Cleaning Stainless Steel

Cleaning stainless steel until it shines can become a real mission, and finding products that really work is a challenge.

Everyone has some stainless steel in their home, whether it is just the kitchen sink or row upon row of gleaming stainless steel appliances to rival a professional kitchen. Gleaming that is until your toddler and older kids cover them in grubby fingerprints.

Store-bought stainless steel cleaning products can be full of toxic chemicals. Who wants to clean their appliances with a chemical cocktail only to have their precious toddler breathing in the fumes, or worse putting their fingers all over the surface and transfer the chemicals to their mouth?

Short of banning the kids from the kitchen, the only way to keep them chemical free is to use natural non-toxic cleaning methods around your home.

Luckily there are several effective ways of cleaning stainless steel using harmless natural ingredients that you already have in the home:

Polishing stainless steel appliances: getting rid of fingerprints and smudges to leave beautifully shiny surfaces is easy with the help of olive oil and vinegar. You don’t need to make a French salad dressing with them… just use a few drops of olive oil on a soft cloth to polish the stainless steel surface. Follow with another soft cloth dampened with vinegar and polish to a dazzling gleam.

Cleaning stainless steel sinks: Use baking soda to scour sinks and get rid of grease and a build up of scum. Rinse the sink well and if you want to polish it to a professional shine, dry it with a soft cloth and then rub over with a few drops of olive oil on another soft cloth.

Stainless steel stove tops: A simple spray bottle filled with half vinegar and half water is great for so many cleaning jobs. Use it for every day cleaning of stove top spills. Simple spray the surface and wipe away grease and food residue. For stubborn burnt on food, make a paste using baking soda and water and dab it on the burnt area. Leave it on for half an hour and then wipe it clean.

Borax for tough cleaning of stainless steel: When you’ve tried scouring your sink with baking soda and it still looks dirty, borax is the answer for tough cleaning. Remember that borax, though natural, is toxic if ingested and can give off irritating fumes. You should use rubber gloves to protect your hands when cleaning with borax and keep it away from small children and pets.

Before you go to bed fill your sink with hot water to a couple of inches below the top. Add one cup of borax to the water swish it about a bit and leave overnight. Let out the water in the morning and rinse the sink. You should already see a huge improvement.

If there are still some stains, make a paste with more borax and warm water and scrub until the spots are gone. Rinse well. You can then go over the sink with vinegar and polish with a little olive oil as directed above for a great shine.

Cheap, safe, non-polluting and effective. No wonder the big chemical companies don’t want us to know how easy cleaning stainless steel really is.

Thanks for reading.

Good cleaning.