Letter 21724

How to remove scratches from stainless steel refrigerator doors?

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I recently, and accidentally scratched someones new Kitchen Aid double door rerigerator door. I cannot find anyone in Sacramento that does refinishing of such a problem and am afraid to take on the task myself, nor do I know how. Any suggestions. My friend's son rubbed most of the swirl scratches off with Brasso [link is to product info at Amazon], and there remains a little more, plus a sideways scratch above the water dispenser. Short of buying her a new refrigerator, which she wants, what can I do to rectify this problem? Is there anyplace I can contact who has refinishers of this trade?

Thank you,

Holly Hamilton
- Sacramento, California, United States

The first step is to determine what type of finish was used on the door. Rolled finishes are used on this type of product because they are the simplest to produce and lowest in cost. They are nondirectional and as such cannot be blended or repaired. If the product design calls for the removal of welds and the finish blended then a rolled finish is not used and this finish may be repaired using polishing methods since this is how the original finish was created. Look for a weld it is a good place to start. The Nickel Development Institute has a web site and a handbook #9012 with enough information to make you an expert on stainless steel finishes.

Michael C. Butler
restaurant equipment - West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

Ed. note: Please also see our FAQ, "Repairing scratches in stainless steel refrigerator doors".

The Nickle Development Institute info is good to know. I have not checked it out yet, but my problem is with a high polish stainless steel Kenmore range. In my ignorance, I tried to rub out a scratch with a Brillo pad. No major damage, but I still have scratches I would like to eliminate. The SS cream cleaner that came with the range has not helped.

Looking forward to comments and will check out the website.

Thanks, Millie

Millie Woods
- Alto, N.M.

Hello! I am a mother of two small children who have scratched my stainless refrigerator doors beyond repair. Needless to say, I am in the market for a new Stainless Steel refrigerator and I was wondering if there is a certain type or brand I should invest in that is possibly more resistant to scratches and dents. Or are they all the same?

Allison Franklin
Consumer - New Braunfels, Texas USA

Hi Allison, sorry to hear of your frustration. Why do you think your appliance is beyond repair. Yes, dents and dings are permanent at this time but if we're talking scratches then I introduce you to Scratch-B-Gone. Our industry-accepted kit has helped owners like yourself work wonders with removing and refinishing Stainless surfaces to almost new. Please look to www.scratch-b-gone.com for more information and ideas before giving up. Yes there are products offered with protective coatings but these are not without their problems either and once these are scratches, they are scratched forever. Hoped this helped.

Barry Feinman Restore It Yourself, Inc Carlsbad, California

It appears that the stainless steel finish on my GE Profile side by side refridgerator is not stainless steel. thats right. I found out that is a plastic covered metal with an aluminum type finish and coated with varnish.
how did I find out? I scrubbed a stain off of my fridge and it lightened the stainless steel so I had to scrub off ALL of the sstainless to make it the same color stainless. when I got to the sides, I scrubbed a corner piece and suddenly there was white. White? thats not stainless steel! it looked like plastic. I took a knife and peeled it off to the sheet metal below. the plastic is 1/16 inch. I am devastated. stainless steel fridges are an illusion, at least as far as GE is concerned. what do you think?

Mitchel Eisenstein
- Stony Brook

Sadly you had a bad deal with this one. Actually Stainless Steel is the 'real' deal. It is just that the particular model you purchased and own is what GE calls 'Clean Steel'. This is their offering of a finger print, lower cleaning maintenance product and as you found out it is a series of coatings over a steel frame, thus it is magnetic. Unfortunately this was a costly lesson. Have a great Holiday anyway.

Barry Feinman Restore It Yourself, Inc Carlsbad, California

Hi, Mitchel. I think if it proved unfit for the purpose and it was designed to trick you, then you have a right to be compensated. I would suggest hunting around to see if there is a class action suit in progress. You won't get much money out of it, but those suits are sometimes successful in getting manufacturers to think twice about trying to mislead people.

Regards,

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

Just a thought. I have 2 not so small children and my fridge is always getting smudged or scratched a bit. Why with two small children would you put yourself through it again by buying another one? I think they sell coverings you can put over at least until your kids are grown and you decide if you want another stainless steel fridge. I would never buy another one.

Carol Roth
- Schaumburg, Illinois

I have terrible scratches on my GE clean steel refrigerator. Is there anything I can use to remove them, or least make them less obvious?

Colleen Benowitz
- East Brunswick, New Jersey

You can easily buy replacement parts rather than a whole refrigerator. The contractor redoing accidentally scratched our brand new ss french door refrigerator ($2500). To replace one door cost $125.

Much more cost effective IF the scratches can't be repaired.

John Smith
- Hoover, Alabama

September 28, 2009 Will Scratch-Be-Gone work on a small scratch on a CleanSteel refrigerator? Nancy Harrison - Casa Grande September 28, 2009 Hi, Nancy. Sorry that you apparently misunderstood, but Barry Feinman, the developer of Scratch-B-Gone, said it won't :-) Regards, Ted Mooney finishing.com Brick, New Jersey October 26, 2009 On September 16, 2009 John S from Hoover Alabama wrote that he replaced the stainless steel door of his GE French door frige for $125. Where did he find this? I cannot find it for less that $600. A contractor dented and scratched mine. Lois Weber - Chicago, Illinois