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Walking past a stainless steel refrigerator or kettle only to see smudges and fingerprints on them gives off a dirty vibe — but there’s a cool hack that may just change that. To make short work of those stubborn smudges, try using this most unexpected household item: hair conditioner. Awesome, right? Not only does it make your hair smooth, looking shiny and fresh, but it does the same for your stainless steel appliances as well. It’s the oils and emollients in hair conditioner, like silicone and polymer, that are responsible. In the hair world, they form a protective barrier that smooths out your hair and protects it from dirt and grime. As it turns out, it does the same when working to clean your stainless steel.
It’s important to remember that conditioner won’t actually clean the stainless steel surfaces. For that, you will need to wash them first with a gentle degreaser or a homemade all-purpose cleaner. However, conditioner will restore the protective layer that enhances the shine in your steel while making it harder for new fingerprints and grease smudges to stick. Why do they stick in the first place? Because stainless steel contains grooves and striations that the natural oils in our skin (or from foods that we’ve been working with) tend to nudge their way into.
Getting your conditioner into shining action
To wipe down the greasy areas on your appliance, get a non-abrasive degreaser like generic dishwashing liquid, or try MiracleWipes for Stainless Steel or Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Baking Soda Cream Cleaner. Rinse thoroughly, and then dry your appliances completely to avoid water spots. Avoid harsh cleaners and cleaning materials like bleach and even glass cleaner, as well as the rough end of your dish sponge and steel wool. These can damage your appliances and leave scratch marks.
Take a soft microfiber cloth and squeeze a pea-size amount of conditioner onto it. Then get in there with some elbow grease and buff the area until it looks smooth and shiny. Keep in mind that stainless steel has a grain, just like wood and meat, so you want to buff in the direction of the grain to avoid streaks. This way, you can ensure that you’re removing residue rather than pushing it deeper into the grooves.
This won’t keep your appliances neat and shiny forever, though, as the protective layer wears off with use of the appliance. For the best care of your stainless steel appliances, wipe off any smudges and marks as they happen, and give your appliance a light polish once a week. Try using the leftover citrus to clean grease off, as the oils work similarly to your conditioner but without the protective polymers. Then, regularly apply a thorough clean and buff of conditioner.
