Steve I have just purchased a new custom hot dog cart yesterday and I would like to know the best way to clean the stainless steel from finger print smudges that were left on the cart from the building of the cart. I have tried vineger and water and it does not work so well. Do you have any suggestions to clean in showroom conditions before i take it to the Health Dept? Thanks for your help.
David
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My carts have all been wooden E-Z Builts but when I was 17 I was an assistant manager of a Burger King store. We cleaned all our stainless steel with a green scotch brite pad and seltzer water (club soda). Worked great.
Do not use scotch brite on aluminum unless you don’t mind the matte finish it will leave. Aluminum is a much softer metal than stainless steel and it scratches easily.
There are commercially made cleaners just for stainless that you could try too.
How about it slingers? What do you use to clean your stainless steel? Let us know in the comments.
-Steve
I have found Bar Keepers friend to be great on all the stainless including cleaning the
pans. been using it for a couple of years now.
Add lemon juice – and watch your cart shine…
when i was at pizza hut in the late 80s i use this blue stuff that was mixed with water… cleaned very good but i cant for the life of me remember what it was called
Simple Green?
i don’t think it was simple green, very well could have been glass cleaner… it was in a gal. jug sold for commercial use… the waitresses would use it to clean tables, windows and salad bar sneeze shield.. it would clean stainless to a new unused look
There are several things like stainless steel cleaner, goof off, but I use WD-40, it displaces water and removes any oil and grime
Ultra Fine Stainless Steel Wool, finished off with a buffer. I don’t recall the exact recipe (you can easily Google it), but it had a base of water and baking soda. Once done, wax it to protect the finish.
Vic,
What wax do you use?
Do you use an electric buffer, or by hand?
Thanks, I have a new cart and would like to keep it showroom condition.
Stsiless steel cleaner comes in an aerosol at Home Depot be sure you read directions for best results
Im going to purchase two new Yorkers in February to put together, and than ill be ready to start selling.
I too have a Custom hot dog cart and the best and only thing I clean it with is Windex! It does not scratch and leaves it really shiny!
Orange pledge and a microfiber cloth. It cleans and helps keep finger prints off.
That’s exactly what I use!!
I need to add on some fittings unto my cart which is SS and need and idea on drilling the holes . Any help would be nice.
I have used a SS cleaner from Sams which works really great that seems to have a wax base in it plus it smells clean
Stainless steel alloys are very high in chromium which keeps them from rusting. However, the chromium also makes stainless steel one HARD metal. It will burn up a drill bit quickly. Keep your drill speed low and use some oil on the tip of the bit.
I have always used oil and ran the drill very slowly, but just recently I was on the job with a guy that used a water stream directly pointed at the drilling location. Would’ve never guessed! Works well, but you still have to run the drill slowly. If you have a piece of scrap, try a test hole on it first. Oh yeah……, buy extra bits or hole saws. Don’t try to make a dull one work, just pitch it and use a new one for the drilling!
Yes, water will cool the bit and help prevent burning it up. Oil does the same thing. If the tip of your bit turns dark yellow or blue, it’s shot. The bit will have become annealed (soft) and won’t hold an edge. Keep it cool.
When I purchased my cart the mfg. said foes to SAMs club as they have a good one rates for Food Service. And it works great,, easy to use and shines
Hot Dog Jim
Where would I find bar keepers friend?
Please email me at:
brickboo2@yahoo.com
Walmart, Sams Club, Rite Aid, Etc.
WD40 is the best stainless cleaner just be are to use a dry baby diaper to polish after you put it on. One to apply it then one to polish
bAR keepers friend,,,at the dollor store or family dollar, 1.00 a can,,,makes staniless look NEW, after cleaning, u will need to wipe down with a clean damp rag, used it for YEARS.
Bar keepers can be found at the hardware store
brasso works great you can get it at home depot / lowes
Bar Keepers Friend hands down.
http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/
I’ve been using WD40. For my NY Street cart and also For my exhaust hood in the trailer works great and leaves a shine too. I also used a chrome cleaner from Auto Zone for buffing chrome car bumbers. That works great too
If you have any smoke or burn marks steel wool leaves a finer matte finish than Scotchbrite pads in my experience, but if you really want to dazzle those Health people try a bit of Brasso. (in most hardware or marine hardware stores) Just go one direction back and forth (not in a circle) and it will come up gleaming when you wipe it with a clean damp cloth. The Brasso lifts a lot of grease and carbon from the SS where smoke has tarnished it. It will look black as the Brasso goes on, don’t worry add a little water if necessary but full strength works best, then wipe clean with a clean damp cloth. Works a treat comes up gleaming the Brasso adds the luster I think you might be looking for. 🙂
Try good ol whitevinegar and dry cloth works wonders Also a product called goo be gone for taking sticky tape glue off cart aluminum Good luck and happy hot doggin!
gary the weener man
aka
garythehot dog guy!
I clean with windex and polish occasionally with wd40.
On drilling stainless….
Mark the area to be drilled with a pencil –
Use a good hole punch and make your drill marking. The hole punch mark will insure your drill doesn’t go dancing off on your nice stainless, it also gives the drill a grab point.
Use the oil like Steve said, it also collects the shreds as you drill.
Enjoy your cart!
I will tell you that my wife of 47 years will only use “Dawn” with a micro-fiber cloth on all of her stainless steel appliances in our home. Refrigerator, dish washer, microwave and washer and dryer. Any oil based product will leave residue thus collecting dust very quickly. Try it, you most likely have some in your home.
Most places use something called Sheila Shine for the stainless steel.
Having been a Janitor this does well on new metal but add tape resin and dirst and grime it does not do the job! Get it when you start and use it and it will probably do, Use it on an older cart Forget It!
Just my Opinion!
Bernie
So there is clear consensus here on what to use. NOT. You’re going to have to spend about 50 bucks and try everything under the sun to see what works for your cart. Two applications of plain old 409 works for me, without leaving a new smudge from touching, after applying an oil product (which they all seem to contain).
Degreaser.
Steve I want to thank you for using my question on cleaning stainless steel.Also thanks for all the comment from the fellow Hot Dog slingers out there. David David’s Roadside Grill
Marion North Carolina
GO TARHILLS
This just in from David…
Steve thanks for posting my question on how to clean stainless steel. I was surprised to see all the comments from all the fellow slingers..Thanks to everyone that gave a suggestion . I tried Windex and it worked great..I was in a local grocery store this afternoon and saw a lot of s.s. cleaners so I thought I would give one a try.I fired up the cart today for the first time and cooked for about 20 people in the neighborhood ,well you can guess what a mess was left.After i wiped everything down i tried the new cleaner i bought. Ok guys here it is,WEIMAN STAINLESS STEEL WIPES. It is in a silver and black plastic container.The product is unreal,works like a wax and cleaner. All you do is, take a wipe rub over the area you want cleaned real good and take a soft cloth and wipe it off .Oh my God it cleans and shines like it has never been touch,no finger prints or streaks anywhere, and what a shines. Everyone needs to give it a try.only$3.99.thanks to everyone.David, David’s Roadside Grill
Sheila Shine……it’s found in cleaning stores. Just spray it on.
I was wondering about the same thing! Thanks for you all these suggestions and intelligent comments! thumbs up! http://www.roycerolls.net/
Steve the secret to drilling stainless is starting with the smallest bit you can to get your pilot hole then you keep increasing size until you get desired hole you need and slow and steady wins every time
Awesome tip. Thanks John!
Bartender’s Friend Rules, Best for pans or any thing stainless!
Sheila Shine
Thanks David!