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Caring For Your Stainless-Steel Refrigerator

Introduction

Modern homes with industrial designs have shown an increasing preference for stainless steel appliances. Apart from looking good, it resists rust and corrosion and gives the appliance a durable and premium feel. If your stainless-steel fridge is broken, you can search for “refrigerator repair near me” and hire professionals to fix it. For now, let’s check out how you can care for your stainless-steel refrigerator.

The Details

  1. Stainless steel grain – Before you start cleaning the fridge, you need to know about stainless steel grain. Make sure that the fridge is plugged out and figure out the grain of the stainless steel. Similar to wood, you’ll see faint striations on the stainless-steel surface. Usually, one sheet of steel has the grain going in the same direction. Other components like knobs, dials, and handles may have the grain going in a different direction.

While the fridge surface won’t get damaged if you clean against the grain, it will leave a lot of cleaning residue. That residue may penetrate deep into the surprisingly small crevices of the grain and sit there permanently. This means the steel will have less shine and won’t look as good as it used to. That’s why you should always try to clean along the grain.

  1. Dish soap and baby oil – Dish soap and baby oil are some of the most common ingredients in every household and they work perfectly well for cleaning your stainless-steel fridge. Get clean cotton rags that won’t leave lint or paper towels for cleaning the fridge. Put dish soap in a bowl along with a small amount of water and mix it well.

Next, moisten the rag or paper towel with the soap and wipe the stainless-steel surface gently along the grain to get rid of grime and excess oil. You may need to clean the same area multiple times if there are stubborn fingerprints or other such marks. Once the area is cleaned, dry off excess water with a microfiber cloth. Next, you need to polish the fridge with baby oil.

Get a second clean rag and dab it lightly into the baby oil. A few drops should be more than enough unless you have a giant side-by-side refrigerator. Similar to the cleaning process, you need to follow the grain of the steel and gently move the dabbed rag in that direction. Don’t move the rag in the opposite direction with a swirly movement. Otherwise, it won’t create optimal polishing results with a nice directional sheen. Once you’re done with the rags, you can wash them and hang them to dry for next time.

  1. Club soda – This is an unconventional cleaning material. However, club soda works wonders on stainless steel. You can directly apply club soda on the steel surface and wipe it in the direction of the grain with a clean rag. Apart from cleaning food residue and grease, club soda can also make the surface shine brilliantly.

After you’re done cleaning the fridge, you can use a microfiber cloth to soak excess soda. While you can use club soda to clean the entire fridge, it’s best to reserve it for the handles, sides, skirts, and glass surfaces on the fridge. While club soda is more convenient than dish soap and baby oil since it achieves cleaning and shining with a single application it is a more expensive option. Make sure to not use club soda that is heavily flavored.

  1. WD-40 – WD-40 usually stays in the garage and is used for cleaning and lubing greasy metal parts on your car, bike, and also for furniture hardware. However, you may need to use it for your stainless-steel fridge when things get really dire. You shouldn’t use it under normal circumstances and only reserve it for those deep cleaning sessions. You can use it for both interior and exterior cleaning of your stainless-steel fridge.

Before you begin cleaning, remember that WD-40 is a petroleum-based product, and you need to be very careful while using it on your fridge. Make sure to empty out your fridge along with all the removable shelves before using WD-40. Spray WD-40 inside the fridge or freezer and wipe it down. After that mix some baking soda and warm water and soak a clean cloth in it. Use the soaked cloth to wipe the walls, ceilings, and all other parts of the refrigerator.

Once you get rid of the mold, debris, and grease from the refrigerator with WD-40 and baking soda, dry off the interior with a clean towel. If there are deeper stains, spray it with WD-40, let it sit there for a few minutes, and then wipe it all down. After using WD-40 follow up with baking soda and water to get rid of residue from the WD-40. Dry it and make sure there’s no chemical smell from the fridge before you fill it up with food.

You can also use WD-40 to clean the exterior. Spray some directly on the stainless-steel surface and wipe it clean. It would be free from all marks and look shiny instantly. However, make sure that you only use this petroleum-based product during a deep clean of the fridge. Otherwise, you may accidentally get some on your food.

  1. Commercial stainless-steel cleaners – If the stainless-steel surface of the fridge has scratches and stubborn stains and the above-mentioned items don’t get the job done, you can buy a commercial stainless-steel cleaner. While they are very expensive, they are highly potent cleaning and polishing solution for your fridge that can take on any challenging cleanup task

Conclusion

Stainless steel refrigerators look amazing and stylish and feel at home with an industrial-style interior. That’s why you need to follow the above-mentioned tips to clean and maintain that pristine look till the refrigerator’s life expectancy runs out. On the other hand, if your fridge breaks down, you can search for “refrigerator repair near me” and hire pros to fix it.

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