So last month I shared this post over on Uncommon Designs…but it’s such an easy and effective tip, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it!
We recently moved to a house with a beautifully renovated kitchen, complete with FOUR stainless steel appliances (5 if you count the gas range!). I’d never had to clean stainless steel before in my life, let alone so much of it! I tried my darnedest to avoid smudging up the surfaces and put off the cleaning as long as I could, but of course, it wasn’t long after we moved in that the fridge looked like this:
But when the culprit is so cute, there’s not much to be done about it!
Then, a friend shared a tip with us that he’d heard from a salesman at an appliance store – use mineral oil to shine stainless steel. He swore by it, and said not only did it work to shine the surface, it actually helped to keep it shiny and repel fingerprints and smudges.
BUT, we didn’t have any mineral oil, and I wasn’t even sure exactly what it was or where to buy it…so I figured I’d try baby oil instead! A quick Google search led me to discover that this had indeed been done before with success, so I was excited to give it a try! (Don’t have any baby oil? You can try olive oil instead!)
First, wipe down your appliances with a soft, wet rag. The baby oil will shine the surface, but won’t really clean any significant grime off of it. For really tough grime, try adding a little bit of vinegar to the wet rag. Don’t worry about any watermarks left behind by the rag, we’ll take care of those!
Then you need baby oil and a dry, soft cloth. A microfibre cloth is preferable, but I didn’t have any on hand so I used an old soft cotton t-shirt.
Put some baby oil on your cloth and then wipe it on in the direction of the grain of the stainless steel. (What? You didn’t know that stainless steel has a grain? Yeah, I didn’t either. Look closely and you’ll see that there are lots of tiny little lines all going in the same direction – can you see that mine go side to side? Wipe parallel to the the tiny lines and not perpendicular to them, otherwise you risk scratching the surface.) Then, using almost NO pressure at all, turn your cloth over to the dry side and softly buff the oil off. I ended up with a couple of streaks on my first pass, but I went over it again with some more oil and got that perfect sparkling shine I was looking for.
Now, step back and admire the sparkle! Ahhh, isn’t that nice?
And the best part, I’ve found that this method actually does repel those little munchkin fingerprints! (And I love that it’s totally safe for her – yay for chemical-free cleaning!)
I easily shined my fridge, dishwasher, oven, and microwave in less than 30 minutes. Totally worth it. And it’s amazing how even despite the dirty dishes on the counter (just pretend you can’t see them in the reflection of the microwave) the whole kitchen looks so much cleaner!
Do you have any tips for keeping your kitchen sparkling clean? I’m always looking for great ideas and tips to inspire me…especially when it comes to cleaning!
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This is a great tip Meredith, I’ve used Olive Oil in the past for stainless Steel but I expect the Baby oil would be lighter and smell nice too!
Thanks, Pam! I’ve used olive oil on my stainless steel sink and it works well too! I do like the baby oil – I’ve got lots of it sitting around that I’ll never use anyway, and it does leave the kitchen smelling nice and baby fresh, haha :-)
Ooh… I’m totally going to try this! Thanks for sharing!
Oh my gosh, that little face! Almost excuses all the grubby fingerprints. And yay for chemical-free cleaning!
Hehe I know, she’s already mastered the look of “who, me? you can’t possibly be mad at me!” – which means trouble for mommy and daddy!
This is a great tip! My mom has stainless steel appliances and I’m sure this would really help it shine–pinning this post!
I would love it if you’d join the Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop and link up this post. We love seeing easy tips like this! If you’d like to be a regular at our party, we open up every Sunday night at 8 Central time! Hope to see you there!
Oh! As soon as the littles are at school, I am doing this tomorrow. Thanks so much for the tip!
First off girl I’m so jelly of your double ovens. I don’t have children running around smudging up my stainless steel appliances but I have three weird dogs that likes to lick them. So i’m always looking for ways to shine them up. I once used a mixture of chili power and water to try and break the habit…worst decision ever. I’d love for you to come over and link this up to our party
I love this tip and it has worked well for me, except I use olive oil. I too am amazed and excited that it helps to repel little fingerprints. I used this in my sink and it helped to repel food bits for a while too.
Ahhh, so excited when I read this post! I’ve been looking for something just like this for my appliances! THANKS!!
Hi, Meredith! Thank you for this wonderful tip! I’m guest hosting Do Tell Tuesday this week and I selected your post as one of my features! http://www.averagebutinspired.com/2014/03/extra-special-post-im-guest-hosting-do.html
I agree, the best part is you clean it without any toxic chemicals. Appliance Art
Hey, great share….
Thanks for sharing these amazing tips to shine stainless steel appliances.If you own a stainless steel appliance, you know that it rarely ever lives up to its name. It is hardly ever stainless! I don’t remember a time when finger print marks and water stains did not decorate the surfaces of my dishwasher, oven and refrigerator.
Your post is definitely going to reduce my misery. Thank you once again for posting this article.
Keep sharing more…
Cheers!!
It’s interesting to hear your method of cleaning stainless steel. Does the baby oil you use leave any sort of residue on the steel, or not at all? We have a ton of appliances that are stainless steel, so we want to find the best way to keep them looking spic and spam!
Cute little girl! And a great tips for cleaning stainless steel. Thanks and keep up the good work on your blog!
Thanks Cindy!! :-)
I just purchased Weiman today because I did a search for stainless steel cleaning yesterday, and many people endorsed it. This have had to replace our range, dishwasher, and in the process of locating a refrigerator. It’s crazy how difficult it is finding available appliances these days. I had an all white kitchen with wonderful white appliances since 1998, and we had to go with stainless steel because of availability. I’m going to use this cleaner tomorrow, and hope it keeps down the smudges and fingerprints.