Stainless steel appliances in the new house had me more than excited. But within a couple days of moving in, thanks to a matchbox car being gouged up and down the fridge door, seeing {and hearing!} those first few scratches were painful. Then came the fingerprints, handprints and licks {from our dog…oh who am I kidding, my boys too} and by the end of the first week I had the sad realization that keeping my fridge, dishwasher and stove looking new was going to be a never.ending.battle.
I tried a bunch of eco-friendly cleaners, glass cleaner, soap and water but nothing was making the cut – they left my fridge either filmy, streaky, dull or all of the above. I didn’t want to turn to a brand loaded with chemicals even though I’m sure it’d burn the smudges off, so I went to the internet for solutions and I came across an unexpected tip: Use baby oil.
Oil? On steel? Say what? Since baby oil isn’t exactly eco-friendly and I have none in the house, I turned to my pantry for the natural alternative: olive oil.
Read on mamas for the how-to:
Watermarks from the water & ice dispenser, fingerprints, yogurt {I think}…
- a wet cloth
- a soft dry cloth
- olive oil
Start by wiping down your fridge with a wet cloth to remove any dried on food from tiny hands. I found dried on tomato seeds. *sigh*.
Next, grab your olive oil and a soft cloth. Old baby facecloths or prefold cloth diapers you’re not using work perfectly.
Pour about 1tbsp onto your cloth and start buffing. Finish it by rubbing up and down with the grain. Try not to cringe at the scratches on your fridge…you won’t notice them {much} when you’re finished.
See??!! The olive oil buffs out every little watermark, smudge and streak.
Beautiful.
Now stand back and fall in love with your stainless all over again.
No, your fridge won’t feel or look greasy and it’s a cinch to spot clean. Just keep your cloth handy and quickly run it over any noticeable smudges {no need to add more olive oil}. I give it a “good clean” about once every 4 days. You can even run your cloth over the water dispenser…the olive oil will remove marks on plastic and make it shiny again. This post was sponsored by EasyApplianceParts.
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About Amanda
My neighbour does this and it was the best advice I have ever received. I will have to repost this, now that I have another person doing this, maybe someone will believe me!
Excellent, informative post:)
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Thanks for sharing Eva!
For future readers like myself, there are a few non-believer comments in this list. I found the oil to work quite well but not perfectly so I’ll buff my fridge again in a few days and see if it finishes the job. Thanks for this post! My fridge was so bad it was embarrassing…
I use spray olive oil in the can, works great!
Great to hear! Enjoy your shiny fridge!
Great tip! It’s amazing how the simple things work the best.
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I know, right! It’s almost always the case…
Was just wondering about this yesterday. Thanks!!
You’re welcome! Let me know how it turns out for you! :)
w ow thanks for the tip Amanda i don’t have tiny finger prints on the frig but grampie is always messy you know how i like things sparkley clean
i will try the olive oil ,see you in 12 days love grammie
Gram what do you use now? I can’t remember last time we visited, but your fridge was shiny!
If we get stainless steel for our new kitchen, I’ll be sure to try this! Amazing!
Cindy Orley recently posted..Fun for the Whole Family at Cedar Point HalloWeekends
Awesome tip, I would have never thought of using olive oil to clean.
Me either Lucy! I thought it would be a streaky, greasy mess but it works!
I’ve been struggling with marks on my appliances since I bought them (and it stresses me out when I see them!) – I’m really excited to try this!!
Delighted to see this posted. For years I’ve used olive oil on the black handles of my
frig & water/ice tray which makes the frig look like new, but never thought of using it
on the stainless steel. Thanks!!!
You’re welcome! It makes all stainless look brand new!
i am the happiest woman alive! I have the same fridge – and with three kids, I can NEVER get it to look this good. I literally hopped right over and did this after reading – LOOKS AWESOME. Thank you!!!
You’re welcome!! So happy it worked great for you too!! Amanda
I just found this on Pinterest and tried it. AWESOME!! Thank you for sharing!!
You’re welcome!! :)
Ok, It’s almost midnight here and I just read your post on how to clean stainless appliances. I bought my new kitchen about 4 months ago and love the look but hate all the prints and water drips and food marks etc. I just went downstairs and tried your method and HOLY COWWWWW …..they look brand new again and so super shiny!! Thank you so much for the great tip!! You’re amazing and thanks for the awesome information!
Angie you are so welcome! Thanks for leaving me a note to let me know!! :)
Love the simplicity and how effective this is… thanks I like you Dream and mission very much I also teach and share sustainable homemaking/homesteading. Its nice to meet you and I look forward to learning from you and blogging along side one another. Blessings and Support, Amy
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Thank you so much!! I just did this and am amazed at the results and don’t have to worry about the chemicals in the home either! Who would have ever thought… EVOO!! You need to share this on Rachael Ray’s show as one of the those “double duty” tips!
I really wanted this to work, but it didn’t do a darn thing! The fridge still looks horrible, and now it has a film over it :(
Hi Lori! This is the first I’ve heard of it not working! Do you have real stainless steel or the faux stainless steel or a low grade stainless steel? Try the magnet test – if it sticks, it’s either a faux stainless finish (painted or vinyl coated steel) or a lower-grade stainless.
Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/house/1282890-what-fake-stainless-steel-vinyl-dishwasher.html#ixzz29UbP6or1
Or maybe it just needs to be buffed out some more with a soft cloth?
I used the olive oil with a semi-light scouring pad and was able to get all the hard water marks and grime off of the stainless steel. Worked amazingly considering it’s just olive oil against a stainless steel cleaner. So my tip is use a light abrasive pad and give it a little elbow grease.
Thanks for your comment Bill! I don’t know if I would recommend using anything abrasive on stainless steel as mine scratches sooo easily! Glad to hear your method worked for you!
Baking soda and water is a good for a mild abrasive that won’t scratch most stainless.
I was so excited to try this and it didn’t work at all!! It left horrible greasy streaks all over. I’ve had to make a baking soda/water paste and let it sit just to get the oil off. I have a higher end, stainless fridge so that’s not the problem…really wish it worked for me
try pledge. It worked for me!
Tried this and it made my appliances look like new. But then my dog walked by and started licking the fridge. LOL gotta love the lick marks LOL
HAHA dogs and children – what is with all the licking?! (glad it worked for you!!)
Thank you for this!
I just finished cleaning my fridge and it looks great! Not very time consuming. You need to cover all of the stainless steel with it. It even cleaned the plastic wround the ice and water section.
I cut up one of my husband’s old cotton t-shirt and it worked well.
YES! The plastic looks brand new after I clean it with oil! So happy to hear it brought your stainless steel back to life :)
I discovered the same thing but i used plain mineral oil and it works just as well! I use on all my stainless steel in the kitchen and everything comes out beautifully. I also want to add that my kitchen cupboards were very old thin wood with lots of splits and worn off areas, they looked horrible and we figured we would have to redo each one of them. I took a soft cloth and mineral oil and buffed each cupboard door and frame and was amazed at how beautiful they came out. It’s been 4 months and they still look great, with no oily feeling. Certainly worth a try and budget saving at under 2 dollars a bottle!
The beauty of it is that you can really use any type of oil you have on hand, course olive oil is the best if you want to go chemical free. That’s fantastic news that your cupboards are looking freshened up and you can avoid a redo for the time being! Thanks for sharing Joanne!
Also, pledge furniture polish works very well. I spray it on the fridge and they wipe. Just make sure you clean your floor around the area. I slipped a few times after!
I can totally see this working I have used evoo in a lot of my cleaning try it on leather sofa made mine look like new again also I use it on my real wood furniture and it is beautiful also not considered house cleaning but try it in the shower to soften your skin after showering put it on and dry off it is amazing thanks for sharing
WOW it really works! It’s 10 at night and I couldn’t wait to do this… My kitchen looks awesome right now!! Thank you so much
Fabulous!
Hi just is it on real stainless or Imitation ?
To know if it real a magnet will not stick to it :) a trick when you shop for stainless
Mine is real. I wish I could use magnets on it! Would be nice to pop up a few pictures on the fridge without using tape!
We just moved and purchased a kitchen-load of new stainless steel accessories and appliances… this will be very useful, thank you.
Works awesome, thanks
You’re welcome! Happy to hear!
Thank You!!! Thank You!!!! Thank You!….. Makes me like my stainless everything once again….(:
Did you know that you can buff out must minor scratches using a very fine steelwool, just make sure to go with the grain not against it or you will cause new scratches.
I tried this on my refrigerator and stove and it worked great. The stainless steel has a nice feel to it now and it seems almost impossible to leave finger prints now. Amanda, do you think I could save the cloth that I used in a ziplock bag for some time to use over again before washing without any adverse effects?
Glad it worked for you! I rotate through a couple cloths and just use them over and over. I don’t think I’d store it in a ziploc though – the moisture might cause it to grow something!
Do you have any tips for the top of stove smooth top?
Hi! I LIKE your little “tip!” I mentioned it to my husband & he said, to get rid of those scratches, use FINE STEEL WOOL! (He did say if it is a BIG scratch, you COULD start with sand paper & work your way down to fine steel wool!) I doubt your scratches are THAT DEEP! ;) BUT, sand with the grain! :)
I tried this but the fingerprints keep coming back from the kids so I have gone back to the rog3 diluted cleaner it works great and we also found dusts builds up on the stainless csusingbus to keep putting the oil every day, I should have gotten a white fridge. Thanks
I guess all stainless is not equal. I just tried it on my new Whirlpool fridge and it made it look horrible. I should have asked you what manufacture your fridge was before jumping to do this on mine. I’ve never been able to keep the stainless Whirlpool range clean either. My Bosch dishwasher is easier tho.
Whirlpool says use soft cloth and detergent but I just tried that and it failed also probably because the olive oil is on there. Now my fridge looks terrible..sigh.
Sandi – is your fridge true stainless steel or does it have a coating on top? If it’s stainless steel a magnet won’t stick to it.
To remove the olive oil a spray of vinegar would help :)
Also, my fridge is a 2 year old Whirlpool.