You might try Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish. We've tried several SS polishes over the years on our kitchen appliances, and this one is the best so far. WalMart has it.

vinegar

I too had streaks from my water dispenser running down the fridge door and thought they were permanent. I got some SS wipes at Bed, Bath & Beyond called "Hope's Perfect Stainless" for $4.99 and they got rid of them instantly.

I had bought more expensive wipes from Restoration Hardware a few months before and they were horrible - did not remove the streaks and left new ones so I returned them to RH.

It might take a few tries to find the right wipes that work on your fridge but keep trying- it will be worth it!

I have never used it my self, but the sales person where we purchased all our SS appliances from told me they used WD- 40 spray on all their SS in the show room. He said it protects the stainless , takes marks out and after in "cures" for a few days. It is easy to buff out finger prints and marks with just a cloth and keep them clean... I was tempted to give it a try, but I havenÂt.. I can tell you in the show room the stainless is immaculate and shiny might be worth a shot,
anyone else ever heard of this??

I had the same problem and just went and used Barkeepers Friend that someone posted on another thread about cleaning SS. It worked wonders and I didn't even have to break a sweat! Don't bother with all those other SS cleaners! I just tossed all mine in the trash and can't believe the hours I have spent sitting in the floor trying to clean my SS fridge!

No scratching? did you use a sponge?? I normally use my steamer and a microfiber cloth..works beautiful, but it's hard to get out water marks..lots of rubbing.

Thanks for the great tip!

reeree--NO scratching! I really was surprised. I first tried in on the inside part of the door where the 2 doors meet just to make sure, because I was kind of worried about it and I couldn't believe how well it did on that part, so I went for it and did the outside. I kind of thought if it messed it up, it couldn't look any worse than it already did, but it looks great. No scratching at all. I didn't rub hard either, just gently wiped it on using a wet rag with the barkeepers friend sprinkled on it and then took a clean, wet rag and wiped it off and then dried it with another rag. I didn't even use a microfiber cloth either, just some old ones I have laying around that I use for dirty jobs.

I used WD40 to clean my son's stainless steel refrigerator and it worked great. Drips and sticky fingerprints were all over the door.

Be sure and put WD40 on a soft cloth to clean. Do not spray directly onto the refrigerator or there will be additional clean streaks.

Use a clean soft cloth to polish after cleaning.

Thanks msjay

that is a great tip! I do use the product, never tried it on the SS..I am going to be brave just as you were! lol!
Thanks again, Ree

Krissie Thanks for sharing about the wd -40 .. I might get brave and try that too... I wonder who ever thought of taking that out of the garage and clean their SS with it... :)
Thanks!!
Ree

WD-40 does work great on SS. The only thing you need to remember is that a little goes a long way!

I thought I had ruined the stainless steel finish on my refrigerator with a cleaner I purchased at Home Depot which streaked horribly. I took the advise of a couple of you who suggested I try WD - 40 spray and it worked beautifully! All of the streaks are gone and the finish looks beautifu. Thank you so much!

Glad to hear someone else had the courage to use Barkeeper's Friend on SS! We have a stainless steel backsplash behind the rangetop that I usually keep spotlessly clean with SS Magic. It works well to get rid of any grease, without leaving streaks. However, after a particularly hard session of cooking, some grease had gotten baked on behind a rear burner. You know the type...it turns yellow and looks like caramelized sugar, hardens, and is impossible to get off.

Out of frustration I tried BK Friend, which I use for the SS sinks. I was very careful to use plenty of water in the sponge, and also go with the grain of the metal. We had the backsplash done with a brushed #4, which matches most appliances. To my surprise, the baked on grease came right off and there were no scratches on the metal. Now, I can't say that if you went across the grain or in circles something might happen...but if you're really careful to follow the grain without pushing excessively hard on the sponge you shouldn't get swirl patterns.

I've not seen any scratches yet on my SS sinks which have been in place for 4 years now. I did read on the container for BK that is contains a "mild abrasive" so I would still be very careful about using it on a brushed stainless finish.

Bar Keeper's friend: They make a few products. How do I know what to buy for which appliance? Can the big can (of powder) be used for anything? I went on Amazon and I can purchase all 3 but is that necessary? Looking to clean cooktop with lots of cooked on grease. Also, bathrooms with red water marks on biscuit colored fixtures.

I used the regular Bar Keeper's in the gold can. I also use it to clean the Wolf rangetop's burner pans, which are black enameled steel. I take them off, put them in the sink, spray them with degreaser such as Windex, let it sit fof 5 minutes, then scrub with BK. Rinse with hot water and dry with a clean soft cloth. No scratches, and the finish is bright and shiny like new.

One thing however...it won't get rid of the super baked on stains from the high heat of the frequently used burners. I've resigned myself to the fact that I can't get them totally spotlessly clean like new. Even oven cleaner doesn't dissolved the cooked on splatters.

Someone mentioned a possible solution would be to put the pans in a large plastic garbage bag, pour in a bunch of ammonia, tie up the bag, let it sit overnight, then scrub and rinse.

Help with Stainless Steel and streaks on all my appliances.
I have streaks, little circles and fine lines on my Kitchen Aid Micro, glass top stove, dishwasher and fridge. These appliances are 5 years old and I am very disappointed that I spent over $7,000 and have to accept this poor finish.

I have tried numerous cleaners but they won't put the finnish back on the marks. It looks like the finnish is defective.

I am thinking of taking on Sears or Kitchen Aid to get new doors on each appliance. What's your opinion everyone, am I dreaming that they may help me?

I have tried the WD-40 and it works great to give that after cleaning shine and remove any streaks but will not remove water stains. Still trying to fix that. I have purchased two large spay cans of WD for outdoor SS appliances and indoor. It works great for a clean shine.

Ladies, thank you so much for the great information on cleaning my stainless steel door on my refrigerator. I also thought I ruined the finish, had shinny areas and then the brush finish. I took a stab at the Bartenders as I do use them on my stainless steel pans and oh my gosh, the black dirt and grim that came off took a few times, but now that side is just beautiful and this is what I will use and now I will finish the fridge, but wanted to tell you all, this is great.

Use BRASSO to get rid of water stains or stains in general on brushed stainless steel refrigerator doors. WD is good for a shinny finish but it only conceals the stain but does not remove it. Brasso definitely takes it away.

I had a chemical reaction of the VooDoo scary happen on my fridge. I had tried a few 'stainless' cleaners that were toxic and awful. And some other things simultaneously that made black blue streaks all over and so much worse. Took a deep breath and walked away. I used a damp cloth with a puff of BonAmi powder and rubbed with the stainless grain for a few minutes, then a clean damp cotton cloth, then a clean dry cloth. Pheww. No toxic cleaners needed and now two years later, no chemicals needed. I suppose wd40 would be an ok thin sealer, but it is toxic to breath as an often used kitchen product. Once cleaned of streaks and fingerprints, would not just a mineral oil be just fine?

Baby oil.

pledge.

I use Vinegar to do a deep clean, I soak a handy wipe then i go back and dry it with a microfiber cloth, then I use a lemon scented furniture polish on another microfiber cloth, no streaks.

The only thing that really works WD-40.

Store bought cleaner (Steel Meister, recommended by Lowe's employees) caused the streaks on our new refrigerator, and made it much, much worse! Streaks would also not come off with either mild dish detergent or vinegar.

A small amount of WD-40 on a microfiber cloth did the job on the first try. I"ll be using it on my other appliances now as well. Thanks to previous posters for the suggestion!

Just used Bartender's Helper; it worked when nothing else would! Thanks for the tip!

Everything I tried, including olive oil, eventually created a buildup on my stainless. It's the buildup that allows the streaks to form. I used Barkeepers Friend (a miracle product IMO) to remove the buildup and now use a product called Milsek found on Amazon. I put a small amount on a damp paper towel and wipe - then wipe with a clean dry paper towel . What's great is it doesn't build up and seems to resist fingerprints etc. sometimes I can get away with removing a spill or mark by wiping with a microfiber cloth.

I just stumbled on this thread and I see many different solutions and I hope you have found a solution by now. I didn't read through the entire thread, but just want to mention to anyone running into this what was explained to me. I had the same problem on my fridge. Apparently the Stainless Steel Appliance manufacturer coats the appliance with a protective oil that obviously eventually wears off in certain spots. I tried several cleaners without success and began thinking the problem was a leak in the seal of my fridge door. I stumbled on some FW1 cleaning wax(automotive cleaner). You can buy it at an automotive supplier. (www.FW1Canada.com) It took several applications but my stain is gone. The cost of the cleaner was about $12). In the end I think it's "persistence" more than anything. You have to re-build that protective wax coating.

I had a hard water line below the ice dispenser. Our refrigerator was struck by lightning when we were gone. I was afraid to try anything too abrasive because it is brushed steel. After reading the suggestions I tried WD40 - did nothing! I then tried Barkeepers Friend and it completely removed it. I was careful not to rub too aggressively and I scrubbed with the grain. I am glad to finally be rid of that!!

Hey jim1118 that's great! Is Barkeepers Friend an oil based product?

The Wd40 greatly improved the look of my SS. Did not take out my streaks completely but I believe with a couple more applications they will be completely gone... who knew? Thank you for the great recommendation!

That's Great mls19594! Good to know about the WD40. My FW1 is like a spray foam, but probably also an oil based product in the end. Happy that others have also found a solution to this perplexing problem.

Bar Keepers Friend: I tried everything to remove those water marks, but nothing worked until I used Bar Keepers Friend. For everyday cleaning, my go-to, all-purpose cleaner for cleaning nearly every surface is Sprayway.

Just ordered some Sprayway Stainless Steel Cleaner. It is supposed to do a superb job at cleaning the stainless appliances.

I had the same problem with streaks. I went to a local appliance dealer and told him the problem. He explained that the SS comes from the factory with an oil-based coating and said I had probably "cleaned through" that protective coating. I took him at his word, and it has taken persistent cleaning with a stainless steel cleaner. I MEAN PERSISTENT! It took me probably half a dozen times going over it, each time I noticed a slight improvement. So everybody out there---don't dispair. Your appliance isn't ruined. Just build up that protection again.

Not sure what kind of SS you all have but I tried the following after reading blogs and this is my results on my Thermador appliances:

windex - does not work on streaks.

Comet - left it looking lightly streaky. Only tried on dishwasher.

evoo (extra virgin olive oil) - looked ok on dishwasher kind of, but yuk, does not feel right. Tried on my refrigerator and should have went with my instincts- gross and looks terrible after trying for what seemed like forever.

WD40- tried on bottom of door in microwave and no did not work - did not look good.

Barkeepers Friend worked great! Did not have streaks. I did used regular dishcloth with Barkeepers friend to wipe down whole fridge (after using evoo on one side of the fridge by the bad decision ). Then went in sections with a wet microfiber cloth then dried with a dry thicker microfiber cloth. Felt clean. Looked clean. Will use from now on.

I don't buy any of the cleaners,I just get a wash rag damp,put some baking soda on it,and lightly rub across my stainless steel frig (going with the grain),rinse the rag,wipe it down and then dry it with a clean towel (going with the grain).every single mark and water staining is gone from my frig in a few minutes.

AND THE WINNER IS.. Looks like we have an over whelming winner, that being BAR KEEPERS FRIEND. People have mentioned it over and over again, with little if any negative comment. I'm going to buy it and forget about trying to find alternatives.

Thanks everybody!

I've been using Howard Natural Stainless Steel Cleaner - it works beautifully.

I was highly skeptical.... now a HUGE fan of WD40.

Bar Keepers Friend is definitely the best solution. There are so many other wonderful uses for this product From toilet ring to burnt pots and pans and Eve in between.

The other day I used WD40 on our SS refrigerator and the old orange juice streaks/splatters are now gone. SS cleaner did not remove it.

Day 1: I used WD-40 thinking it was less invasive than Bar Keepers Friend but the next day, the spots and water runs were still there.
Day 2: I used Bar Keepers Friend the second day and what an amazing difference it made. Not only did it remove all of the spots and water runs but it also whitened up the stainless steel removing all the black residue from the cleaners I had previously used.
Bar Keepers Friend Wins!

i am so sad that Barkeepers’ Friend did not remove my streaks, which were horrendous. Sprayway cleaner has kept my stainless pristine for 5 years. I ran out and the store didn't have it, so I bought Weiman’s. My housekeeper used it and what a terrible mess. I tried every trick on the internet, and only the WD 40 worked.

Was searching for help on how to remove a streak like this ( see attached) on my Kitchen aid Refrigerator. I’ve only tried SS cleaners. Obviously, it did nothing. I don’t even know what caused this. I’ve read several posts who recommend Barkeepers. Are you using the powder or liquid? I’m scared it will scratch the SS. I understand you must rub with the grain, but, seriously, will it remove this kind of streak? Help!

I was worried about the same thing. I tried WD40 but didn’t work and was smelly so I used Barkeepers Friend. It worked with no scratches. It cleaned my refrigerator so well that it looked brand new.

So help me understand, you make a paste and rub lightly with the grain?

I sprinkled it on a wet sponge and started rubbing, not hard, as if you were putting on the stainless steel cleaner. Rinse it off, buff with a soft cloth. You might want to try it in a small area just to see how it’s going to work.

Oh my gos, it worked! Unbelievable! I’m ecstatic cuz that spot bothered me since we got it two years ago.

That is awesome! My refrigerator was almost new and I thought that I had ruined it. So glad you gave it a try. Happy New Year!