I Just Discovered a “Life-Changing” $1 Trick to Keep My Stainless Steel Fingerprint-Free (It’s So Easy!)

I always wanted a stainless steel refrigerator. There’s just something about them that screams luxury to me. I finally got my wish when I moved into my latest apartment three years ago — my kitchen came equipped with an absolutely gorgeous, gleaming, gargantuan stainless steel refrigerator. But what no one tells you about such a thing of beauty? How easily it shows smudges and fingerprints.

To be honest, I’m not even sure how my stainless steel refrigerator became covered in the stuff. But I took a look lately and realized there was smudge after smudge, fingerprint after fingerprint, all up and down the open space (I have a lot of magnets, so much of it is protected). This was unacceptable to me — so I set myself on a mission to rid my beautiful refrigerator of this grime once and for all. Best of all? The trick I discovered only costs $1 or $2 (or less!). Yes, you read that right — a dollar and a bit of elbow grease, and the aforementioned grease, grit, and grime disappeared for good. 

I actually found this stainless steel refrigerator cleaning hack right here on The Kitchn, and it’s changed my life. The best way to remove smudges and fingerprints from a stainless steel refrigerator is, believe it or not, by using olive oil! 

The original hack encourages you to combine olive oil and white vinegar and spray it onto your stainless steel appliances. While I thought that was interesting, I wanted to make it a little simpler — so, I actually decided to try using olive oil on its own after watching this viral TikTok video. I’ll admit I was a little nervous to get started, since there are plenty of things to keep in mind to make sure you don’t damage the stainless steel (like which way you wipe, and what material cloth you use!). 

1. Pour a small amount of olive oil onto a paper towel. (I like to keep my olive oil in this superchic Molimoli oil dispenser — any kind will do.)

2. Starting from the top of the appliance, rub the paper towel back and forth horizontally across the stainless steel with the grain.

3. Voilà! The fingerprints and grime will be gone in a matter of seconds. 

Ever since I discovered this easy cleaning hack, my fridge has never looked better. As you can see, it’s now back to its original sparkling state! While there are countless other ways to clean stainless steel, like with baby oil and stainless steel cleaner, olive oil is my easiest (not to mention delicious!) go-to. Even though it only takes a little bit of olive oil, you might want to use ones on the cheaper end, like this $6 option from Amazon.

Now pardon me while I stop typing and walk into my kitchen to gaze at my beautiful stainless steel refrigerator in all its shining glory. I’ll never go back to any other way of cleaning it — plus, it’s always on hand.

Buy: Amazon Fresh, Olive Oil, Pure, Medium Flavor, $5.79