I came home from a recent trip to a very unpleasant surprise: my stainless steel prep table was peppered with tiny blooms of rust.
I was baffled how this could happen. Stainless steel will pick up some scratches and stains, but it should be protected from rusting by a layer of chromium oxide (one of the characteristics of stainless steel and why we use it so much in the kitchen).
I was just starting to despair when I realized the reason for the rusting and found its solution.
My best guess is that the heavy-duty cleanser I'd used to scour my kitchen before leaving on my trip was the likely cause of the rusting. Bleach can strip away the protective chromium oxide layer and leave the steel below exposed to the elements, especially if left to dry on its own as I did. Additionally, stainless steel with less chromium content (which is to say, cheaper stainless steel) is more vulnerable to rusting.
The solution is actually fairly simple. Scrub the stainless steel surface to remove all rust and dry it thoroughly. The layer of chromium oxide will reform on its own over the next few days.
Many sources (see below) recommend using Bar Keepers Friend to clean away the rust. This is what I used and it definitely did the trick. If you'd like to go a more natural route, try using a paste of lemon juice and cream of tarter. In either case, use a plastic scrubbie pad for cleaning; using steel wool can cause further damage.
My table is now back to its usual shiny self, and hopefully, now it will stay that way.
Check Out These Sources:
• Rusting by Stainless Steels from The New Hampshire Materials Laboratory
• Brewing Metallurgy: Passivating Stainless Steel from How to Brew
• Remove Rust Spots from Stainless Steel from DIY Life
Related: Rust Spots Begone! Try Using a Rust Eraser
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my knives are getting these little specks of rust... kind of a pain in the ass. thanks for the tips!
I have a stainless steel-topped island and it is starting to get spots of rust on it. Kind of a bummer as I've only had it about a year. I'll try this and see if I can get it back to new looking. I had been using Lysol wipes on it, that's probably what's causing the problem.
BKF is fantastic stuff. It also gets rust stains out of the bathtub. It's sold by GreenDepot as agreen product, although I haven't researched it myself. I use it to clean everything metal and lots of things not metal with no scratches ever. Couldn't live without it.
Whenever our stainless steel sink gets rust stains in it from cans I've accidentally let sit, I just scrub them right out with good old baking soda and water. I sprinkle a bit of baking soda on, use my regular sponge with a scouring pad on it, and voila! No more rusty stain!
I recently purchased Palmolive dishwashing soap with extra oxygen cleaners because it was recommended as a means of darkening brass and copper, which I wanted it to do. I found that it also made tiny rust spots on the stainless steel bowl in which I'd placed it as well as the item I actually wanted to darken.
Apparently it contains chemicals similar to liver of sulpher. Regular Palmolive doesn't have the same makeup and doesn't do that to my dishes.
Bartender's Friend and Bon Ami both work to gently clean...Bartender's Friend is also good on porcelain sinks.
We clean pretty much everything in our house with Barkeeper's Friend (or Bon Ami, I can't tell the difference)! It was recommended when we bought a set of stainless steel cookware, and we just kept finding more and more awesome uses for it...
I have an old syrup bottle with a retractable spring handle. I washed it and it rusted. Any suggestions as to what to do to clean it?