ohhh, that's terrible. I use Norwex cleaning paste on a damp micro fiber cloth. Good luck

I agree with rococogirl when it comes to cleaning stainless ... I stay away from anything that has an abrasive in it. If I'm not POSITIVE the cleaner won't scratch, I don't use it. I have two "stainless" appliances in my kitchen that are unlike any stainless I have ever seen.

I've seen quite a few posts here about cleaning service people damaging things with their cleaners. I guess the lesson for the rest of us is to provide the service with the cleaners you want them to use.

thank you all for your replies. They help a lot.
You'll be surprised to hear that the person who sold us the appliances told me that Flitz was her favorite stainless product, which is why I bought it. Also, the cleaning crew brought me a whole supply of yellow/green scrubbie sponges. Lastly, yesterday morning I woke up thinking I need to make a plan for what products to use where and then a few hours later in a moment of panic....I made that horrible mistake. I wrote to Flitz to see what they have to say as well. I have also since found out that the instructions for using Flitz are not like the average stainless cleaner. Needless to say, I will be more careful.

IMO, I think the most important point to be made here is, as mboston points out, all stainless is not created equal. Even though KA customer service told me that my refrigerator does not have a coating on it, they are misinformed. The finish will scratch exactly like an automotive paint finish. And if you look very closely, you can see that it does have some sort of clear coat which can also be felt. Same with my dishwasher. Both are called "stainless steel" by Kitchenaid. Interestingly, they recommend one cleaner only, and it is a non-abrasive polish. I have found that fairly often, the people working in customer service really don't know all that much about the products they are selling. If you really want to be sure about the appropriateness of a product, test it yourself on an inconspicuous area. What works for one person on THEIR stainless may damage YOUR stainless.

Thanks to someone who posted the only way they clean their stainless steel appliances on this forum is by wiping with a microfiber cloth wet and wrung out with hot water, then go behind with a dry microfiber cloth and dry. This is the only method I use and it works just great. The delivery guys did tell me to never ever use windex or any cleaner with ammonia in it because it would leave a purplish color on the stainless and it would never come out... just fyi.

plumberry -- Take this up with the cleaning service. They damaged your appliances. If they can't un-do the damage...they owe you. They have insurance for this kind of thing. Don't wait.

The thing is with stainless appliances is that some are are actual stainless and some are stainless finish. It's just like faucets.

The good news is that the electroplating process is excellent and durable but the finishes often are coatings -- not integral. A very fine coating but -- as jellytoast observed -- it's like automotive paint in a way.

But that's not true for all appliances. Some are actually sheet stainless. So there's no one-for-all solution.

Flitz is an excellent polish for removing tarnish but there's no reason to use that on stainless and certainly not on appliances.

This is just crazy! How about the woman here with the sandpaper method. She uses it on her range too. Wonder how old that clip is. How in the world do you get baked on stuff off of a cooktop like this? Micro & water doesn't sound plausible.

It's so easy to try to fix something in a panic! Don't beat yourself up. I'd be calling Flitz if this is made for SS. Check cleaning instructions from the manufacturer too. What brand model is this?

So sorry. Hope it can be corrected soon. Terribly distressing.

rococogurl, that explains it!! When my fridge was scratched, the "stainless" came completely off and it was black underneath! I think it is criminal that Kitchenaid calls this "stainless steel."

Thanks to someone who posted the only way they clean their stainless steel appliances on this forum is by wiping with a microfiber cloth wet and wrung out with hot water, then go behind with a dry microfiber cloth and dry.

If only that would work for me. My DH's handprints are impervious to that technique. The only thing I find that cleans my stainless is Sheila Shine which smells like WD-40!

I successfully used WD-40 on my Samsung fridge, the stainless had a good heavy feel and it cleaned easily. Now I have a brand new Electrolux and it feels like it is made of aluminum foil. Not only is it difficult to get finger prints off it but I am also afraid it might dent easily.

I would contact the appliance store. You would never have purchased that product without their recommendation. They must have a service provider that takes care of minor scratches incurred on occasional deliveries. I wouldn't try anything for fear of making matters worse.

I would contact the appliance store too if they recommended the Flitz cleaner. I don't think the cleaning person is at fault if they used a product made for SS. I mean really. It sounds like you even supplied it to them. It's hard to imagine you can't use cleaning products on these things. Windex is too harsh now? Something is very wrong with this picture.

Sheila Shine is the only thing that works for me. I have a KA FD fridge that I had tried everything before and nothing ever worked. I am so thankful to the poster here on GW who recommended it. Life changing...

"Life changing..."

Lol, sounds so funny. First world problems. Time for some news.

If it rusted, its really cheap stainless.

And if they're that cheap, take it up with the store to send them back where they came from.

Scratches on your MW can be shined back with wet/dry sandpaper. The finest possible, you wet it and rub gently. It will not scratch and is used by auto paint guys to bring out the final sheen. I use it on my sink without any change in stainless finish.

Do you know if your cleaner actually used the product or did she say she did and perhaps something else was done? I can't imagine having this happen and would pursue her a bit more as to what was done. This sounds like something very harsh was used, never heard of stainless rusting....good or best of the best.

"plumberry -- Take this up with the cleaning service. They damaged your appliances. If they can't un-do the damage...they owe you. They have insurance for this kind of thing. Don't wait."

This is excellent advice. I was paid by a cleaning company for the damage their employees did when I refinished the stainless steel cooktop.

If the cleaning service uses the products that you provide to them, how is it their fault if the product damages the finish? Maybe I misunderstood the OP, but I thought she said she purchased the product because it was recommended to her by the salesperson at the appliance dealer ... ?

snookums2, just trying to help someone. My exaggerated comment only referred to cleaning the kitchen.

Gr8day, I just commented because it made me lol. I can totally understand it making life so much easier. Don't like smudges either. It just sounds so funny!

Try the product on an inconspicuous area to see if it does that for you. I can't see how it is their fault if the product is made for cleaning stainless. That's not negligence or carelessness.

If you paid with a CC, you might have some recourse on getting them replaced.

By whom?

I don't see how this is the cleaning lady's fault. I would call the appliance store first.

I'm so happy to have read this thread, reminding me not to fall for 'fashion' over function. Life's too short to spend any of it polishing fingerprints off the exteriors of kitchen appliances.

Hey, be careful with any sanding of stainless. Sure, you can get 300 grit (I have some) and it's so fine you almost don't feel any resistance. BUT if you sand one area, you'll need to sand the whole thing or you'll just have a dull spot instead of a scratch.

In restaurants, we used to just use club soda and a rag. The only things club soda actually DOES work on is red wine and stainless. No, not grease (water on grease?) not catsup, not hairballs.

I'd also talk to your vendor. It would have been my very first step.
Good luck!

Talk to the cleaning company!

You can try Wenol, gloved hands (Wenol will turn your hands black), a microfiber cloth, and patience. Wenol is very gentle while cleaning metals and also polishes. A little goes a LONG way! I buy mine at Williams-Sonoma stores, but you can find it in lots of different places.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wenol Metal Polish

Sorry to disagree with some of the posters here but it's a waste of money to use metal polish on a coated stainless finish. And again, I would never use an abrasive of any type.

Water or countertop cleaner or sudsy water do just fine.

Like them or not, stainless appliances aren't fashion. They are basic, they've been around for more than a decade now, and they aren't going anywhere because there's nothing to replace stainless.

It also does not rust if it's actually stainless. The issue is electroplated stainless coatings which -- as jellytoast rightly pointed out -- are like paint. Manufacturers went to those to give affordable appliances the same look as the high-end market. Nothing wrong with that but it's important to understand what you're buying and I wouldn't rely on any appliance store for accurate info. If there's a question, check with the manufacturer.

But it's one big factor in the differences in cost between brands.

I don't see why any store would do anything caused by a cleaning issue on installed appliances. If the OP hasn't already, I would call the manufacturer and ask their customer care department if there's a remedy.

And again, I really feel for the OP as no one wants a brand new kitchen marked up.

This post was edited by rococogurl on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 10:53

"The issue is electroplated stainless coatings which -- as jellytoast rightly pointed out -- are like paint. Manufacturers went to those to give affordable appliances the same look as the high-end market."

My fridge is a $3000+ ProLine Kitchenaid that is only one year old. Absolutely NONE of the above mentioned solutions would work to remove a scratch from it. Once there, it is there FOREVER. Trying to remove a scratch would only remove more of the finish.

" ... it's important to understand what you're buying and I wouldn't rely on any appliance store for accurate info. If there's a question, check with the manufacturer."

I did check with my manufacturer many times and they were no help whatsoever. No one in customer service could explain why my refrigerator's "stainless steel" was like a painted coating and there is no information on their website to indicate that it is anything other than genuine stainless steel.

This really blows my mind that we can't trust that we are buying stainless steel appliances when they are clearly marketed and labeled as such. My advice is to not assume that your appliance is actually genuine stainless steel just because it looks like stainless steel.

So...'real' SS doesn't collect fingerprints? It just seems ridiculously impractical, whether it's real SS or 'fake'.

Can anyone tell me the practical purpose served by having SS appliances? How about practical need for SS dishwasher or clothes washer tubs? Should we have SS *interiors* of all appliances?

I smell 'marketing'.

Personally, I like the look of stainless steel appliances. I don't have any children so fingerprints really aren't a problem for me. I agree that SS may not be right for everyone. I do like having a choice when it comes to an appliance finishes, but I don't like being fooled into buying one thing only to find out that it's something else altogether. Of course, once the other manufacturers discover that they can sell faux SS just as easily as real SS, they may all jump on board.

"Should we have SS *interiors* of all appliances?"

Interestingly, my Kitchenaid dishwasher also has a "fake" stainless steel interior!! It looks like stainless steel, but it is just stainless colored plastic.

"I smell 'marketing'"

I smell a rat.

A couple clips from the pro-line ad. They certainly describe it as SS, not a surface finish.

"The robust handle design complements the stainless steel cabinet.ÃÂ "

Pro Line⢠Series

Towel bar handles complement a stainless steel exterior to create a bold, professional look."

Exactly, snookums! I have not been able to get them to confirm what it is exactly, but rococgurl's explanation seems to be the most likely and would explain why the SS was completely removed with the scratch. Maybe they can legally call it SS even if it is only a coating.

(Hey, btw, check your email!)

@chisue -- I have stainless appliances and stainless counters for 12 years now. The are not polished they are brushed. I don't find it either ridiculous or impractical. I find it easier than the white kitchen with butcher block counters I had years ago, easier than my gorgeous white marble counters in our former apartment, and way easier than those black glass appliances which were the worst IMO. It requires no maintenance except a wipe down with hot water and a dry microfiber cloth. It patinas but that's it. DD2 has a house built in 1960 with the original kitchen. The cabinets are falling apart but the stainless counters are fine. It's one thing to say it's not to your taste -- I can understand that even though I love the look.

I also favor stainless tubs in dishwashers because the plastic ones -- plastic is petroleum based -- can absorb both stains and odors. Stainless reacts to nothing and absorbs nothing. I wouldn't buy a dw or a washer/dryer for that matter that didn't have a stainless tubs. My 12 y.o. Miele DW looks like new inside and I don't ever worry about washing the unstable indigo slip covers from my sofa because there won't be any discoloration in the machine or anything left that can transfer to other colors.

There are all kinds of different grades of stainless. Perhaps someone here has the particulars on that -- I don't.

These days, sadly, marketing often passes for fact. It would be great to know which lines are made with sheet stainless and which have a coating. deeageaux is someone who might know the answer to that.

I am old enough to have gone through this SS "restaurant style kitchen" craze when it was in fashion before. I've ripped out a long SS counter and sinks from a 'top of the line' 1950's kitchen -- with all-metal St. Charles cabinets. SS reads 'gray' and institutional to me; quite logical...in an institution.

I've never had a problem with a washer or dishwasher interior being stained or passing along stains in the 50 years I've kept house.

I had a butcher block table once -- another fad. Marble doesn't seem suitable to me for a working kitchen -- outside of a section for baking. I recall a thread on these forums from a woman having to tear out her shower after her cleaner ruined it. IMO there's no place for high maintenance surfaces in a kitchen or bath -- but we don't have to go to the institutional extreme either.

Now we have this thread about SS...whether it really is SS or not. (I'd guess a lot is NOT, as SS is too expensive to sell at the only slightly higher markup we see for many moderate-end "SS" appliances.)

plumberry - very sorry for what you are going through but have to say, this is a very interesting thread.

We have a custom SS surround (around our cooktop), which is I'm sure all SS. Also have plenty of SS on the CC cooktop and a SS Franke Peak sink. I'm fine with the scratches we have acquired since install but definitely up for restoring them if possible! I occasionally use BKF and have used steel wool but really, the scratches do not bother me.

Christine - when I told DH your suggestion, he gave me a look and said they use 1600 and 2200 at work (for polishing, v. high tech). He mentioned 'crocus cloth' which I think is 800 and available at Amazon, and which I'm going to order. (I thought 300 sounded great:))

I've just realized how hard it is to photograph SS with any lights on. There's lots of dust either on the surface or on my camera lens.

And hey look - there's A2Gemini's lovely bottle of red just waiting there for me....

appliance store told me to call the mfr - I called mfr and they told me lots of water and drying with soft cloth.
I've tried that to no avail. they are also sending me a "polish" wish me luck - now i'm afraid to clean any appliance. and my fridge is huge. I don't know what to use on it anymore. i'm scared to death of all products - I would never think paper towels would be bad to use inside of a fridge but my fridge manual says no paper towels on interiors. i'm just at a loss on how I can keep my kitchen clean without destroying it first.

No paper towels on the inside of the fridge? What do they tell you to use?

Is it possible that the cleaning person had used that rag to clean something else prior to cleaning the appliances? Maybe a chemical reaction occured between different cleaning products on the same rag?

plumberry, IMHO you have a right to expect that your appliances will be able to withstand a cleaning with a stainless steel cleaner recommended by the store that sold you the appliances. You may want to contact your CC company to see if they can assist you in a resolution. They will want you to try to work things out with the appliance store first, so maybe you can send them a letter stating what happened and telling them that you want it repaired or replaced.

Plumberry, do not worry about this. It will resolve itself. There are several different stainless steel "cleaners" on the market. Try the Method wipes from Lowe's or the grocery store.

But you didn't say which brand appliances you have. According to hollysprings on an Appliance Forum thread:

Posted by hollysprings (My Page) on
Fri, Apr 25, 14 at 20:48

"GE makes ''clean steel'' which is a lower grade of stainless with a clearcoaat. Whirlpool has ''silver mist'' which is a paint finish. LG has ''platinum'' which is a powder coat. There are a lot of the faux stainless steel appliances out therethat advertise themselves as ''fingerprint resistant'', but none of them are EVER advertised as being ''stainless steel''. If someone buys one of them and mistakenly thinks they have stainless, then they didn't read the specs close enough."

Reading the specs aside, this is informative and supports experience here.

Also, I suggest microfiber cloths which are by far the best thing for cleaning stainless and for the inside of the fridge.

"my fridge manual says no paper towels on interiors."

I read this too. I can't believe we're not supposed to use papertowels for cleaning around the house. A soft cloth wouldn't be practical for the amount of times in a day you need to wipe stuff up with a clean rag. I would think sponges would be too rough too and they harbor bacteria, as would a microcloth.

"none of them are EVER advertised as being ''stainless steel''. If someone buys one of them and mistakenly thinks they have stainless, then they didn't read the specs close enough."

The appliance mentioned up thread, which is an applied finish that scratches off, certainly is selling itself as SS. I don't think the spec area of the ad listed the cabinet color/material.

I would take fp resist to mean it had a protective coat of some sort, if it otherwise seemed to be SS. The faux finishes are often obvious.

That it would be so unclear says to me that it is slick advertising where they are trying to dupe people. Stainless steel appliances -- "oh, but we never said it was real stainless".

Appliance mentioned above:

Pro Line⢠Series, $3500 refrigerator

"The robust handle design complements the stainless steel cabinet. "

Towel bar handles complement a stainless steel exterior to create a bold, professional look."

Yet it is just a finish that scratches off.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Sat, May 3, 14 at 23:52

Quoting Hollysprings:

" ... but none of them are EVER advertised as being ''stainless steel''. If someone buys one of them and mistakenly thinks they have stainless, then they didn't read the specs close enough."

Quoting rococogurl:

"Reading the specs aside, this is informative and supports experience here."

It doesn't support my experience here at all! I read everything KA has online, and everything that came with my refrigerator. There is nothing to indicate that it is anything but stainless steel, and nothing to indicate that it has any sort of a coating that would scratch like paint. And underneath the scratch, the surface is black, not stainless steel.

When something is clearly advertised as being stainless steel, I think it's not out of line for us to assume that's what we are getting. And frankly, I think the manufacturers should make it VERY clear if what they are selling is NOT stainless steel. Just sayin.

Jt , if they're advertising stainless steel and it's not, you'd have a very good case against them in the event of damage - I agree with you it's crazy. Somebody should call their local consumer fraud unit (or TV station that does exposés).

jellytoast -- what I meant by "this is informative and supports experience here" is that many of the appliances, including your Kitchen Aid, have stainless steel finishes.

I've looked at a lot of appliances and have only seen "stainless steel," no mention of coatings of any kind. These are being sold as stainless.

Yet the experience here is that these are coatings -- not actual sheet stainless on many brands.

I think it's outrageous and false advertising.

Thanks for clarifying, rococogurl. I agree that it goes beyond misleading. I've just seen so many threads here asking about or talking about what's the best method to clean stainless steel, and I think consumers need to be aware that some of these "SS" surfaces really need to be babied.

Quoting plumberry:

"I'm just at a loss on how I can keep my kitchen clean without destroying it first."

I hear you! From "don't use paper towels to clean your refrigerator" to "don't use oven cleaner to clean your oven", it's absolutely ridiculous!

It is ridiculous, agreed. But it's a function of being caught in this massive change over of technologies and manufacturing of home products and pretty much everything I suppose.

Take oven cleaner. My first stoves didn't have self-cleaning ovens. Then those came along and oven cleaner wasn't really necessary. Now we have self-clean ovens that sometimes don't work well, or fry the electronics, or cause the enamel oven interiors to crack off -- even in the highest end brands. So don't use oven cleaner and don't use self-clean either! I know you've read those Wolf oven threads. They are doing reupholstery when they should be rebuilding and rethinking. And a majority of the engineers who are designing this stuff are mostly men while the majority of users are women.

Due to media, we see high end looks a lot but need them at a better price. SZ, or Miele & Gaggenau are using sheet stainless but more affordable brands can't use it and to hold a price point. The coating technology is extremely good now (at least the faucet folk claim that) so they are coating and selling it as stainless and marketing it with cutsey names that sound to the average person like stainless with some type of specialized treatment.

Yes, we are getting specialized treatment.

Re the paper towel thing. I cannot imagine why a manufacturer would say no paper towels for the inside of a fridge. Curious which brand it is. And has the person who was told this asked for an explanation about why not?

I know that from my interaction with various manufacturers I hear some pretty dumb things from them and some things that just aren't true.

Again, microfiber towels work better than anything else I've tried, including paper towels, for cleaning in general. I use yellow and blue for regular cleaning and reserve the green ones for kitchen use only -- no cross use. I wash them in hot (140F) water or on sanitize (165F) if heavily used. Ain't no germs livin in those towels after that. And if it's not a washer where the hot water temperatures are precise, just saturate with alcohol before washing.

My brand-new Maytag stainless refrigerator almost immediately got those rust spots, and water run stains, and I have no idea why. I have ONLY used stainless cleaner and NEVER anything even remotely abrasive, so I am angry and disgusted because it became very clear to me right away that they put a flimsy, thin sheet of stainless on the fridge just to say it's stainless steel and then charge an extra ton 'o dough for it.

I haven't even dared try anything to get rid of them, so I am resorting to hoping and praying that this yuppie SS fad ends and we can go back to the more practical white and black appliances! Only reason I even went for the SS was because I rent my house and my range and microwave are SS and black, but I really wanted a white fridge.