Anybody have a good technique for cleaning plating made of brushed stainless steel?

I use a slightly damp microfibre cloth with good results, and cheap vodka instead of expensive coffee cleaner (; >) for a food-safe cleaner. My microfibre cloths will just push any water around, and not absorb well, if they're dry. I find that dampening them and wringing them make them absorb better. YMMV.

I don't know if you have access to WD40 (see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40) or an equivelant but it is absolutely brilliant for cleaning stainless steel, I clean all our non-food-contact SS surfaces with it.

ummm... no but I assumed by "plating made of stanless steel" he meant surfaces/outside of machine, for which a small squib on a cloth is absolutely fine.

i obviously don't use WD40 on the innards and coffee-contact surfaces

EDIT - modified the first post to make it more clear

In the Restaurant kitchen we used sparkling water/ Carbonated water. At home the steam dampened microfiber cloth.
Really dirty incoming machine, whatever works! All of the above posters' solutions.
-Richard

primato wrote:Anybody have a good technique for cleaning plating made of brushed stainless steel?

Don't know about you amateurs, but us professionals use Windex and a paper towel. As degree of difficulty of removing crud escalates, you can take it all the way up to methylene chloride, after all, it IS stainless steel. Scratches can be treated with a gentle brushing with a Scotchbrite in the "grain" direction.

Alan

I think it depends on what/where you're trying to clean. For smudges, splatters and fingerprints on the outside case of my machine, as above, Windex and a soft rag works fine. For baked on espresso gunk, I'll soak the part in espresso machine cleaner for a few hours or even overnight. If I'm trying to get coffee oil off of my backsplash (here's my original contribution to this thread...) I'll remove the cover in question, smear it with a coat of liquid dish soap (readily available in every kitchen and inexpensive) let it sit for several minutes then wash it off while scrubbing a bit with a soft rag. Rinse well, dry and re-install. If you're trying to remove scratches or pitting, well...

Besides, I don't want my machine looking too clean, people might think it's never been used and I'm an amateur barista or some such thing!