Kitchen Favorites and Cleaning Stainless Steel Appliances

Hello friends! Hope your week has been off to a nice start. We have had lots of work and play around here. More play than work ;), but you know the occasional yard work, house cleaning, etc… And while on the topic of house cleaning I can’t wait to share some fun tips with you today (as well as some of my recent favorite finds for the kitchen too).

Lets start with the cleaning though… We have had our stainless steel kitchen appliances for about 8 years now and for the most part they are going strong. But they kinda feel like I can never keep them clean! The streaks, finger prints and water marks are endless. Thus, driving me a little nuts, haha. Anyhow, I feel like I have tried it all when it comes to cleaning  them (expensive quality cleaners, magic erasers, windex, soap/water, the list goes on…) And let me disclose too that I did NOT come up with this magic cleaning method I am about to share, but rather wanted to show it really did work for us. And while at it, I should also say – that all appliances/finishes are different, so I can’t specify whether this works for everyone. I tested a section of ours, loved the results and then went to town. O.K… are you ready for me to stop babbling and just share it already ?! 😉

Here is a real life close up of all the grime down below. Now look up above you will notice the difference! Can you see it???

And just in case you can’t believe it, here is a closer up of the fridge door (bottom = dirty and top = clean)…

Here is our drippy dishwasher too (just lots of water stains).

And here below is the clean after!

So after many attempts at clean appliances… I think I have the winning ticket. I cleaned the appliances first with my household spray to begin. But recently had remembered that olive oil had been something I used when my babies were little because it was a non toxic way to clean. I had heard the idea somewhere (again not my original idea) and used it years back. I must have thought there were better ways to clean since I stopped doing it, but now I am convinced that this is the only way for me! Funny how we can have a hold of something good and let it go for a while…

I rubbed it onto the appliances with just a paper towel and the results speak for themselves! It seems to have held up well in the past (I’m not sure about it going rancid etc…) and today when it was hot out it did seem to sweat a bit on the surface in some areas, so I just rubbed it back in and there have been no issues since.

I feel like this beaming photo above and my writing on the topic seem like an infomercial ;)… but honestly, I am giving my true opinion here and was totally tickled with the real life results. Just thought it was something fun to discuss with you all.

My hubby was in the background today as I was cleaning and later mentioned… “what was up with the olive oil”? I must have really been shouting from the rooftops to the kiddos for him to notice my excitement from the other room, haha.

Alright, on to other kitchen hacks, favorites and tips… This rack has continued to be such a help in our small kitchen and lately I have even been hanging pans there as well.

These non- stick pans from Costco are SO great for eggs and this adjustable strainer from Ikea is the best for washing fruit, draining pasta etc. It sits atop the sink without standing inside and allows you to wash large amounts of berries without dropping them everywhere.

Our homemade kitchen spray is still a favorite to this day and you can find the recipe here (that is what sits inside our jar on the counter by the way). I also am in love with a new find to me, this Thieves Cleaner!

I recently picked these pretty butterfly bush branches as they were about to go and plopped them in the sink. I had to remove some of the leaves and critters before setting them in a vase.

And just because I can’t resist, here is that shiny dishwasher one more time next to my sink of flowers ;).

Speaking of flowers my very sweet friend Kelly at My Soulful Home has written a beautiful book!

It is called, My Soulful Home – A Year In Flowers and it is about floral design; full of gorgeous images, includes 12 floral tutorials and tips on caring for flowers.

It was released today and I wanted to share with you so you could take a look at it as well, you can find it on Amazon. I am sure you will think it is as lovely as I do!

And make sure to leave me some of your favorite cleaning tips for stainless steel if you have any, I would love to hear!