Removing Scratches from Stainless Steel Appliances

A. Hi Laureen.
The manufacturer of Scratch-B-Gone is a supporting advertiser of this website, so there is a banner ad at the top of the page through which you can contact them. Scratch-B-Gone is also available from places like eBay and Amazon [Scratch-B-Gone on eBay or Amazon] .
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Hi Steve. Acids are not used, just sanding pads of various grades & types with lubricant/oxidizer. I see a lot of technical info here, and I don't dismiss all of it all as being from "well-meaning amateurs"; many described what they did and claimed success. And surely, some stainless steel refinish technicians use such kits, especially since manufacturers like Kitchen Aid recommend them.

You'd like a list of exactly what pads to use & when, and how to formulate a compound that lubricates, polishes, and oxidizes so as not to introduce shine -- and that's fine, and we're trying to serve you; but that doesn't mean that there no readers who are interested in kits complete with with materials and instructions, or that all other readers want to shop around for all the individual pieces, or even that all want to do it themselves.

Our supporting advertisers make the site possible without asking us to censor anyone else's non commercial information, so if a professional stainless refinisher wants to identify themselves and give the exact grit sizes, timings, compound types, best size & shape of sanding block, formulation of oxidizing lubricant, etc., the space is available :-)
Good luck!

Regards,

A. I don't think I've seen this, but I use Old English Wood Oil [on eBay or Amazon] on my fridge. I saturate a soft cloth and cover the entire surface, rub off the smudges or food, and then buff with another soft cloth. I keep a cloth with some oil on it to buff off smudges between cleanings. I've been doing this for 12 years and aside from the etch marks from the ice maker (which is why I'm here--ugh), it still looks like new.

However, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have any stainless steel. When this fridge goes, I'm going back to almond, if I can find it, and replace the other appliances with almond when they conk out. Cleaning is a pain and after a while, they started looking like cafeteria appliances to me.

A. Hi Lisa, Styles come & go and, as you say, this style has worn out its welcome, making some of us feel like our kitchens are soulless cafeterias rather than the warm heart of our home. But stainless steel also introduced a whole new technical level of dissatisfaction with finishes, so I share your eagerness to return to paint/porcelain/powder coating :-) Luck & Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. RET Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. Hi Olivia,
From here it looks like you've just removed some darker oxidation, but have not introduced mismatched scratch marks ... so the first thing I would try is nothing, just allowing time to oxidize and darken the bright spot for a couple of weeks.

If it doesn't seem to be darkening by itself, see Demetra Pavlou's posting about Orange Glo. Although I've not familiar with that product it sounds like Demetra used it and the bright spot disappeared in a couple of days.

The most important thing is to not make it worse :-(
Luck & Regards,


Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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

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 pads. The grey one [on eBay or Amazon] and the maroon pad [on eBay or Amazon] for finishing off.

Never, they said, go 'against' the grain but buff/pad in the same direction.

Happy scratching!

A. I had reasonable success purchasing all the Scotch-Brite pads ranging from 60 to 320 and then using them one at a time and sanding with the grain. Then, I finished up with 400, 600, and 1000 grit paper that you can find at an automotive store. Water works fine as a lubricant. Clean the surface with water and a clean cloth in-between each step. It is an INCREDIBLE amount of work, and won't remove all the scratches in an old sink, but worked wonders on my 20 year old stainless steel sink.

A. Great! Some advice I took, was to use rubbing compound [on eBay or Amazon] that can be purchased at an automotive shop. My scratches in my SubZero, and Decor Hood came out 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 [in bulk on eBay or Amazon] on it to get the 'greasy' look off. It is brand new!

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

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 rubbing compound [on eBay or Amazon] 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.

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 advice. Everyone sounded fairly discouraging, and the thought of taking sandpaper, 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 described 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, let's 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 a little more and again, good-bye scratches. So I did the whole fridge. Unbelievable. No more scratches. The fridge now looks like it did the day we bought it. Maybe even better. Hallelujah!. 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 Ware Copper & Stainless 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 than taking sandpaper 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 grain of the steel. This worked perfect. Say good-bye to your scratched up appliances. You may call me Gandalf.

Regards,

A. Sink Restore [on eBay or Amazon] 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.

Sorry about your troubles, Patricia, but getting consistent opinions on a public forum is harder than herding cats :-)

All you can do is try some of the ideas that have been proposed, understanding that the deeper the scratch the more aggressive the required repair. You won't be able to remove a deep scratch with a mild polish in a practical amount of time (it would be like trying to dig a hole for a building foundation with a teaspoon). Good luck!

A. This is to help Kristin F with the spots and blobs that she has found on her stainless steel appliance. I have a Beaumark SS Range. I am forever dripping down the front of my range. I usually wipe it immediately, but that doesn't always take away the mark. When we bought the stove, it came with a cleaner and protector for ss appliances, and I tell you...it works! It is an oily product that you just spray on and wipe away any water marks, and finger prints. I use it when I want my SS products to shine. It is by: Lloyds, it is called Gleemit , cleaner and protector for stainless steel. We bought our range at The Bay. I'm not sure where else you can buy it, but the salesman told me that as long as it was an oil and not a paste, I used to shine my appliances, that it should work.
Hope this works for you.
Fern

Q. I have the same problem as Kristin F. I used Gleemit on a regular basis, it works really well. However, there are a few big water mark on my fridge that I cannot get rid of. I am not sure what they come from or how to get rid of them. Any ideas?

A. I recently visited a Home Depot store and found a product that was specifically for taking SCRATCHES out of stainless steel. The name of this stuff is Scratch-B-Gone [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] and I used it and it really works.

Shari,
Thanks so much for the information about Scratch B Gone. I went to Home Depot . Although it is not yet in all the stores, they sent me to one that was carrying the product now. I had scratches on my refrigerator door and on my Viking range (from the grills) and I used the product. The scratches are gone and best of all the area I treated blended in with the rest of the surface. It was so easy to do! Amazing!

adv.
This problem is quickly remedied using Scratch-B-Gone. The product will remove surface stains, water spots, rust , NOT to mention scratches ... This product really works!

My 30 year old very scratched stainless steel sink is now shining bright. I couldn't get the 3m pads here in Aus but instead used 800 grit (1st), 1000 grit (2nd) and finished off with 1200 grit sandpaper. Voila! like new. Thank you all for your advice. I must say I was very nervous using sandpaper so I did a small area first using the three grits and was amazed. Oh I also wiped down with vinegar. Thanks

I just wanted to thank all of you for your comments and suggestions. What a relief to know that there are solutions that work. I'm going to try Scratch-B-Gone [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] (and not because I'm from California and not too far from Carlsbad - great waves for boogie boarding!) on my 1 week old sink. I've read their material and like that BarrysRestoreItAll [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] mentions their product blends the repaired area with exiting areas. I'll let you know if it works.

A. In response to the inquiry from Patricia about removing sticky tags from new appliances: The gentlest and most effective way to remove glued-on stickers is to use baby oil. The oil removes the adhesive with a a bit of gentle rubbing with a cotton cloth or paper towel (cloth is the gentlest). Then to remove the oil, just wipe with a bit of rubbing alcohol to cut the grease. It works great and doesn't harm the item.

Don't use the product called Scratch B Gone on your stainless steel appliances! I bought some after reading recommendations, and am sorry I did. Even with the mildest of the four pads included, it did more damage to my refrigerator. Now the whole area treated is scratched with the grain, instead of a few scratches running down the grain. I wish I never used it! The liquid product is supposed to make the treated area blend in with the rest of the untreated stainless, but it doesn't work at all. You will end up with a shiny scratched up patch. It is WAY too abrasive.

I'm going to try "Scratch Be Gone" but I also wanted to say "Orange Glo Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish" made the fine scratches disappear (which I foolishly made on my stainless steal fridge using a dish washing grainy sponge). I used the Orange Glo to polish up the fridge a bit after I made the scratches and a few days later the scratches are gone.

Wow!

adv.
I would like to thank both Kim Gallier and Randy Rogers for their trust in posting the above responses about our product, Scratch-B-Gone(SBG) for the refinishing of scratches from their Stainless steel (SS) appliances. We always appreciate honest feedback from our customers in an effort to continually improve the quality of our product offerings. To date, our SBG is the only fully D-I-Y kit available for the remediation of 'real' stainless appliances, sinks and grills. Not for use on coated surfaces sold as a clean-free or fingerprint free surface. Additionally, it will remove stain, chemical burn, acid corrosion, and rust. Our SBG is currently used by major mfgrs in-plant for scratch removal and in- field service for quick surface correction. Most large manufacturers recommend our SBG to their customers. For this reason, we take customer feedback very seriously. We are very concerned about Kim Gallier's experience and believe that her surface was most likely of the coated variety therefore the use of our tool aggravated the scratch by removing the clearcoat and resulted in a polished surface. We are always available to discuss your particular needs or respond to your feedback.

Respectfully,

MUCH THANKS TO VAL, BURLINGTON, ONTARIO, CANADA. YES, THE ENDUST [on eBay or Amazon] DOES WORK ON MY NEW STAINLESS STEEL GE APPLIANCES. SPRAY ON A SOFT CLOTH, GO IN THE DIRECTION OF THE GRAIN. IT WORKS. I EVEN USE IT ON THE STAINLESS STEEL RANGE TOP (UNDER THE BURNER GRATES). THANKS AGAIN.

adv.
Thank you Val and Denise for your inquiries about our Scratch-B-Gone kit for Stainless steel refinishing. First, our kit works beautifully well on all Jenn-Aire surfaces (not clearcoat protected) as I have personally restored several range tops for them. As a service provider company also, we have not found a grill unit or lid that we could not remedy with our kit. As for your small, light scratches Val, our kit is ideal for removing them. Just watch the video and read instructions fully. Use the gray pad and Ultra Shine solution as instructed and you will get great results. Happy scratch removal to you.

A. A cheaper (and less messy) alternative to stainless steel conditioners for regular polishing is WD-40 [on eBay or Amazon] . I spray this directly (but lightly-not much is needed) onto the surface and buff dry with a white paper towel or cloth. This suggestion was given to me (off the record) by the retailer who sold me my appliances and it works great! One can lasts forever and I find it much easier to use than pouring liquid conditioner onto a rag and then only being able to cover a small area before I have to reapply.