Stainless steel appliances have been all the rage for a while now. And what’s not to love? Except all of those unsightly fingerprints, that is. How can you keep your beautiful stainless appliances spotless? Read on for some tricks of the trade.
The Best Cleaning Cloth
Rather than using paper towels, you will want to use a cloth when you wipe down the stainless. Microfiber is the best because it works really well on fingerprints—cleaning without leaving behind streaks or just smearing the prints.
The Best Cleaning Products
Plenty of stainless steel cleaning products are available, and some are even earth-friendly, but you can make your own stainless steel cleaner at home, and be even more eco-friendly and economical.
Oil can really freshen up stainless steel. Try baby oil or olive oil, and use a microfiber cloth to rub with the grain of the appliance.
Club soda and white vinegar are both great cleaning agents. The microfiber cloth will do most of the work. You are seeking a liquid that won’t streak or smear.
Glass cleaner is another option, although we prefer the more natural cleaners noted above. Stainless has some similar properties to glass in the way it fingerprints and streaks, so a glass-cleaning product makes sense.
The Method of Cleaning Stainless Steel
Stainless appliances have a grain to their surface, and you always want to clean in line with that grain, or you are sure to leave streaks. Being certain that the cloth you use is clean is another vital element of not leaving behind streaks. Also, be sure to wipe off any residue or liquid, depending on your cleaning agent of choice. Anything left on the steel will show when it dries.
Try keeping clean microfiber cloths in an accessible place in the kitchen. You can usually wipe away fingerprints with just the cloth if you get to them quickly, and the steel was already clean underneath the prints.
It may take a little extra work to keep those stainless steel appliances clean, but they sure look pretty when you do.
