Stainless steel is known for its ability to resist corrosion and rust, making it a popular choice in kitchens appliances. When your brand new stainless steel oven, fridge or other appliances first arrives, they come with a pristine glow that instantly livens up your kitchen. By two to three days, however, your appliance has lost its gleam thanks to dust, dirt, fingerprints and water drips. However, if you know how to clean stainless steel appliances this will not be a problem.
Before deciding on the cleaner to use on your appliance, it is important to check the manufacturers’ websites and owner’s manuals. Some of these manufacturers advise against using glass cleaner on stainless steel, for instance. Conversely, some harsh chemical cleaning products sometimes come with hefty price tags and end up disappointing.
As matter of fact, cleaning stainless steel appliances is easy and you don’t need any use of expensive products. To support this statement, here are the 6 ways on how to clean stainless steel surfaces.
6 Simple ways on how to clean a stainless steel surface
1. Lemon oil furniture polish
Just apply a little lemon oil furniture polish to a clean towel and rub on your appliance. Once you have equally rubbed on, wipe clean with another microfiber towel. You are advised against applying the furniture polish directly to the stainless steel surface because it may not be applied equally leaving you with extra work trying to clean the surface again.
2. Olive oil and white vinegar
This is how to clean stainless steel surface with both white vinegar and olive oil. First, spray white vinegar directly onto your surface or apply it directly to a microfiber towel. Wait for a moment, then wipe clean in the grain direction. You can apply vinegar multiple times as necessary to remove any stain.
Secondly, dab a clean cloth into some olive oil and polish the freshly cleaned surface in the grain direction. in case there is extra olive oil residue on the surface, wipe away with a clean towel. This method is effective because the white vinegar removes all the stains while the olive oil gives it a fresh, shiny gleam.
3. Club soda
All you have to do is spray club soda directly onto appliance surface and then wipe in the grain direction. This will help clean the surface of food residue and fingerprints. It will as well give it a pristine glow. Remember to wipe clean with a soft microfiber towel.
4. Mineral oil or dish soap and baby
This is how to clean stainless steel surface with dish soap and baby or mineral oil. First, you need to understand the grain direction. The grain is the striations that you can see on your appliance surface. Appliances have other steel pieces attached like handles and knobs. Always remember that these other pieces may have a different direction of the grain.
The thing is, if you wipe vertical to the grain, most cleaning residue might get deeper into the small gaps of the grain. For ideal shine, it is best to clean with the grain.
Then, gather your supplies. In this case, use two non-abrasive cleaning cloths, if possible those that are 100% cotton since they leave almost zero residual lint.
Pick up some dish soap and baby or mineral oil and start cleaning your appliances. Dish soap cleans off excess oils effectively simplifying the polishing process. All you have to do is put a little bit of it on your cloth and moisten with just enough water to dampen your rag. Wipe the cloth along the grain of your appliance. However, for extra persistent fingerprints, you may need to go over the area a few more times. When you are done cleaning an area, dry any water with a clean cloth.
Lastly, dab a small amount of baby oil or mineral into your second cloth. A couple of small drops will be enough. You will get the optimal results after polishing as you desired.
5. Flour
Do you know how to clean stainless steel surface with flour? Well, it is an effective way that you should try. However, to avoid causing a mess, you might want to reserve this cleaning hack for the sink.
First, you should clean the sink thoroughly to get rid of any grease, dirt or grime that may be caked on. As soon as it has dried, cover it in flour. Use as much flour as you feel like. Then, take a soft towel and in a circular movement, and just like that the sink starts to glow like new. Very simple, right?
6. Water and a towel
Some of the listed cleaning tips can be new to you but we believe you at least know how to clean a stainless steel surface with warm water and a towel. Besides, this is the least risky option for cleaning stainless steel surfaces. Apply water on the surface with a towel and then dry the surface with a cloth to prevent water spots.
You can achieve impressive results by following the direction of the polish lines. Furthermore, use microfiber cleaning cloths, they are the best choice to use when polishing stainless steel since they absorb all of the water without scratching the surface.
Conclusion
The key to retaining pristine glow on any stainless steel surface include proper maintenance and care. However, since you know how to clean stainless steel surfaces by now. You have nothing to worry about.
The six simple cleaning tips are some of the cheapest methods that you can think about. However, you are not limited to any of them. Be free to use the method you are comfortable with. All we are looking for is the perfect result on the stainless steel surfaces. Before deciding on the cleaning method to apply on your stainless steel appliance surface, it is important to check the manufacturers’ websites and owner’s manuals.
We recommend you to buy a special polishing towel that is effective even without the need for chemicals or supplies. This minimises the damages caused by chemicals or scratches caused by some rough cloths.
