Cleaning in the New Year's Spirit

So...I am a geek.

And that is shocking to exactly no one. 

In fact, my co-worker, Dorsa, is continuously laughing (in a nice way) at how much my other co-worker, Erin, and I own our inner geeks.

So, in my supreme geekiness, I was thrilled this weekend to discover a new way to clean my stainless steel appliances.

Yes, yes. I know that isn't exactly geeky per se. But, it is uncool. And I don't care. 

Because someone out there is going to appreciate this. Or not. 

But I will. :)

Let's get a couple of things straight first. I have a love/hate relationship with stainless steel. Yes, it's trendy and modern and looks updated and all that jazz.

But it also attracts fingerprints and other things that look gunky. And, at least in my experience, is a pain in the behinny to clean.

For example, I have this stainless steel cleaner crap from Method. And, really, I hate it. It smells good. It kind of works. Sometimes. If I put a lot of elbow grease behind it. 

Although, I sort of feel like what won't work with elbow grease? 

I've seen a bunch of tips on Pinterest, but I find that they either don't work for me or they're not worth the effort.

So, I just find that at some point I stop bothering and that is how I end up with appliances that look like this:

I actually feel like this picture doesn't fully capture the actual gross factor.

Ew. 

Yeah. 

Yuck. 

So, since I've been on this organize my kitchen kick, I've also been on a I should clean things that maybe don't get cleaned on a regular basis kick, too. 

Don't get my wrong. I wipe down my surfaces so they're not germy. But soap/water still leave my stainless still looking dirty. 

As you saw. 

So, I was actually cleaning something else with my Barkeeper's Friend and realized that it would probably work on my appliances.

And look, friends! It does. :)

See the difference? 

Plus, waaaaay less elbow grease than the crap that's marketed to clean my stainless steel. 

Win. 

I just put some in a bowl, wet down a paper towel and rubbed into the appliances in kind of a paste. You do want to try to rub in the same direction as the grain to the degree possible. 

Then, I took a second paper towel, wet it down and wiped the paste off. Finally, I dried it with a clean dish towel. 

Done!!

A couple of spots took a little elbow grease, but if it's something I do more regularly (which I will because it's not such an undertaking), then it'll be even faster next time. 

If you try this, I would try it in a small spot first to make sure that it works with your surfaces and follow the instructions on the can. 

Also, use Windex/Glass Cleaner to clean the windows of your appliances, like on the microwave. I got a little overzealous and scratched the button panel on my microwave a little bit. It's not bad, but I won't do it again there. 

Little scratched. Not bad, nothing to lose sleep over, but not something I'll do again.

It gets a bit messy, so I changed out of the new Nats shirt Mr. Gardener got me for Christmas and into a raggedy shirt and my trusty holey jeans. If you're wearing Yankees gear, then I wouldn't bother. ;) It can also dry out your hands a bit, so you might consider wearing gloves.

How about you? Found anything to make your life easier?


Why not join the party over at Still Being Molly & Lipgloss & Crayons?