By now, most of the internet has found the not-so-magic secret of using vinegar on stainless steel to give it a beautiful shine worthy of Home & Garden magazine. A quick google search on "stainless steel marks" reveals a long list of websites all suggesting vinegar and lemon juice to revitalize your kitchen appliances. But for those of us with children, pets, or a chef-in-training, your stainless steel likely hasn't been in showroom condition for a while. You might even notice some other brown or orange marks that don't come off with vinegar or soap and when you really think back, you can't remember a time when they weren't there.

"So what are those stains on my allegedly stainless steel?"

The answer is a mix of food, grease and/or rust. Left on any surface (stainless or not), food will rust metal over time. Those tiny specs and drips that you may not notice will begin to damage the surface if left unchecked. When you use vinegar, you shine the metal, but the rust and grease and food remains in the tiny grooves of the stainless steel. At this point you might be ready to abandon all hopes of finding a natural solution in favour of some serious chemicals that don't mess around, but wait! Clear Cause Cleaners is coming to the rescue with an all-natural 7 Step Process To Clean Tough Grease From Stainless Steel.

1) Spray down stainless steel with mild degreaser or all-purpose cleaner.
) Pat some baking soda onto the surface with your hand to make a poultice.
3) Lightly spray again with the all-purpose spray and let sit for an hour to soften hardened dirt.
4) Spray surface with vinegar - the carbon dioxide bubbles work to lift the softened dirt.
5) Take a microfiber cloth and rub the spots in the direction of the grain with some pressure to ensure the fibres get in the grooves to remove all stains and poultice.
6) Spray with vinegar and a new microfibre cloth.
7) Finish with a small amount of mineral oil on a microfibre cloth to buff out any greasy fingerprints that remain.

Voila! Watch your fridge go from eye-sore to Home & Garden ready. As you go forward, you can avoid that sort of intensive treatment by maintaining the shine with steps 6 and 7. But if your life starts to get busy (we've all been there), it's nice to know there is an all natural solution.