Are stainless steel fridges a nightmare to keep clean?

[jasper]

Still dithering about buying a new side by side fridge freezer, and had previously discounted stainless steel ones as being too hard to keep from looking grubby. However they look so fantastic in the shops I was wondering what you all thought.

When they start to look dirty just put a little bit of oil - sunflower, olive, whatever - on a bit of kitchen roll and wipe - cleans them up instantly!

You can buy e-cloths which are specially for cleaning stainless steel from John Lewis and Lakeland. They keep them smear-free!

we have a stainless steel bin and it is murder trying to keep it looking clean - looks great when it is clean though

Yes us too. Will try the oil, isn't it all greasy when you touch it Willow2? Dd spends a large part of each day looking at herself in it and smearing it with her grubby fingermarks.

jasper, is it shiny or brushed?

Ours is brushed stainless steel and I don't find it a problem to keep clean at all. It does need a wipe around the ice dispenser sometimes but I would say that as long as it has a very chunky door handle, it should be fine. We have quite a bit of stainless steel in our kitchen and it works really well. The secret to cleaning it to make sure you use a tea towel or something to dry it after you've given it a wipe. The shiny stainless steel out of which bins etc are made is a different kettle of fish - impossible to keep it looking good. My children are 4 and 22 months too (and of course 5 days) so at a bad age for smearing things generally.

I would agree that brushed stainless steel is easier to keep clean, we had quite a bit of it in our last house, Bar-keepers Friend works really well (although don't use it on polished/mirror finish ss as it will scratch it). In this house we have mostly white appliances but have recently purchased a ss bin and with DS1, aged 4 and DS2, aged 16 months I seem to spend my life polishing it and really life is too short to polish a kitchen bin!

I have a range type cooker..brushed stainless steel..and we had a back splash made to fit inside the chimney breast it is in..WHAT a nightmare!..It looked LOVELY until I used it!..now the backsplash is ALWAYS smeary!...NOTHING i do gets it looking nice and new again! ...but the cooker and the bin are ok...so maybe it was the materials used in the making of it?

Ours is brushed stainless steel and I don't find it a problem at all. The shiny effet is more so (our oven and our big bin is like that) as you do get water marks and finger prints over it. They do wipe off pretty easily with wipes though, it is just ongoing that's all.

Yes

Thanks everyone.
Janh the ones I like the look of are brushed stainless steel.
Anyone else got any thoughs?

Thanks Suew. Do you mind me asking what make it is? I am becoming something of an expert on comparisons between makes and have my eye on an admiral with water and ice (thanks to previous advice from mumsnetters )

SueW,
that's a shame - I thought maytag were really lovley. I was in fact swithering between admiral 60ADiw(white, very like your old one) and the admiral 60ADi BDS ( admiral's cheaper version of your new maytag but with not nearly such nice handles). However only lasting 4 years isn't too great!

I saw your new one in John Lewis and thought it looked lovely.

So if you were buying a new one tomorrow, what would you buy?
Thanks again

Thanks SueW for all your help.
What about the ease with which you plumb in the water line to the ice making thingy on the fridge? Have asked this before but can't remember the consensus.
The fridge will be about 6 yards from the sink - the line supplied isn't that long. Do you know if it is easy enough to get the tubing to extend it and will it still work?

jasper, I have the maytag zigzag in stainless steel and it's wonderful. I have a toddler and a 1 year hold who uses it to pull herself up and it still looks great. I would highly recommend it.
Sue W, the secret to getting rid of marks on stainless steel is to rub them gently with the scratchy side of a pot sponge ALONG the grain of the metal. Rub in one direction only as you get better results that way. Also, stainless steel is NOT magnetic for the most part. Something about the stainless process gets rid of the magnetic properties. They slightly hold magnets, because of the steel behind the stainless part. Also, the american dryers are wonderful! "hardwiring" really isn't very difficult.. you could do it yourself. Just buy a junction box and ask an electrical shop for instructions. But if you don't want to do it, sell it through loot. You'll find someone local and you can make them come and pick it up.
Jasper, I can't remember if we discussed this before, but there are much cheaper places to buy from than john lewis. It's not a problem extending the water tube.

We have a brushed steel one and it is next to our oven in the kitchen. As I've now found out, oven cleaner spray will permanently mark your fridge door - seems to burn through the brushed effect and leave spots which can't be removed.

Ours is a Beaumatic (sp?); really hard wearing and sturdy - feels well made. No idea on cost though as it came new in the apartment. Would recommend it though.

MaggieW, I think you can get them out with a proper stainless steel cleaner. I remember my cleaner getting oven cleaner on the outside of the stainless steel oven at my last place and somehow I managed to get rid of the spots...maybe a bit of grease/oil as others have suggested.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!! Mine is a complete pain and huge and awful and I didn't even choose it. DH did so it's all his fault.

Rockingrosebud, what make is yours?
I have noticed looking round the shops that there are several different finishes all claiming to be stainless steel.

It's a Whirlpool, I think it's called brushed stainless steel. It's for sale if anyone's keen.

Photos on www.picturetrail.com/annie67

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