alternative to stainless steel appliances?

['89cab]

Oh, Lordy, help me. We meet with the contractors tomorrow to lay out our kitchen remodel plans.

We were prepared to order top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances. The most apparent choice available whether you look online or in the stores. I was warned of cleaning rituals required by the stainless (what a friggen misnomer), but thought I could live with it.

Until I was given a Cuisinart stainless steel coffee maker for Christmas. Stains all over that som’ b1tch that won’t come off with anything I currently own, and I’ve used it just once. This is not the retirement I had in mind.

I didn’t climb my way to the top of the food chain to be the b1tch of some kitchen appliance designer laughing at my daily ritual of spraying and scrubbing four acres of newly polished steel.

What are my choices? What did you do? How about wood facing for the refrig, the most touched appliance, and then stainless for stove, dishwasher, and washer/dryer (closely located and likely to have to match)?

Am I the only one in the world that hates this approach to design?

[Dueller]

SS is not that bad...you get used to a quick wipe down with a damp cloth.

[Peterfrans]

I use 3M stainless steel cleaner which seems to work. Still, stainless is indeed quite a misnomer

[trekkor]

I'm also shopping for 4 appliances for a remodel I'm doing.

They have another option. It's some sort of a hybrid finish. Look like SS but cleans like enamel.
I can't recall the name of the finish.


KT

[Dave L]

we bought SS for the new house when we moved in 3 years ago. We have 2 kids, 3 and 5 so finger prints on the appliances are part of life. There is SS cleaner which does a great job of cleaning it up but by no means is it a daily chore. If we were doing it again we would go with the pannels that match the cabinets.

My biggest concern in buying SS was that it was going to become as in fashion as "avacato" or "almond" coloured appliances

[frogger]

'89cab, you could aways go with white appliances, which are always in style, but never particularly stylish.

[Mo_Gearhead]

Semi-Gloss, Black, rattle can... just like your wheels!
Black is Back!

[red-beard]

I went with Black appliances in my last 2 houses. They look great, clean up easier and are less expensive for the exact same model.

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by frogger

'89cab, you could aways go with white appliances, which are always in style, but never particularly stylish.

Boring, boring, boring. But very easy to clean. Just hit them with Fantastik. We are doing the one-at-a-time replacement. 10 years & they will all start to fail.

The whole industrial kitchen SS thing is a trend & it will be 'out' at some not so distant time in the future.

Ian

[Rot 911]

There are lots of SS look appliances. That is what we have bought. They look great, no fingerprint problems and the wife and daughter can use magnets to hang pictures and art work all over the refrigerator. Here is the refrigerator we got from Lowes:

[jyl]

We have a mix of black and stainless. The stainless is less hassle, indeed it is very little hassle, maybe wipe some smudgy accumulation of finger marks off the fridge every couple of weeks. But it is a dull brushed SS, not a polished SS.

[VINMAN]

I have the black and stainless mix also. The only thing I dont like about the stainless, is that it is hard to get scratches out of it.

[peppy]

To clean use lacquer thinner, let it dry then a light coat of mineral oil then buff off. This does not need to be done very often, the oil will hide fingerprints.

[vash]

i like the colored AGA appliances. no way i go stainless anymore.

http://www.aga-ranges.com/

i need to add some color to my life.

[greglepore]

The brushed metal "stainless look" is great. No fingerprints, and as mentioned, it is magnetic.

[JeremyD]

We have the black and stainless - I have three kids and a dog - not that big of a deal if you ask me.

[Jandrews]

We have a cabinet panel front Sub-Zero fridge and Aksa dishwasher. I did the math when we built and it costs just a tad more than stainless. The reason...you buy a fridge and dishwasher without a front panel and save the cost of the stainless. For example, the solid alder cabinet front on our diswasher was about $120, but I think I got $50 off the price of the stainless dishwasher by ordering it without a front. Similar ratios on the fridge, and let me tell you, there is NOTHING nicer than cabinet front appliances!!


JA

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by '89cab

I didn’t climb my way to the top of the food chain to be the b1tch of some kitchen appliance designer laughing at my daily ritual of spraying and scrubbing four acres of newly polished steel.

Nice line - but way over the top. Cleaning up stainless is really easy. Lots of products in the supermarket.

[Christien]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

The whole industrial kitchen SS thing is a trend & it will be 'out' at some not so distant time in the future.

This has always been my belief. Expensive appliances that will look dated sooner or later.

Not that white (or "almond" ) is any better!

Black goes with everything and always looks good, IMO.

[Eric Coffey]

Keep in mind there are different grades/types of "stainless" used on appliances. I have Frigidaire SS appliances along with the same Cuisinart SS coffee maker. I can attest that the coffee maker is 3x as hard to keep clean as the rest, even though it sees 3x less use.