Caring for stainless steel: the sink, the appliance fronts and the hood

Stainless steel keeps a kitchen working for decades, but it is an honest material: it shows whatever was left on it. Fingerprints on an oven front, white rings around the waste, a rainbow patch from overheating — none of these are faults, they are a question of care. Here is what to do about them daily and once a month.

Where the little rust spots come from

Steel is protected by a thin oxide layer that repairs itself as long as it can reach air. What rusts is usually not the sink but whatever was left lying in it: a steel wool pad, a tin can, a cast-iron pan. Particles of foreign metal stay on the surface and rust there, and the mark looks exactly as if the stainless steel had turned out not to be stainless. It comes off with a mild stainless cleaner, not with a rougher pad.

The one daily habit

After the washing-up, rinse the bowl and wipe it dry. That single action removes nine complaints out of ten about a steel sink: limescale appears precisely where water is left to dry on its own. Wipe appliance fronts with a damp microfibre cloth along the direction of the brushing, not in circles — done that way the marks do not show even in raking light.

The second habit is to leave no metal in the sink overnight. A steel scouring pad, a tin can or a knife left until morning in a wet bowl produces exactly the rust mark that later gets blamed on poor-quality stainless steel. If the mark is already there, start with a mild cleaner and a microfibre cloth, and only then reach for a paste made for stainless steel, working along the direction of the brushing rather than across it. Rinse the surface with water after any product: leftover chemistry keeps working long after you have forgotten about it, and the same goes for racks and drainers left standing wet.

What not to do

• leave chlorine or bleach-based cleaners sitting on the surface: they attack the protective layer;
• scrub with abrasive powder or a metal sponge, because scratches go on collecting dirt;
• leave a mark for later, since dried limescale is far harder to remove;
• leave brine, vinegar or cleaning product in the bowl overnight;
• wash a hot oven front with cold water straight after cooking.

Once a month

Wash the hood's grease filters — a steel mesh takes a dishwasher cycle without complaint. Go over the sink with a cleaner made for stainless steel: it lifts the scale and leaves a thin film that makes water bead. Check the seal around an inset sink: if the sealant has lifted, water is getting into the worktop, and that is no longer a cosmetic matter.

Steel does not need complicated chemistry. It needs a mild cleaner, a microfibre cloth and the habit of wiping it dry. Treated that way, a sink and the fronts around it develop an even matte patina over a few years, and it looks better than it did on the first day in the shop.