Microfiber and very hot water does the job very well for daily cleaning. Occassionally, I use Wiesman (spell?) spray to shine it up and fingerprints don't appear for weeks. We don't have kids though.

It seems more people use the micro and hot water method from what I've read.

Microfiber cloth and Pledge furniture polish. Works like a charm and actually prevents smudgy fingerprints from forming to begin with because of the wax content.

Microfiber cloth. I use 3m stainless cleaner for splotches. But usually the microfiber cloth works fine, first with hot water then dry

I use a microfiber mitt or cloth with Weiman SS polish. They say that fewer fingerprints show with more frequent use of Weiman polish, and that seems to be true, although I am not a fanatical cleaner. I have been surprised at how little time it takes to shine up the refrigerator, microwave, double ovens, cooktop, and dishwasher. Weiman is available in many grocery stores and at WalMart.

Be sure to read the appliance mfr's instructions before using any cleaning product on stainless and other metals. Many say specifically not to use some chemicals; for example, vinegar and so-called "orange" cleaners are prohibited by some. The GW Kitchen Forum had a thread about a year ago saying not to use Bar Keeper's Friend on nickel faucets. Better safe than sorry, especially with all the money we're putting into our new appliances.

OK,

I'm assuming here that you are all talking about the SS finish on larger appliances. But, what do you clean a SS sink with? And, in the same vein, how do you clean really gungy- sticky pots and pans- so that you don't damage the sink finish? My DH is insisting on comet for the pots and pans, and I've managed to stop him so far- saying he can't wash the pots without the comet getting on the sink. I try and get the pots immediately into hot soapy water and that pretty well works for me, but he has little patience, and I know that when he finds a Comet bottle, he's going to be using it. He also wants to use it on the ceramic covered grill for the gas stove.

Help- I'm dealing with a stubborn man, and I'm so worn out with kitchen torments, that I have little fight left in me!

Get rid of Comet and/or Ajax in the kitchen and use Bon-Ami instead. It's gentle and does a great job on a stainless steel sink. Comet and Ajax contain bleach and that's a no-no for stainless steel. A bottom grid(s) for your sink will protect it if you're worried about pans scratching it.

Bar Keepers friend and a Scotch Brite green/yellow sponge.

I've found that BKF, Cameo, or Zud work well on my SS sink if I want to give it a scrub. I usually follow up with a spray of the 3M SS Cleaner/Polish spray (and then wipe or buff with paper towl or a micro-fiber, whatever's handy). The oil in it seems to help retard water spotting for a few days.

I bought microfiber cloths and tried different products -- I could use just about anything on most of my appliances, but they were all less than great with the fridge. Plede multi-surface was good on everything including the enamel cooktop. Methos SS cleaner and wipes were touted by many hear a while back, and if I used a lot of them, I could get something decent, but not perfect and not that easy -- and my lab loved the smell and would wake up and come into the room to lick the bottom of the fridge.

My Eureka for the fridge was Signature Polish. It is made for Subzero and Wolf, and my installers hid the sample somewhere. I didn't know what it was when I came acorss it months later, but I decided to try it on my Wolf cooktop and the hood above (not Wolf). I shook it, and went to pour a little onto a cloth. I got about half the bottle -- the stuff is much thinner than I anticipated.

With so much on the cloth, I decided to move over and tackle the biggest surface in my kitchen. The stuff worked great -- and I have only cleaned it once since Christmas -- 2 or 3 weeks ago, and it still looks great.

The one catch is that you have to order from them (at least here -- they may have some dealers in other parts), they aren't online and a minimum order os 2 bottles at about $16 each. I gladly placed my order though. I'm still finishing the sample bottle, but I plan to try some on leather soon. They say you can use this polish on painted or varnished wood, lacquer, stainless steel, aluminum, leather, fiberglass, plexiglass, Corian and Formica. I like the idea of having something that isn't a single use product.

Oh, their toll free number is 877-376-5474 in case anyone is interested. Even with the sample bottle, I had to write SZ/Wolf to find out where to get it.

At work (I am a cook for a catering company and we clean dozens of chafers weekly) and home I use Sheila Shine. Odor can be a bit strong, but it works very well.

With whatever you use, make sure your last strokes are with the grain for best results.

ok, and at the risk of sounding like a total idiot (I'm a windex and papertowel girl) where do you get microfiber cloths?? Are they readily available???

I'm beginning to realize that my windex and papertowel days are over. ROFL...

I've seen microfibre cloths at homeshows, hardware stores, Wal-mart, etc. Shouldn't be too hard to find them.

I got a package of 8 (orange ones) in the automotive dept at Target. I've only used about 3 or 4 of them so far over the past 6 months or so (wash re-use, wash, re-use....), so I imagine that 8-pack will last me awhile!

I have a slew of stainless appliances I deal with at work daily. All we use is a foaming window cleaner and microfibre cloths. The problem with using a stainless cleaner/treatment (I'd forgotten about SheilaShine--used it a lot in my food service career) is that once you've used the stuff, you can't really spot-clean the appliance anymore. You have to clean the whole thing.

If you just have to use something other than water or a window cleaner, try WD-40. It works great and doesn't streak. Smells a bit funky for most women, but it doesn't seem to bother the guys...

Get rid of the Comet or figure out a way to empty the can completely and fill it with the proper product for cleaning stainless. Your DH won't know what he's doing as he confidently think he's the "winner"! NOT!

I use seltzer water,works great leaves no residue

What sort of foaming window cleaner?? everything I see has vinegar which I heard was bad news for stainless...

A local high-end appliance dealer uses WD-40. He said for about 25 years he used various cleaners until he hired a guy who turned him on to it. Believe it or not, it works as good or better than anything we've tried. Cheaper and easier, too.

RE the microfiber cloths, I bought some from QVC - Don Haselett I think, and they were great. I read here on the Forums that others have had good results from the Wal-Mart and some used for cars. I recently tried those and think I'm going to go back to the QVC brand. They were thicker and didn't leave lint all over my countertop.

sraehelen
Have DH get out of the kitchen unless he can be retrained! LOL I do all of the cleaning here as DW has not a clue.

How scratched is your sink? I found a product which makes your sink like new. It's called Scratch Away. I found it at Home Depot. I don't know where you live but the link is www.micro-surface.com They even have a product to remove the surface scratches in fiber glass tubs when a cleaning person uses a green, 3'M, scrubbing pad on it and all of their products work well. I have tried them all as I own a cleaning service. There are 5 grit pads with an abrasive liquid and you start with the roughest grain and work down to the finest working with the grain of the sink. Caution, do not use this in any other Kitchen appliances. They will not be able to take it. The sink will look like new. 3 years ago I hired people for a party to do the heating of the food and the clean up. $400 later the only thing they did was to do the dishes and ruin my sink. They didn't know how to work a broiler, convection oven, or the 3 micros'. It was a waste but when I looked at the sink I was going to replace it. This product saved the day. Give it a try as it does work.

As to the day to day cleaning there was a product which I had found at a county fair when I was 21 or 22. It was called Astonish and made in England. I will be 55 in June so that was a while ago. This stuff is great stuff! This cleans the sink like nothing I have ever used. I has an abraive but after you use the Scratch Away you just use this for the cleaning. Just have DH do it as he will show the sink to all visitors. Both products are great and would spread the word.

Please ignore any typing mistakes I am having a problem with my motor skills. I do know my cleaning stuff though.

Get rid of the Comet! LOL

I have brand new stainless appliances, so the fingerprints and streaks really bug me. The other day I was at Trader Joes (don't know if you have one in the area), but they sell a TJ product called "...Next to Godliness" for $2.99 (large spray bottle). It works wonders--absolutely no streaks. On the back it says that it is a natural cleaner for glass, mirrors, stainless and even granite. I'm really impressed!

For cleaning stuck-on stains on pots and pans, I have found Dawn Power Dissolver to work great.

Wash pan as normal. Dry completely (important). Spray with the Power Dissolver. Allow about an hour or two to dry completely. Wash with HOT water and a scrubbie. It will look like new.

As to cleaning sinks, first realize it is a sink. I use a scrubbie sponge and dish washing detergent.

For my stainless DW the ONLY thing that has worked is sheila shine. I tried WD-40, and a number of stainless cleaners. They all left streaks & looked terrible. My other stainless appliances aren't nearly as difficult to clean, for some reason the DW was giving me fits. My Mom turned me on to the sheila shine & it's the only thing that would get the streaks & drips off the DW.

I have stainless steel work tables in the kitchen which I use for food prep. All I care about is making them clean & sanitary for the next use, since foods of all sorts (including chicken) come in contact with them.

This sounds complicated, but it's really pretty fast if you have all items right there under the sink:

First, spray with full strength Simple Green. This is a great degreaser and picks up fat and grease really well. Wipe it up with paper towels.

Then spray with your favorite surface cleaner (409, Windex, whatever), wipe it up with paper towels.

Now you don't want 409 in your food, do you? Take a tablespoon or two of cheap vodka, splash it on the surface and wipe it up with a paper towel. This picks up any detergent residue and probably sanitizes the surface. It's squeaky clean after this.

I have tried stainless steel cleaners/polishers and find they leave a residue. This system works fine for me and it's pretty quick.

OK! OMG!!! I know this is an ancient post but this Saved my life! Hot water on a microfiber cloth is the WAY TO GO! I may do Sheila Shine next but it's already so clean!!! Thanks!

All of the stainless steel cleaning products that promise "no finger prints" do this by leaving a very thin film of oil on the steel. This makes sure that the oils on your fingers don't leave visible prints, and it generally works fine until it wears off and you need to reapply it.

The problem with this approach is that the oils attract dust, and they can also transfer to other objects that touch the surface (e.g. clothes, skin, ...).

I have tried a ton of different products. Sheila Shine is definitely good for deep cleaning of heavily stained stainless steel. It has all sorts of organic solvents. But I don't like the residue that it leaves. I am much happier with Bayes stainless steel cleaner. If applied sparingly, it leaves a very thin layer of residue that doesn't really attract much dust. Of all the products that I tried, it's the least offensive.