How a Zombie Mistake Became a Stainless Steel Surprise

I hate stainless steel appliances! 🤬🤬🤬🤬

For years, nothing took up more time in a kitchen than cleaning fingerprints from stainless steel refrigerators, stoves and dishwashers.

Even cleaning crusty drip pans on electric stoves was not as big a pain as the endless minutes spent making sure a stainless steel refrigerator door had a streak free shine.

Worst combo? Stainless steel kitchen appliances and a couple of toddlers in the house.

Grimy hand prints all over the lower portion of the refrigerator and dishwasher. What a mess!

The Olden Days🦕

Back in the olden days when dinosaurs like fax machines, typewriters and VHS video tape machines roamed the earth, kitchen appliances were coated in a ceramic finish.

The standard color was white with a few in black. Some of the older kitchens were still decked out in 1970s designer colors like harvest gold or avocado green.

Cleaning ceramic finish appliances was pretty straightforward. Hot water, a degreaser or detergent, scrub pads and elbow grease in varying amounts.

Black coated appliances took a bit more time because they showed lint from the cloths I used. Once I made the switch to no-lint microfiber cloths, that time difference went away.

Stainless Steel Invasion

Then stainless steel appliances invaded my customers kitchens. Hot water, degreaser and cotton cleaning cloths just left unsightly streaks on the appliances.

Scrub pads were a no-no. Elbow grease didn’t matter. I was never happy with the look of stainless steel appliances when I used my usual cleaning tools.

I experimented with different oil-based polishes designed for stainless steel appliances. The results were hit or miss.

The polishes still left a lot of streaking. Plus the polishes left a lot of buildup on the appliances that made the fingerprints and food splatters look worse on the next visit. 


ARRGH!

I Found The Solution…By Mistake

Then at the end of one weary day, I pulled a bottle from my cleaning tote. I gave the refrigerator door a good spray, wiped…and was jolted out of my zombie-like state.

Oh no! I was wiping away the polish. I took another look at the bottle in my hand and there was Windex™ instead of stainless steel polish. 


Yikes! I spent a few minutes cursing my carelessness.

Then I tried to think of a way to fix the mess I’d made. I finally decided to use Windex™ on the whole refrigerator door to strip away the old polish and then reapply a new coat of polish.

WOW!

What I found when I stripped away all of the polish was the streak free shine I’d always wanted—with Windex™!

I looked at the back of the bottle. Turns out the directions for Windex™ are on the back of the front label.

They can be seen through the bottle, not on the back of the bottle. There it was, a drawing of a refrigerator.

I used Windex™ on the rest of the kitchen appliances. More fast-drying, streak-free shine on the stove, dishwasher and microwave. 


Plus over the years, I found Windex™ didn’t damage the surfaces of stainless steel appliances.

All those years, I thought Windex™ was just for cleaning glass.

Even More Uses

I also found Windex™ mixed with a little water and used with a damp microfiber cloth was fantastic at cleaning and polishing surfaces that didn’t need sanitizing:

👉 Pro Tip: Don’t spray Windex™ directly on tile with grout. It can stain white or light-colored grout.

The Value of This Mistake

I still hate stainless steel appliances. Stainless steel appliances still demand more detailed cleaning than large ceramic appliances like stoves and refrigerators or plastic counter-top appliances like toasters.

More detail, more labor, more time.

However, since that mistake, Windex™ has become my favorite tool for making fast work of stainless steel, glass, plastic, chrome, tile and any surface that shined in my customers homes.

My zombie mistake led to me uncovering a stainless steel surprise that made work easier and my customers happier.

Note: The Windex trademark is a registered® trademark of S.C. JOHNSON & SON, INC.

Use of the Windex trademark or product image does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by S.C. JOHNSON & SON, INC.