Stainless Steel

[starone]

Every day I spend time scrubbing away at the water stains on my stainless steel draining board and cleaning the stainless steel sink. Can anyone tell me why it is called "stainless" steel when it is anything but.

[Buenchico]

Because 'stainless steel' is more alliterative than 'rustless steel', which would be a more accurate description.

[wildwood]

There are many grades of stainless steel and the better ones are, of course, more expensive. You gets what you pay for with S/S.

The basics for S/S can be found here.....

http://chemistry.abou...lloys/a/aa071201a.htm

[ojread2]

http://www.google.co....sqi=2&ved=0CFAQ8wIwAg

Dont scrub, a little drop of this works wonders

[starone]

Thanks for your answers everyone. Very practical oj. I shall try that. Not too expensive either.

[Ratty2E]

As has been said it is because it doesn't rust. I live in a really hard water area and it's impossible to keep the sink and taps shiney unless you never use them. I usually use Viakal but have used Limelite too. I did get a bit OCD a few years ago when I got a brand new sink (I'd never had one before). Trying to keep it lovely and shiney all the time nearly drove me mental. I gave up in the end after my FIL washed out something covered in cement in it and left it all scratched up, bless.

[gingejbee]

Well, these water "stains" aren't stains at all - they are simply very thin mineral deposits which dissolve very easily in a mild acid eg vinegar, citric acid etc.

[ladyalex]

This stuff is pretty good too.

http://www.tesco.com/...Details/?id=270796237

[EDDIE51]

Water stains are there because you let the water dry on the draining board, wipe it dry with a cloth or kitchen roll before it gets dry.
Any remaining water stains can be removed with diluted vinegar, use the cheapest vinegar you can get , cheaper than speciallity cleaners.

[starone]

Thanks for the hints everyone. Vinegar will be even cheaper and I shall definitely try that. Anything to make life easier and to stop being frustrated at not being able to keep the drainer sparkling.