Idon’t know about you, but my stainless steel appliances are always getting smudgey and dirty and riddled with hard water stains. Yuck! I love the way stainless steel looks, but keeping it clean used to be a pain. At first I tried the olive oil on the paper towel trick. And while it did remove smudges, it also left an icky sticky residue all over my appliances that capture even more dirt and dust. No go. So after a little bit of hunting around I found a great solution for how to clean stainless steel the fast and easy way – and it actually WORKS.
I may be a bit… “lazy” when it comes to deep cleaning department. Don’t get me wrong, I’m constantly wiping things down and sanitizing and cleaning up. But reeeaallllyyy getting in their and scrubbing? It usually takes me a while to get around to that.
A couple of weeks ago I was gearing up to reveal our kitchen makeover and I realized that every stainless steel surface in our house was a grimy, gummy, smudgey mess. Not good for beautiful glamor photos! As you can see by the following pictures, my stainless steel needed a little help. AKA tons of water spots on the brand-new faucet:
Hard water stains, drips of old food, puppy nose prints, and general sludge on the dishwasher:
Note the lovely streaking towards the bottom and bits of actual food stuck to the front. Gross.
Smudges from here to Russia and back, all up and down the fridge handles and doors:
And finally, smatterings of food long since consumed, drips of pasta water, more puppy nose prints, and general slime and grease covering every inch of my oven:
Totally awesome right? Do those sights look familiar? Never fear! You too can have gorgeous beautiful clean stainless steel in just a few easy steps that actually work!
How to Clean Stainless Steel – Materials
– Washcloths (3 separate towels)
– Bowl and spoon
– Baking Soda
– White Vinegar
– Warm Water
– Optional: Windex and paper towels
TUBE FOR PRESSURE PURPOSES
Step 1
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Make a mixture of baking soda and white vinegar. Add a few tablespoons of baking soda to a bowl, and then carefully drizzle in a couple teaspoons of white vinegar. The mixture will fizz and froth up at first. Mix with a spoon and let sit for a few moments. The idea is to form a paste-like consistency. If your paste is still too powdery, add a little more vinegar; if it’s too watery, add a little more baking soda.
Step 2
Dip a clean cloth into your baking soda/vinegar mixture and scoop up a bit of paste. Generously rub this paste onto the surface of your stainless steel appliances, working in small circles. Dip into the bowl for more paste as needed. You’ll notice that there will be a gritty white film developing over your stainless steel. This is good! If you run into any really tough spots, feel free to use a soft sponge to scrub – just don’t use any steel wool or other hard abrasives as they might scratch the surface of your appliances!
Step 3
Leave the baking soda/vinegar mixture on your appliances for several minutes. Then, soak a separate clean cloth in warm water. Rub over the surface of your stainless steel, removing the gritty residue from the fronts of your appliances. Rinse and wring out cloth as needed and repeat until all grittiness is removed.
Step 4
Finally, take another dry cloth and buff over the surface of your stainless steel for a clean and even finish. It’s really that easy! The baking soda and vinegar paste really works deeply for getting rid of caked on stains or stubborn water spots!
Optional: Step 5
If you really want your stainless steel to shine, finish off by spraying down with a little bit of Windex and buffing with a paper towel for that like-new finish and feel. Yes!
I can’t begin to tell you the difference this baking soda and vinegar paste has made on my stainless steel! My faucet looks brand new:
The dishwasher is now streak free and ready for action (the smudges on the side are paint from when we redid the cabinets… ooops):
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Look how shiny and brand new it is! This dishwasher is probably close to 10 years old, but look at it now!
The same goes for the fridge – it’s been in this house much longer than we have, and yet now it looks brand new. You can even see the reflection of the handles in the door it’s that shiny. Nice.
No more caked on grease and general food slime on my oven! Love how shiny and gorgeous it looks:
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Now my little oven/stove corner is beautiful and ready for more meals to be cooked!
Don’t all of our appliances look great? Check out how they look in our full kitchen makeover reaveal!
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