AnnaA, thanks for posting this. I have quartz and had been using, and loving, water with just a few drops of Dawn. However, I made up a batch of water/alcohol/lavender oil for my stainless fridge, which was a total bust. Bad streaks. Back to the $$$ but effective Thor cleaner/polish. I thought I'd use up the batch on my counter but maybe I'll just toss it and go back to the water+Dawn mixture.

I have been using the alcohol/water/lavender oil on my Caesarstone for a year now. No impact on shine. No streaks on the stainless either-- it has worked wonderfully.

sas95, glad to hear it's okay on Caesarstone, which I also have. I'm bummed that it doesn't work on my stainless, but I have the kind that magnets stick to, so maybe that's why.

Linelle, i struggle with this as well. Dry to slight damp micro cloths are the only thing working on my stainless frig as everything else streaks.

Sas95, Glad to that your Caesarstone is tolerating the water-alcohol solution.

AnnaA, micro cloths are amazing. Thor polish is pretty cool, despite its priciness. It seems to repel fingerprints.

I have chroma quartz and have been using Method All-Purpose Natural Surface Cleaner (the pink one) on it for the past 7 months. Still shiny! Was recommended by a friend who has been using it on her Caesarstone for years.

I have no experience with quartz, so can't really say for sure. I do know that the EPA doc with whom I'd spoken re: alc-water spray, said that alcohol is or is pretty close to being pH neutral, of that helps.

linelle, had you used any SS cleaners, especially oil-based ones on your fridge prior to cleaning with the alc-water spray? If so, you have to really, really, really make sure any and all residue is removed, or you will have trouble getting good results with the alc-water spray. I scrubbed and re-scrubbed my KA fridge using a blue scrub sponge and BKF until all the residue was gone (it takes a while to get all of it out of the pores of the SS, but well worth the effort). Once I got back to "bare" metal, cleaning the fridge became a breeze to do using the alc-water spray.

Thank you cat_mom. This is very helpful. Once in a while I want something a bit more, especially when raw meat is involved, and I think your mixture is just the ticket!

lunalu, I bet your chroma is beautiful! I will have to take a look at the Method ingredient list. Sounds hopeful.

Meanwhile, I'm cleaning up in prep for final KM pics, & will be giving the alcohol-water a spin. It just cracks me up when 'I' get excited to 'clean'...those 2 things usually don't go together. :-)

cat_mom, here's my confusion: My KA fridge my first stainless appliance. After its delivery, not knowing any better, I cleaned it with what I'd been using on my quartz counters, water + a few drops of Dawn. Streaks everywhere, plus it became a fingerprint magnet. Later that day I stopped by the appliance store and mentioned the streaking. When I told the guy what I'd used (Dawn), he went, oh no, that takes all the oil off the surface. He told me that the oil fills the pores of the metal. Without that, the metal soaks up the oil from your hands and leaves prints. It made sense to me. So, I bought the pricy cleaner (with lemon oil) and it did indeed clean up beautifully and seems to repel or minimize fingerprints. I just go over it with a micro cloth now and then.

I'm the only one in my house, except my three cats, one of whom likes to sit on top of the fridge and lord it over me.

Hmmmm.... When we used the 3M SS cleaner/polish aerosol spray, it was practically impossible to clean the surface without streaking (had to spray and then wipe quickly in pretty much one fell swoop--not likely to happen on a 42" built-in fridge--ours is also a KA, which is the most persnickety SS in our entire kitchen ). Also, the inevitable drips (from ice/water dispenser) and fingerprints, smudges, paw prints (from our cat who is so enamored of the ice dispenser, often stands on her back legs with her front paws on the freezer door!), etc., could not be spot-cleaned. Ugh.

Using just the alc-water spray, I can clean the whole surface, or just small spots, smudges, prints. Unless my (or others') hands are particularly greasy or dirty or wet, there are rarely if ever finger or hand prints on our fridge.

This is perennially interesting to me. Doesn't alcohol REEK? Does the lavender oil or whatever you add to it mask the smell? But then, doesn't oil STREAK like mad?

I guess I should just try it for myself or go for Method, which I've heard mentioned tons of times on the cleaning forum or whatever it's called. All I know is that Windex etc. makes me choke. But then, so does straight vinegar or straight ammonia (smelling salts, anyone?).

Bean

I'm one of those weird olfactory-wired persons who loves the mild scent of bleach, and loved my old water-bleach method. But, I gave up the practice once I realized what I was doing.

I think I'm still searching for a 'smell' that says 'clean'. Mild alcohol doesn't smell bad to me...maybe a bit anxiety producing as it speaks of 1st aid and hospitals... :-)

Another great thing about the alcohol/water cleaner is you can spot clean. I used what ever came with the appliance. It looked okay but had to clean the whole refrig. On a freq basis I only need to do around the handle.