Letter 4148

Removing scratches from stainless steel appliances 

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Q. I just built a house and stocked the kitchen with stainless steel appliances. I have two problems:

(1) my stainless steel range hood (Best by Broan) had some aerosol insulation foam stuck to it, so I made the mistake of attempting to buff it clean with the rough green side of one of those kitchen sponges. Needless to say, it left a mark which sticks out because it is shinier and the grain is coarser then the factory finish.

(2) my stainless steel cooktop is accumulating some minor "against the grain" scratches from pots and pans and such.

what are my options for fixing these blemishes or making them less noticeable. any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony K [name deleted for privacy]
- Bolton, CT USA

A. Brush stainless steel comes in various finishes. No. 3 and No. 4 are typical. These finishes are hard to repair when scratches appear. Another brush finish is the HairLine finish. The advantage of this finish is that the grain is continuous and runs the length of the sheet. The importance of continuous long grain HairLine finish is to allow for repair of minor scratches. One can easily repair scratches using the proper grit 80-120 abrasive pads or sandpaper and sand the length of the grain until the scratches are removed. Hope this helps. Mike Michael Liu Taylor    specialty stainless steel distributor Dallas, Texas

Ed. note: 80-120 grit sandpapers at Rockler.

. A. Tony, A Company in our neck of the woods, New Tech Sheet Metal, are mainly fabricators of h.d. stainless kitchen equipment. They also happen to be Ballard Power's sole s.s. fabricator, too, which might mean something to you. To remove scratches, they use 3-M's Scotchbrite pads. The coarser grey one and the finer maroon or purple coloured lighter pad for finishing off. Never, they said, go 'against' the grain but buff/pad in the same direction. Happy scratching! Freeman Newton - White Rock, B.C. Canada

Ed. note: We think these pads from Eastwood are of the recommended courseness, but haven't tried them. If you have, please offer feedback.

Q. Hello,

I was reading some of the responses to the problem with a scratched appliance. I have an Amana Stainless Steel Fridge. I used a cloth on it that evidently it was not soft enough. I put the conditioner on it, and it does look a little better, but I can still see the scratches. It is a full sheet. You, can see the grain that runs all the way down from top to bottom. Do you know of anything that can help me.

Mandy W [name deleted for privacy]
- Clinton, N.C., USA

A. Great! Some advice I took, was to use Rubbing Compound [adv. 3M liquid compound] that can be purchased at an automotive shop. My scratches in my SubZero, and Decor Hood came with a little elbow grease. Just make sure that you rub in the same direction of the grain, and buff with a soft cloth. I ended up spraying vinegar to get the 'greasy' look off. It is brand new!

Sheree R [name deleted for privacy]
- Tucson, AZ, USA

A. I would like to thank Mr. Freeman Newton from White Rock Canada for sharing his knowledge about getting scratches out of stainless steel with 3M scotch brand grey and maroon pads. My husband and I tried this and our stainless steel sink looks brand new again!! Our sink does have tiny grooves that all go one way which made this process possible as long as you move the pads in the same direction of the grain in the steel. Thank You! Thank You!

Loretta S [name deleted for privacy]
- Corralitos, CA, USA

A. I had the same problem but I found a local stainless steel company that sells kits that remove these scratches. It worked really well for me.

Good luck

Jamie C [name deleted for privacy]
- Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

A. I too have stainless steel appliances and did the same silly green scotch brite pad clean up on my Kenmore Elite SS fridge. Needless to say presto it looked like the chrome bumper on my 1970 Datsun Conv.

The remedy: Use Car 3M liquid compound between 1000-1200 grit. Rub in same direction as the grain of the brushed steel and use LOTS of elbow grease. This will take a while but the hard work will pay off and the SS will look like new. Use Vinegar to remove the grease from the compound and see the final product.

Good Luck.

Jason R [name deleted for privacy]
- Clovis, NM, USA

A. I have found the answer to removing scratches from stainless steel appliances. I have kitchenaid Superba, Fridge, Stove, Microwave, Dishwasher, and ovens. They are all stainless steel.

On a recent visit to our home, my mother-in-law thought she would help us out, by cleaning some of these appliances. Unfortunately she used the scouring side of our sponges to do this. Needless to say (and trust me, I didn't say anything to my mother-in-law. She's my wife's mother. I'm not an idiot)I just about flipped when I saw how scratched everything was. The worst was the fridge. I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that we would just have to live with our now scratched appliances. I came here and to other sites,seeking advise. Everyone sounded fairly discouraging, and the thought of taking sand paper, any grade, to my fridge sounded nauseating. Call me a pessimist. I even called Kitchenaid. They basically said there really is nothing you can do. Not so. I am here to tell you that!

I am now living scratch free! Years ago, maybe three, while shopping at a Williams-Sonoma store, I purchased a copper and stainless steel cleaning solution. It is intended to be used on pots and pans. It is describe on the label as an "easy to use creamy paste." I knew it worked well on our pots and pans, and that it really is easy to use, so I thought, what the heck, lets try a small part of the fridge and see what happens. I found the most obscure section of our fridge, applied a little, with the grain and cleaned it off. Amazingly, the scratches were gone. So, I did and little more and again, good-bye scratches. So I did the whole fridge. Un-believable. No more scratches. The fridge now looks like it did the day we bought it. Maybe even better. Hellalugiah!!!!! (sp). I cannot recommend this stuff higher. I am not kidding, the scratches are gone and the stainless steel looks perfect. The paste is made by REVERE. It is intended to be used on REVERE pots and pans, but I kid you not USE it on your appliances. You will thank me. So basically it is called REVERE Copper and Stainless Steel Cleaner. I have a 7 oz jar. It is made by Corning. Trust me on this. You will not be disappointed and, it is a lot more palatable then taking sand paper to your appliances. The paste has a bit of a gritty texture to it. The directions say to apply it in a circular motion. Out of fear of making further circular scratches, I chose to apply with the the grain of the steel. This worked perfect. Say good-bye to your scratched up appliances. You may call me Gandaff. Regards, Cary Auwaerter - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

A. Scratch Away Sink Restore Kit removes scratches and damage caused by utensils, pots and pans, non-woven cleaners and steel wool. Damage is removed, not filled in. Leaves sinks with an attractive, uniform finish that holds up much longer than anything on today's market.

Dan Lombardi
- Alden, NY, USA

Q. I am writing in response to Cary's message regarding the Revere cleaner I just ordered some online and I was wondering if you could give me any tips on the best way to use it, I have some scratches that go against the grain on my new refrigerator and I am trying to remove them before I get the workers who caused them to replace them all together......I would appreciate your help on this!

Theresa D [name deleted for privacy]
- Temecula, CA

Q. I haven't had a problem with scratches, but recently have noticed that all of my stainless appliances are spotting. Not water spots, but areas (that seem to be growing in number!) that are lighter than the rest of the finish. Some look like drips and others just blobs. I've always been super careful with the cleaning products I use and have had the appliances for 2+ years so can't figure out what happened to cause this problem. Help!

Kristin F [name deleted for privacy]
- St. Louis, MO, USA

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