The Conditioner Hack That'll Make A Kitchen Appliance Shine Like New

There is nothing better than walking into a clean kitchen with gleaming stainless steel appliances. But as anyone who owns these appliances knows, it isn't easy to keep them sparkling. While the chrome material fights off rust and can handle high heat without tarnishing, it's also susceptible to fingerprint marks and unruly smudges. And if you like to keep your kitchen pristine, chasing those marks can take up a good chunk of your day. But an everyday bathroom staple that most people use can help you battle that: hair conditioner.

While this might sound like a surprising way to use hair conditioner around the house, it's a tested cleaning hack that comes with a whole lot of perks. For instance, it can help banish smudges and help you cut back on the streaks and cloudiness that often appear when you clean appliances. This enables you to achieve a sparkle without the usual elbow grease. 

To use this hair conditioner hack, you will first need to wash your appliances. The conditioner helps buff the stainless steel into a shine, but it's not the best way to wipe through grease buildup or crusty food. Once you have it deep cleaned, grab your conditioner and a microfiber cloth. Add a pea-sized amount onto the cloth, ensuring not to add too much. Adding more than that could cause a film to be left behind, defeating the purpose of this hack.

Using the microfiber cloth, buff the conditioner onto the appliance using circular motions. Once it begins to seep into the steel, wipe up and down, going with the direction of the grain. You will immediately see smudges and smears start to disappear, leaving behind a beautiful polish. If you're cleaning a large appliance such as a fridge, you might need to add another pea-sized drop of conditioner onto your cloth. If you would like to do this hack often, buying a cheaper drugstore bottle of conditioner for this purpose might be a good idea rather than using the higher-end options in your shower.

While this hack might sound very random — after all, why would a shower staple help make a kitchen appliance gleam — it turns out that most conditioners contain ingredients like silicones or polymers, which can temporarily improve the shine and smoothness of a surface. Silicones create a thin, protective film on strands of hair, and when applied to stainless steel, they do the same by waxing out smudges and creating a glossy appearance. In addition, most stainless steel buffing products contain silicones, making hair conditioners an effective (and usually budget-friendly) substitute.

However, it's important to note that this effect is temporary and primarily surface-level. Hair conditioner is not formulated to remove deep stains, grime, or other stubborn contaminants that can accumulate on your stainless steel appliances. But if you're looking for a quick buff that will wipe out the appearance of smudges, you can't go wrong with this hack.