Appliances-Brushed steel Vs Stainless steel

Aug 23, 2004 7 Replies

We're about to buy kitchen appliances and are thinking of getting brushed steel oven, hob and extractor (though the extractor has lots of glass also). Is brushed steel good at maintaining it's appearance and easy to clean? What exactly is the difference between it and stainless steel? Any advice greatly appreciated.


"DIY Novice" wrote | What exactly is the difference between it and stainless steel?

Stainless steel is steel which does not rust. (It can however discolour or stain under other circumstances.)

Brushed steel is the cosmetic finish which gives it a sort of 'grain'.

Owain

If it were brushed steel, it would have to be protected by lacquer etc, as steel rusts. I'd guess you mean brushed stainless steel - or it could be brushed chrome which looks similar.

Basically, a brushed finish has largish scratches all going in the same direction - as opposed to bright polished which has very fine scratches doing the same.

Both can be damaged, but brushed should not show marks so much.

It's a real swine - if the surface gets rubbed by something hard, e.g. cutlery, it "bruises", and the marks are difficult to remove.

Same metal, different finish, in all probability.

J.B.

I suspect they're the same. The one issue with steel is that it does tend to show fingermarks which seems to bother some people who then spend a lot of time and effort trying to keep it polished. Buying our kitchen appliances recently i noticed that a number of the manufacturers (certainly AEG) now also have 'aluminium' as a finish option. I think the theory is that this is easier to keep looking new.

Get aluminium if you can - it's far easier to clean and does not show fingermarks

An appliance retailer told me that using baby oil with a soft cloth was the best way of cleaning steel surfaces. Yet to try it though!

I use WD40. Does a good job and quick and easy to restore as new

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