Stainless Steel appliances...

[etwahl]

What's everyone's opinion on stainless steel appliances? I personally love them...but the house we are buying has white appliances. We have to buy a fridge anyway, should we get all new stainless steel, or should we just stick with the white and get a new white fridge?

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[mharling]

I personally LOVE stainless too and we went that route when we gutted our kitchen. The only downside I've come up with is that we won't be able to hang ds's artwork (ok, so that's a little ways down the road) on the fridge with a magnet. And, when I was a child, we had the alphabet magnets so we had something to play with while dinner was being prepared.

As far as your personal situation, I'd say if you love stainless, go for it. Of course, the more practical/economical answer is to just get a new white fridge.

Mary
Mommy to Lane Michael 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b33928e40550

[egoldber]

While I LOVE the look of stainless steel appliances, they show fingerprints like you would not believe! If that doesn't bother you, then go for it. If it does, then white may be a better idea.

HTH,

[KimberleyDawn]

I agree with Beth about the fingerprints! We are staying with my parents for a month while we wait for our new house and the appliances are always messy looking (driving my Mom crazy I'm sure!).
Kim

[etwahl]

I heard about some new "fingerprintless" ones...anyone know anything about them? If not, probably true, fingerprints stink!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[muskiesusan]

There is a new finish that has the look of stainless steel, but is apparently smudge free and can also hold magnets. I think Whirlpool calls it the Satina finish. I know that Kenmore has the finish, too, but can't remember the name.

It,s a little bit darker in color then regular stainless steel. I wished they had it when I was looking for new appliances, the smudging kept me away from the look I love!

Edited to add, I think the new finish is only in refrigerators, so you still have to deal with smudges on the stove and dishwasher.

Susan
WAHM to Nicholas 10/01/01

[AndrewsMommy]

I have stainless steel appliances. They do look great, but they also do show smudges and fingerprints. It doesn't bother me not as much as it did in the beginning, but I don't know that I'd get them again. The fridge is the worst since it gets the most use. I know when Andrew gets older it's going to make me crazy! But, it really does look nice in my kitchen and that's what I wanted. The key is finding a good stainless steel cleaner! I use stuff from Home Depot and every once in a while WD-40. I asked at the store where I bought my appliances how they kept them so shiny and they said WD-40. It works like a charm!

Tina
Mom to Andrew 3/31/03

[nohomama]

Having cleaned a lot of beautiful homes with high-end stainless steel appliances, I have to concur with Beth...fingerprints and smudges are ever present. I can't imagine what they'd look like in a home where a toddler resides. If you find out more about the smudgelss stainless steel finish, let us know.

[kathsmom]

Hi, Tammy!

As luck would have it, I have some information on the stainless steel look. I had checked out the Nov. 2002 issue of Consumers Report and they had had a small article on this topic!

This is a paraphrased version of the Consumer Reports article in the Nov. 2002 issue, p. 11.

The stainless-steel look-alike is called VCM for vinyl-coated metal. Goldstar calls their VCM finish Titaniam, Whirlpool calls theirs Satina, and Kenmore calls theirs Ultra-Satin. Consumer Reports noted the following differences: VCM has a matte, brushed-metal look, but stainless-steel is more mirror-like. VCM is easier to maintain and it can hold refrigerator magnets. (They compared the Kenmore VCM refrigerator with the Viking stainless-steel)

They stated that special cleaners for stainless leave a slightly oily coating on the fridge which can help a little to reduce the appearance of fingerprints. If you add peanut butter and jelly to the fingerprints, a little bit of dish detergent and water can clean it off the VCM finish. For the stainless, they recommended following the initial cleaning with an application of stainless cleaner.

I hope this helps you some!

[memedee]

Hi Tammy,
I am in real estate and I say go with the finish that would look the most coordinated in the kitchen.
If the dishwasher ,oven fronts,cooktop and sink are all white ,go with the white.
What color are the cabinets?
I wouldnt worry about what you are going to do with the kitchen down the road because if you do remodel ever ,you will probably need a new fridge anyway.
It is true that stainless is in now but who knows it could be the "harvest gold" of the future.It is hard to predict trends. {for you youngsters harvest gold was the most popular color in the 60s}
I also like the freezer in the bottom but that is because I like to entertain and the side by sides never seem wide enough to hold platters,large turkeys etc.
I know because I have a sbs and I had to buy an additional fridge that I keep in the garage to use when I entertain.

[jenmcadams]

We have the new finish from Kenmore and it seems to work pretty well. We have an older Jenair Stainless Stove/Oven and the finger prints/streaks on it are pretty awful.

[brubeck]

A friend of a friend has a house built in the 60s and all of the kitchen appliances are PINK! A pale pink, but definitely pink. Of course they are pretty run down and don't always work correctly, but they don't want to replace them because they love the color scheme.... :-)

[sweetbasil]

I'm with ya, Tammy- love the look of SS, but couldn't handle the fingerprints. I think the appliance stores must have a full-timer who wipes those appliances down all day!

We just remodeled our kitchen and got all new bisque appliances- lighter than off-white, but not as bright as white, and we love them. Didn't go with black for the same reason as SS- fingerprints, and Texas' hard water spots!

Good luck :) I can't wait to hear all about your new digs!

[etwahl]

we decided to stick with white! especially because of all the fingerprint comments. that would drive me crazy. and also because it's cheaper to stay with white - we only have to buy a fridge and not all the others that are already white (and basically really high quality and almost brand new).

We did decide that we want a fridge with a freezer on the bottom though. I think we'll go to a sears in san diego and pick one out and then just have them ship from the sears store closest to us. We also need to buy a dryer.

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com