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Naval Jelly (Phosphoric Acid) left streaks in Stainless Steel Finish

December 8, 2010

Hi all -

Yesterday I noticed rust spots in my stainless steel sink, I used a Rust Off product of Naval Jelly with Phosphoric acid, which worked perfect for my sink and left no noticeable streaks (probably because my sink's finish is already beaten to hell).

Well after that, I noticed a similar rust streak on the front of my year old stainless steel whirlpool dishwasher. Without giving it much thought (much to my demise) I applied the naval jelly to my stainless steel dishwasher door, and left it on there for probably far too long (maybe 7-8 minutes). After removing the jelly the rust was off, but now I had left dark streaks where the jelly was directly applied, and there was a shiner finish (than the factory finish) around the dark streaks where the jelly touched only when I was wiping it off.

Obviously, I don't think there is anyway I can restore that portion of the dishwasher front to the surrounding factory finish. I'm guessing I now need to apply some other type of acid mixture to get a uniform, and non-streaky finish to the front of the dishwasher (and probably shinier than the factory finish I guessing). Even if I do that, I'm still worried the dark streaks where the jelly was directly applied, may still be visible.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? My neighbor who is a homebrewer says I should use a pre-mixed store bought solution of nitric and phosphoric acid and apply to the whole front of the door (while wearing gloves and protecting all the surroundings). I'm still not sure that would create an even finish, because of those dark streaks the jelly left from being on there too long I think.

I'm going to post a picture as soon as I get home from work, so you guys can have a better idea what's going on, but I was hoping someone had a magic bullet.

Thanks so much in advance guys! Nothing more aggravating than spending 2 hours cleaning your kitchen spotless and then shooting yourself in the foot with ruining the finish on a brand new, sleek looking stainless steel dishwasher.

The whirlpool model dishwasher I have is "GU2275XTVY"

Matt Lipkin
Appliance Owner - Atlanta, Georgia, USA

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S I M U L T A N E O U S R E S P O N S E S

December 10, 2010 The "brushed" finish on stainless steel appliances is notoriously difficult to touch up. I would not attempt any sort of chemical treatment. You *might* be able to remove the stains and blend in by going over the entire surface with steel wool or an abrasive pad such as "Scotch-Bright". Work slowly and carefully, and plan on a hour or two. If it were me, I'd inquire as to the cost of a new panel from the manufacturer. It might be less painful than trying to fix what you've got. Jeffrey Holmes, CEF Spartanburg, South Carolina You need to use proper protective measures. Some of the truck stops sell a nasty witches brew for stainless steel on trucks (not aluminum. You might give that a try. The safest and probably the cheapest thing to do is to buy a new stainless panel for the door. James Watts - Navarre, Florida December 10, 2010

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Matt,
In most cases when this happens you need to clean it off by using Scotchbrite or other NON-IRON CONTAINING abrasive and rubbing it in the same direction as the grain of the stainless steel (assuming that it is a brush finish on the steel, with lines all in one direction).
You can also try rubbing it with some good buffing compound to see if that brings it back. You can ask any jeweler for some good jewelers polish, too.
If the surface of the stainless steel was a "mirror finish" (very shiny), the only way to have it come back is to remove the sink and take it to a job shop who can electropolish it.

Ray Kremer
Stellar Solutions, Inc.

McHenry, Illinois

December 16, 2010