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Old stainless steel stove top refurbishing

I have an old stainless steel gas stove top that is dirty, rusting and in need of refinishing...I cannot find anyone here in town to do this and so will do it myself if I can find out how....any advice? Should I use a buffer of some type? A sander with a fine paper? Hand-sand it?

Wendy Marshall
- San Diego, California, USA

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The original finish on your stove was probably a #4 polish. That is, sanded with a rotating wheel covered with 120 grit sandpaper. This is almost impossible to do uniformly on a finished product like a stove. It is usually done on the sheets of stainless before it is made into components. So instead,use a sanding block with 120 grit sandpaper. If this is not coarse enough to remove existing surface details, drop back to 80 grit. Use long parallel strokes with uniform pressure. After the 80 grit surface looks uniform, repeat with the 120 grit. The beauty of using a block with a long stroke is that you can repair any damage you may incur in the future.

Dr. Mike McGuire
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA