Letter 4148

Removing scratches from stainless steel appliances 

I wanted to let people know that I had minor surface scratches on my Whirlpool Gold refrigerator in stainless steel (obviously or why would I be here). I read a number of suggestions from this page and decided to try a very light grit sand paper 400, I was very nervous so I tried it lightly on the side that wasn't visible to the rest of the room, good thing because all it did was scratch it more. My mother suggested that I try her Lagostina pot cleaner that is made for stainless and copper pots. I took it home and wet a paper towel sprinkled some on to make a paste and then rubbed in the direction of the grain for less than a minute. I then took another wet paper towel to clean the residue off, followed by a buff with my microfibre cloth. No scratch, no shiny spot, it really looks like brand new. I'm so glad I listened to my mother. You can purchase this product from the Bay and it usually sells for about $5.00 Canadian. I really hope this helps other people, I know how upsetting it is to discover scratches on your stainless, and to be told by the manufacturer there was nothing I could do to fix it.

Cheryl Brown
- Surrey, BC Canada

Hours of battling ugly fingerprints and smudges, and now a huge swirly wrong-side-of-the-sponge scratch, on our stainless steel fridge have made me crazy! We are doing a kitchen remodel and have vowed not to get stainless steel appliances. Does anyone out there know about how easy (or not) it is to clean the new "brushed nickel" appliances by Jenn Air? Do the same smudgy and scratchy problems occur?

Ingrid Smith
- Hermosa Beach, CA, USA

CleanSteel cooking range has scratches st the base. I know that I can't use scratch-B-gone on my appliance as I don't think it's true SS, besides just having to live with the bad scratch marks what other options do I have, would be grateful for any advice!

Sina Tarist
hobbyist - Albany, NY, USA

I noticed today on my Jenn Aire side by side fridge that my daughter had been using her fridge phonics in all different directions....swirling, up and down, side to side. I got very confused with everything read here. I went up to my fridge and tried putting finger prints and didn't see anything really, so does that mean that it is coated with clear coat or the real thing. I am disgusted!! I have taken good care of this surface for so long. What now!!! Some are deep and some are not. The grain goes up and down...... Help!

krista stubbs
none - el paso, tx

For those brown spots and stains on (supposedly) stainless steel I used a paste made of common baking soda and dishwashing liquid. Using a soft sponge I worked with the grain. Works great! Plus you probably have all the ingredients already:)

Linda King
- Brooklyn, NY

My 86 year old mother decided to help me clean the kitchen. She "cleaned" my 40 year old stove top with a Brillo pad and removed the finish. There are scratches also, but I'm more concerned about the finish. What can I do to remedy the problem?
Thank you!

Maria Warshal
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Hi Maria.Don't be too hard on Mom. she meant well. Not sure what you refer to as finish. Do you mean the grain look? and is the appearance grain lines going in one direction or does it look more like a 'shot blast' pattern where there is no definite direction? This type your can't repair but the grain line pattern you can with Scratch B Gone. Best

Barry Feinman Restore It Yourself, Inc Carlsbad, CA, USA

All the techniques listed here are based on standard polishing practices. There is no real secret to making this work. You have to use progressively more fine polishing media to get a more mirror like finish. If you are trying to remove heavy scratches you will need a coarse abrasive then keep switching to a more fine grain media. 800, ., ect. (going as far as 0.5 micron alumina polishing powder might blind with the reflection.

If you have really bad surfaces you might start with something as coarse as 240 grit.

The thing it is takes lots of time to do by hand and there is no wipe on wipe off way to do this. All these specialty products are just the same abrasives I listed in an oil solution.

David Weisgerber
- Edmonton, Alberta

Like all the rest of you I have all new stainless steel appliances. My refrigerator had two scratches across the grain so I read all the messages here and thought well I'm going to experiment first on stainless steel grill which is really scratched so I took and soaked with wd-40 and tried scotch brite no luck then fine grain sand paper -not good so then tried 00 steel wool bingo. So I sprayed steel wool well and commenced to do the 2 scratches on my refrigerator and then cleaned with Stainless Steel Magic [link is to product info at Amazon] and The scratches are gone. I'm thrilled to death cause they really ate at me. I hope this helps some of you.

Stephanie Burton
dispatcher - Cleveland, TN USA

Thanks, Stephanie. Please get back to us in a few weeks or a couple of months if you would. Some have reported that using steel wool will cause the stainless steel to rust.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Well, I read all the posts and have successfully cleaned my brushed SS fridge, trash compactor, oven and dishwasher with the following. Everything looks brand new. I did not have major scratches, but food grime and hard water stains on my appliances.

1) Wipe surface with damp clean lint-free cloth dipped in a paste of 1/2 cup baking soda and about 1/4 cup warm water. Wipe in the direction of the grain. Spend more time wiping spots where there are specific stains.

2) Using a new WET clean lint-free cloth, wipe off the baking soda residue, in the direction of the grain.

3) Dry the surface thoroughly with a new lint-free cloth;

4) Spray that last cloth with WD-40, you only need a little and wipe in the direction of the grain. Fold cloth over and continue to buff.

My appliances look like new!

Steve Tolliver
- Chicago, IL USA

Thanks for everyone's preceding posts. I successfully removed a scratch tonight with virtually no signs left (unless one takes a magnifying glass and is very particular). The scratch was deep enough to be discernible with a fingernail, but not overly deep.

Based on a posting which advocated a dried paste and some rubbing with the direction of the stainless steel grain, I began. I used a stainless steel cleaning powder (Cameo Anti-tarnish cleaner). But, I suspect any powder approved for stainless steel may work as well.

I poured a bit of dry powder into a small container, wet a soft cloth with WD-40 oil (just a bit to moisten), dipped the cloth into the powder to get a slight dusting on the cloth. I then rubbed hard using just my finger pressure, in direction of the grain. I repetitively cleaned the powder off the fridge surface, re-felt the scratch. and decided whether to proceed further.

Remarkably, the process reduced the scratch to just a hair line. After than I cleaned the fridge surface with a stainless steel cleaner/degreaser (Zep brand).

As there were slight shiny areas where I rubbed the hardest/longest, I used moistened wet/dry sandpaper (320 grit) and VERY lightly brushed...and I mean VERY lightly. This removed most of the shine and blended very well. (Please note I tried 180 grit on a non-obtruse area of the steel, but found this to be too coarse, and steel wool did not have any affect on the shine.)

I am now having some wine, admiring my work, and debating whether I shall "own up" to my wife.

Thanks again to all who responded previously.

William Graham
- Burnaby, B.C.

My husband and I had recently purchased a Kitchen Aid stainless steel refrigerator. Unfortunately, the first day we put a small scratch in it because we positioned it wrong and the door hit the handle of our double oven. My husband tried to polish it with stainless steel polish and it just made it worse. The blemish became a dark gray. Then about a month later, a large scratch (at least 3" across the grain) appeared above the ice / water dispenser. Again, my husband tried to polish the scratch out and it became a huge dark gray blemish which could be seen to all. I was so frustrated because the refrigerator was new and it was already looking horrible. I tried using the Bar Keepers Friend on the spots and it helped remove some of the dark gray but you could still see some of it. So after a lot of research on this website and some coaxing of my husband, we decided to try the Scratch B Gone; I figured it probably couldn't get any worse than it already was. My husband followed the directions very carefully and immediately we noticed a huge difference. The scratch in the door from the oven handle is completely gone. The scratch above the ice/water dispenser is almost completely gone; hardly noticeable except for when you stand in one spot (probably need to work on it a bit more) but the dark spots are completely gone. We LOVE this product and can't say enough about it. We also ended up using it on our DCS Stovetop which had a nasty deep scratch by the control knobs that no longer exists. We plan to buy a back up kit so we have it just in case. I have to admit, I started questioning buying stainless steel for our new kitchen but after finding this product, I'll never have to worry again. I would highly recommend this product for anyone who has stainless products and wants to remove any scratches; it's a lot cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying new appliances.

Kelley Allison
- Fremont, CA USA

Thank you for the very kind words Kelley. I am always heartened and humbled when I read success stories as yours about our product. In fact, Scratch-B-Gone is the ONLY product used, recommended and sold by leading manufacturers; such as Dacor, GE, SubZero/Wolf, Viking, Bertazzoni, Zephyr to name a few. Even more exciting is that Scratch-B-Gone not only removes scratches, but also all of your surface stains, heat and chemical discoloration, rust and that ugly heat scorching on the top of your BBQ grill hood! I want to wish the very best to all you loyal readers of Finishing.com and loyal, happy users of Scratch-B-Gone. Your testimonials have made my humble product a near household name by your success stories. Please see our new site under-construction at www.scratch-b-gone.com. THANK YOU!

Barry Feinman Restore It Yourself, Inc Carlsbad, CA, USA

I have scratches on a Smeg stove, particularly on the bob. I believe it to be genuine stainless steel; it is cold to the touch. It does not have a fingerprint free finish. I have tried Barkeeper's Friend in conjunction with a micro-fibre cloth sprayed with WD-50. This reduced the scratches, but they are still there and the colour of the stainless steel seems a slightly darker grey. I would like to try the Scratch-B-Gone, but can not find a supplier in the UK. Does anyone know if there is a company that would mail abroad?

Juliette Thomlin
- London, United Kingdom

Hi, Scratch-b-gone can be ordered at our website (see link above) and we are now completing arrangements through a new distributor to UK, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Once they are on board, I'll notify everyone here. We are also making final arrangements for distribution throughout Australia and New Zealand. Thanks so much for all of your interest and support.

Barry Feinman Restore It Yourself, Inc Carlsbad, CA, USA

Answer or follow-up on this subject.

 

Post a question or inquiry unrelated to scratches in stainless steel.