Stainless Steel Appliances?

[jesscarmel]

Hi

we are buying some new appliances with our wedding money and i love the look of stainless steal but someone said they look really dirty really easily...does anyone have stainless steel and like them or is it a problem for people???

thanks

Jess

[tarnalberry]

We have kitchenaid brushed stainless steel appliances, and have no problems with them getting dirty at all. They hide dirt quite well, actually. ;-) (Well, aside from the microwave over the stove, but *nothing* could keep from getting dirty there, and it's still not all that noticeable. )

[jesscarmel]

We have kitchenaid brushed stainless steel appliances, and have no problems with them getting dirty at all. They hide dirt quite well, actually. ;-) (Well, aside from the microwave over the stove, but *nothing* could keep from getting dirty there, and it's still not all that noticeable. )

thanks tiffany. i dont know why our contractor said that. he suggested we dont get them but i really want them! i hope my husband forgets he said that

[tarnalberry]

thanks tiffany. i dont know why our contractor said that. he suggested we dont get them but i really want them! i hope my husband forgets he said that

perhaps he was talking about regular, smooth stainless steel, which relatives have and they *do* say they are hard to keep clean - particularly fingerprints. the brushed stuff is great!

[jerseyangel]

My sister has the brushed stainless steel, and it dosen't look dirty at all. I do agree that the "brushed" finish actually tends to hide things like fingerprints. I really like the look of it--and my sister (who lives with it every day) loves it.

[jkmunchkin]

We got a clean steel fridge. It looks just like the stainless steal but doesn't show all the finger prints. Unfortunately unless you plan on spending a lot of money, I don't think most appliances (stove / oven, dishwasher) come in the clean steel. But we got them in the regular stainless steel and it doesn't show to many finger prints.

We just recently re-did the kitchen, so I'll take some pictures and send if you'd like.

[linds]

we have stainless steel and the only thing i notice is finger prints that always show up on the fridge. but all i do is take the soapy dish rag and wipe it down when doing the dishes and then dry it and they come right off. also they don't seem to show up on the handle just when we touch the flat door part.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Stainless steel has been "hot" for nearly a decade--which means that very soon, the manufacturers are going to come out with something new that everyone is going to want--and then stainless steel will become the "dated" look, kind of like white is now.

On the other hand, you said you love the look, so that's what's really important. I actually insisted on white appliances at the beginning of the stainless steel craze, and I still love the look of white. In fact, I still dislike the look of stainless--it hasn't grown on me AT ALL, it looks so cold and institutional to me--but that's me, and anyone with any kitchen fashion sense will tell you that I'm weird, so there you are.

[RiceGuy]

I use stainless steel for cooking, and it's far better than anything else I've tried. As for appliances, I can only say based on the few my family has had over the years. My first thought is of that toaster, which never stayed clean. It started out all shiny when new, which lasted about a week. Unless everyone cleans up after themselves I'd say things like that won't look new for long, but maybe the brushed stuff does better with that. Still, if crumbs or whatever are allowed to remain on the thing, and get baked onto the surface, I'd think the brushed stuff would hold onto it just as much if not more so.

[jesscarmel]

wow, thanks for all the great replies. i have a few weeks to decide. i was concerned that it is on its way out and that maybe i would hate it in a few years. our house is just so cottagey and warm that i wanted to bring something sort of "cold" and modern to balance it out. (our house is very old) we are buyinig the appliances last so geuss i can see how the kitchen will look first.

[tarnalberry]

wow, thanks for all the great replies. i have a few weeks to decide. i was concerned that it is on its way out and that maybe i would hate it in a few years. our house is just so cottagey and warm that i wanted to bring something sort of "cold" and modern to balance it out. (our house is very old) we are buyinig the appliances last so geuss i can see how the kitchen will look first.

When I get back, I'll post a picture of one of the appliances in my kitchen. They certainly can look cold, but if they are in a warm and inviting kitchen, they certainly don't have to. My kitchen has cherry heart wood and a warm brown/red granite that keeps the stainless steel from looking institutional in any way whatsoever. If you pair it with white/grey and other monotone solids, you'd be more likely to get 'institutionalized'.

They really don't hold crumbs like a toaster. The surface of the stainless steel range isn't stainless steel - most of the ones I've seen and the one I have. It's a shiny black smooth surface. And the tricky to cleaning it *really* easily? A baking soda paste! Picks up all the grease and food, doesn't scratch, doesn't leave soap behind, and is fast!

[jkmunchkin]

When I get back, I'll post a picture of one of the appliances in my kitchen. They certainly can look cold, but if they are in a warm and inviting kitchen, they certainly don't have to.

Yeah that is a good point. I can see how some would say the steel has a cold look to it, but my kitchen walls are painted in a very deep, rich red color, with antiqued white cabinets and a yellow based granite countertop with flecks of shades of browns, black, even a bit of red (madura gold is the name of the granite color). It has a very rich, but warm tone to it and the stainless steel ties it all together.

My kitchen is my favorite room in the house. I loved designing it, and everyone says it looks like a showroom kitchen.

[hannahsue01]

I love the stainless steel look and wish all of our stuff could be. It does take some maintenence to keep them spot free. The ones we have mostly show water marks and finger prints. There are special cleaners and wipes for them though. If the marks bother you and you don't like to clean it may not be ideal for you but if you clean your kitchen like I do it wouldn't be much of a problem. If kept clean they look great in a kitchen.