By (author unknown), Lifehacker – August 24, 2012 at 05:00PM
So, stainless steel: 90% steel, 10% chromium. Turns out it’s not so stainless. Under certain conditions, gunk and smudges stick, but they don’t have to stick forever. Before you spend tons of money replacing your appliances, the DIYers at Stack Exchange offer affordable tips on keeping steel stain free.
Illustration by Sean Gallagher.
Question:
We have just finished building a house and we have some small stains on a stainless steel door handle.
I was wondering what was the best way to remove them? Unfortunately I’m not sure what’s caused them. They appear to be small “smudges” along the handle.
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Answer: Flitz
Use some Flitz. I used to have a tube of the paste that worked really well on stainless knives. I need to pick up some more from the hardware store.
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Answer: Isopropyl Alcohol
I use isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) to remove oily fingerprints, fatty deposits, etc. Works great on the range hood (extractor hood) above my cooktop, which accumulates fatty deposits quite fast.
Answer: Barkeeper’s Friend
I’m a big fan of Answered by BMitch
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Answer: Weiman
We have several stainless steel appliances, and little kids that smudge them every day. We have tried dozens of cleaners, and the best we have found is Weiman.
The have several varieties, but we like the one in the aerosol spray can. You can find it anywhere, we get it at the local mega-mart.
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