Best Stainless Steel Cleaner Reviews – Complete Buying Guide 2021

Your stainless steel appliances are likely a central focus of your home’s kitchen. You bought them for their clean, classic look, and for their durable and long lasting finish.

However, there is a problem with stainless steel. It shows fingerprints and smudges and can go from looking amazing to looking less than, in a matter of moments. 

If you’re like us, there is nothing more frustrating than looking at your stainless steel appliance and seeing those fingerprints and smudges.

You can of course wipe your appliances down with a damp cloth, and that will do a reasonable job. But if you really want to return the shine to your appliances, you’ll need a cleaner that is made specifically for your stainless steel appliances.

It’s important to remember that the worst thing you can use on your stainless steel appliances is an abrasive cleaner.

You should always use a soft cloth, and a gentle cleaner for best results. Abrasive cleaners will scratch the factory finish, and can result in unwanted rusting of your appliance.

Some people will tell you that baking soda is a good option, however, we would recommend only using baking soda on your stainless steel cookware, or to remove rust spots from your appliance.

If you are in need of a good, quality stainless steel cleaner, you’ve likely realized that there are a number of options to pick from.

While each will do a decent job of shining up your stainless steel appliances, they are not all created equal.

Finding the right one for your appliances, and your kitchen is important, and can take some work.

We’ve found this same challenge when looking for a stainless steel cleaner, so we decided to put a number of the most popular stainless steel cleaners on the market to the test. We made a mess of our stainless steel appliances and put these popular options to the test.

We also read the thoughts of other people who had used each product. From all of this work, we’ve come up with this list of the nine best stainless steel cleaners.

We’ve also put together a buying guide that should help you decide which products out there are the best for you.

Our pick for the best stainless steel cleaner is Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish. We found that this cleaner was really simple to use and left our appliances with an amazing shine. We liked that it didn’t have an odd odor, and it didn’t feel too greasy. For the price it is a quality option for most stainless steel appliances.

Our Best Choice: Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish

Weiman is the number one selling stainless steel polish. It has been around for as long as home appliances have come in stainless steel, and is known for delivering a beautiful result to your appliances.

Top 9 Stainless Steel Cleaners

1. Best Overall – Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish

Pros:

•  EASY TO USE SPRAY BOTTLE
•  LEAVES A PROTECTIVE LAYER OF POLISH
•  GREAT ON FINGERPRINTS
•  PRICE TO VALUE RATIO IS HIGH

Cons:

•  NOT THE SMELL FOR EVERYONE

Specifications:

• Type: Spray bottle
• Ingredients: Propylene Glycol
• Capacity: 22 ounces
• Scent: Flower

We like this product because it is so easy to use. Simply spray a bit of the cleaner on a soft cloth and wipe down your appliances.

This cleaner leaves no greasy residue, but does provide added protection from fingerprints and smudges.

This cleaner is also safe to use on black stainless steel, which isn’t the case for many stainless steel cleaners.

This product is safe to use on most kitchen appliances. It is pH neutral, and has a pleasant, but not overpowering floral scent.

We also appreciate that it is reasonably priced.

2. Runner up – Hopes Perfect Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish

Pros:

•  EASY TO USE SPRAY BOTTLE
•  100% STREAK-FREE
•  GREAT FOR ALL STAINLESS STEEL SURFACES
•  NON-ABRASIVE AND NON- GREASY

Cons:

•  NOT AS EASY TO CONTROL SPRAY

Specifications:

• Type: Spray Cream
• Ingredients:
• Capacity: 22 ounces
• Scent: None

Our runner up stainless steel cleaner is Hope’s Perfect Stainless, appliance polish. This is another easy to use product that really lives up to its reputation.

This cleaner is free from harsh chemicals, which makes it nice to use in homes with pets and small children.

We liked that this cleaner didn’t have a noticeable scent. 

Hope’s stainless steel cleaner gave us one of the best, shiny results. And surprisingly, it wasn’t greasy.

We didn’t feel like it did as well at protecting against fingerprints and smudges, but for a safer, scent free cleaning product it performed well.

Our biggest complaint is that this product comes in a smaller quantity and is higher priced than other options.

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3. Best Budget – Affresh Stainless Steel Cleaning Spray

Pros:

•  EASILY CLEANS FINGERPRINTS, SMUDGES AND OTHER RESIDUE
•  VERSATILE FOR A WIDE RANGE OF SURFACES
•  RESTORES A STREAK-FREE POLISHED SHINE
•  SPECIALLY FORMULATED FOR MINIMAL RUN-OFF

Cons:

•  IT IS FLAMMABLE

Specifications:

• Type: Aerosol Spray
• Ingredients: Isobutane
• Capacity: 12 ounces
• Scent: Fresh fruity

If you want a great product to clean your stainless steel appliances, but don’t want to spend a ton either, then Affresh stainless steel cleaning spray is a great choice for you. It’s our pick for the best budget stainless steel cleaner.

This stainless steel cleaner is isobutane based, so it is non-abrasive, and is pH balanced so it is safer than other cleaners.

This aerosol formula is made to stick better to your appliances for minimal dripping. It did a good job of removing fingerprints and smudges.

We do recommend that you pre-clean your appliance first to remove any stuck on food or sticky objects. This cleaner won’t remove stuck on materials.

While you can use this cleaner on any stainless steel appliance, it is specifically recommended for Whirlpool and KitchenAid appliances.

We did find the fruity/floral scent a bit much, but it wasn’t so overbearing that we didn’t want to use the cleaner.

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4. Best Cloth – Quickie Microfiber Cleaning Cloth