Cleaning Tip Tuesday: Cleaning Stainless Steel

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This post has been sponsored by Casabella. All opinions are 100% my own.

I am pumped! We just got ourselves a brand new, stainless steel dishwasher! Our old one was no longer cleaning our dishes: Fifty percent of the time, the soap didn’t dissolve, so we were left with a hard clump in the dispenser, the brackets that held the racks in place kept breaking… and if none of that sounds like reason enough to be annoyed, it was also growing weird, slime-y orange stuff inside. (Totally gross!)

After ranting for years (’cause that’s always helpful), my husband calls and asks if I’m ready to bring home a new dishwasher. (Ummm… Let me think on that…) He had found a high-quality, name-brand dishwasher, on sale, because it had been the floor model. Since we are not fans of our current creamy-colored appliances, we went with stainless steel.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have been asked about cleaning stainless steel, but I never had the answer because I didn’t have any stainless steel to work with. Now that I actually had some, I was ready to figure out the best way to keep it clean.

Here’s What You’ll Need

Microfiber Cloth for Stainless Steel
Clean, Dry, Lint-Free Cloth (I used a clean Dish Towel)
Olive Oil

If you’ve been around this blog at all then you know I try to steer clear of store-bought cleaning products that bring toxins into our home. Instead, I either make my own, or use products that don’t require household cleaners, like microfiber. When I discovered that Casabella made a microfiber cloth specifically for stainless steel, I was excited to give it a try because all that is required is water… no harmful chemicals 🙂

Directions

Stainless Steel is notorious for attracting fingerprints, but this cloth cleans them right up. Simply add water to the cloth, wring it out, and wipe down the stainless steel. When it comes to stainless steel, make sure you are wiping with the grain.

You do not want water drying onto the stainless steel because this will create watermarks. Instead, grab a clean towel, or cloth, and dry it off; again, wiping with the grain.

To polish up the stainless steel, and prevent immediate fingerprints from taking over your appliance again, add a little olive oil to your dry towel/cloth and wipe it onto your appliance. (With the grain 🙂 ). Please note: You are not smothering your appliance in olive oil, this should be a minimal amount. Once you’ve covered the whole appliance, go back over it with your dry towel (not the part with olive oil), and buff your appliance (Say it with me… “With the grain.”)

Let’s take a look at where this stainless steel dishwasher started, shall we?

… and now…

So much better, right???

One more quick note, if you do not yet have a cleaning caddy, I highly recommend you stock up this spring. They are so wonderful. I used to try carrying my toilet brush, cleaners, cloths, and sponges with me in one armload. (Since I’m rather klutzy, this was not a good idea.) This 4 gallon storage caddy is a life-saver. It holds everything I need for getting my house clean, and I don’t risk falling down the stairs… although, knowing me, it could still happen 🙂

Are you getting geared up for spring cleaning? Head over to Casabella’s Spring Cleaning page to find cleaning checklists and information on the best cleaning tools to get your home ready for spring.