The thought of cleaning stainless steel still strikes fear into me. That’s because back in the day we had a very large pizza shop as a long-time customer and they were fanatical about how it all looked.
They always wanted it to look LIKE NEW after we finished cleaning. And that was tough because dough was always stuck all over it. I guess they always had some on their fingers and when they moved around they got it all over the place.
To make matters worse they always liked it when we used an oil based stainless steel cleaning product instead of the water based product. To be fair, oil based stainless steel cleaner works better in our opinion, but you have to be careful about over-spray.
If you get any on the floor, you can see it from a mile away and it doesn’t look good. Makes the floor look shiny and feel slippery! You can avoid that by placing newspaper on the floor under each piece of equipment you are cleaning, but that is time consuming, but still better than getting it off the floor.
Anyway… with this painful memory in mind, here are some tips to consider:
General tips for cleaning stainless steel
1 – Check out the manufacturer’s instructions: I know, nobody likes reading instructions, but sometimes you have too. To be fair, it may not be possible all that often, but it’s not a bad question to ask the business owner / homeowner if they have the manual that went with the purchase.
2 – A soft cloth lightly dampened with some warm water will usually be enough for general cleaning: This won’t work all the time, but in some instances it will be enough.
3 – General purpose glass cleaner is good for fingerprints: On a separate cloth, spot use of glass cleaner can work on the occasional print.
4 – Wipe in the direction of the grain: Sounds simple, but a lot of people don’t pay attention of that!
5 – Towel dry the entire area carefully: Using another dry cloth: Wipe it all down again to prevent any spotting from occurring.
6 – DO NOT use steel wool or brushes: These will likely scratch the surface of the stainless steel and make it more susceptible to rusting and staining down the road.
7 – DO NOT use abrasive cleaners: These will scratch the surface and potentially dull the finish.
8 – DO NOT use bleach and cleaners with chlorine: These will stain and damage stainless steel.
9 – DO NOT leave any dirty residue on the surface: This can create a dull finish which the customer will notice.
10 – BE CAREFUL of over-spray: Like I mentioned earlier, stainless steel cleaner, especially an oil based product can make the floor slippery and shiny. Use newspaper if possible on the floor near where you are spraying.
Well, there you have it. Some tips for cleaning those dreaded stainless steel appliances and equipment. As I mentioned a moment ago, this post bring back PAINFUL MEMORIES of learning the ropes when it comes to stainless steel. Hopefully you can avoid some pain and just enjoy the added income from cleaning what others don’t want to!