a caustic soda (baking soda) solution.

Step 5: Use another soft cotton cloth dipped in warm, clear water to rinse the solution off the appliance.

Some people use a car wax on their stainless steel appliances in order to help maintain the shine the appliance had in the beginning when they first purchased the kitchen accessory.

There are many different appliances that are constructed out of stainless steel, refrigerators are probably the largest stainless steel appliance found in a kitchen and then a stove/oven combination would be another large appliance. A refrigerator of stainless steel could have trouble staying free of fingerprints and should be cleaned daily to help remove the build up of oils and grease from peoples hands.