Average But Inspired

Inspiring creativity at home.

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The Secret to Making Your Stainless Steel Shine!

**Thank you to Viva Vantage and Walmart for sponsoring today’s post and helping me make my stainless steel sparkle and shine!**

 Hello, friends!

When we remodeled our kitchen three years ago, I was excited to step into the “new millennium” and get stainless steel appliances.  But my love affair lasted about four days and promptly ended once I realized how kid unfriendly they are.  They show every.single.handprint and constantly look streaky and grimy, even after I clean them.  Gross.

I’m not a total clean freak, so I usually just go about my day, ignoring the streaks and spots.  But upcoming visits from friends and relatives prompted a closer cleaning of my home, including my appliances.  And I’m happy to report that, in the process, I found the solution to the stainless steel disgustingness problem!!!!  Best part?  It’s an easy and inexpensive solution.

First off, you need some olive oil.  Yep, plain old olive oil.

Next, you need some super high-quality paper towels like Viva Vantage paper towels, which are available at Walmart.  I used to be a generic, store brand paper towel girl myself, but no more.  These towels were amazing for all of my cleaning needs (and I have a lot with kids ages 4 and 2),  and especially for making my stainless steel shine.
For this task, Viva Vantage paper towels are definitely the best choice because:
  • their thickness and sponge-like absorbency is essential for containing the olive oil.  Trust me, you don’t want that all over your hands while you’re trying to clean;
  • Viva Vantage paper towels also have a special V-Flex Weave, which gives them superior stretch and scrubbing power – perfect for removing stuck-on messes; and
  • they have perforations, which allow you to select the perfect size towel for your task, big or small.
So, pour a generous amount of olive oil on your paper towel and get to work!
Don’t believe me that this will make a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE on your appliances?  Here’s an “in progress” comparison for you!
The one small section of Viva Vantage towels I used held up through several applications of olive oil and repeated scrubbing of a strange peanut butter-like substance on my refrigerator’s handles.  I even used the same piece to shine my dishwasher and oven!
My old paper towels would have shredded apart after even a minute of scrubbing, and my refrigerator would look NOTHING like it does now!

Moral of the story:  don’t let handprints and unidentified substances mar the beauty of your appliances; pick up some olive oil and Viva Vantage paper towels next time you’re at Walmart or Walmart.com and make your stainless sparkle and shine!

– Bre

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Comments

    • Hi Kristi! I know – it is seriously nuts. So I had heard that people use baby oil but I didn’t have any. I figured why not give the olive oil a try and it worked like a charm! You definitely need to make sure there’s not any leftover on top of the finish, but if you do that, you’re good to go!

  2. I have stainless appliances too, and every single one of them has dirty little boy paw prints all over them! I’ve never heard of using olive oil, but I’m going to try it!! I’ll check out those paper towels too! Thanks Bre!! -Amy

    Reply

    • Amy it’s like they’re drawn to the appliances, aren’t they? Handprints and goop everywhere!!! I was in awe when I tried this. The appliances haven’t looked this good since we got them installed. Yay!

  4. I never would have thought to use olive oil. I put stainless appliances in my old house and promptly hated them as well. Constant fingerprints! I laugh when I watch house hunting shows and see how much everyone wants them. My new house? Black…

    Reply

    • Seana – OMG – we have the same mind!! In an earlier draft of this post I literally referenced House Hunters and how I laughed at people and their NEED for stainless steel! So funny!!! Thanks for your note, friend!

  5. Ok, seriously? I’ve been living with these ugly streaks for so long and the miracle cure is OLIVE OIL! I feel like a dummy. It’s great that it’s such a quick and easy fix. I’ll be trying this out this out, for sure.

    Reply

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