Preventing and Removing Rust, a Never Ending Problem…

Seems like rust has been around since the dawn of time, or at least since the Iron Age, although I doubt cavemen called it rust at that time. Thousands of years later, and people still haven’t figured out a way to stop it. Preventing and removing rust is a constant battle.

But through our trial and error experience, we’ve found some methods of cleaning and preventing rust that work well. Today, we are going to share our secret. Our secret is “Dawn”. That’s right, the dish detergent.

Since most stainless steel appliance made today are made with steel and iron, both of which rust with the right combination of water and air, a soft cleaning works best to prevent rust. That’s our combination of Dawn, a small amount of baking soda, and warm water. For more stubborn stains, a specialty stainless steel cleaner applied with a rag usually does the trick, Keep in mind, stainless steel is best cleaned with cleaning agents that do not contain chlorides (chlorine, iodine, bromine) as these agents will eat at the stainless steel surface exposing it to potential rust.

On older appliance, once rust is formed, we find a new cleaning approach is needed. That’s when we switch to a product called Bar Keeper’s Friend Soft Cleanser. This product has been around for 140 years and with good reason, it works! Wipe on with a soft sponge; let the cleaner sit on the metal for an hour before removing it with a mildly abrasive sponge. As with any metal, always rinse with warm water and towel dry for best results.

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