If the cleaner claims to leave a protective coating on the appliance surfaces, we test how well it resists new fingerprints and grease buildup. We also evaluate other performance parameters like polishing ability. For products that were submitted for consideration for the 2022 Best Cleaning and Organizing Awards (there were no stainless steel cleaners submitted in 2023), we also recruited GH+ consumer testers to try the products at home and provide us with extensive feedback on the performance of each stainless steel cleaner. In our Cleaning Lab's last big test of stainless steel cleaners, we tested 30 different products to see how well they removed a difficult mixture of cooking oil and dirt from stainless steel surfaces.
We test how well stainless steel cleaners remove stains - grease, fingerprints and food residue- and use them to dust off stainless steel surfaces across all of our Institute Labs and test kitchens. The Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab is continually testing stainless steel cleaning products (often in conjunction with all the stainless steel refrigerators, ovens, toaster ovens and dishwashers we test).
