Why we keep having to tell the people that clean the appliances at Home Depot to NOT use Windex.PBratton wrote:jimlongley wrote:Yeah.helicopterpilotdoug wrote:Interesting! They say it works with Stainless Steel.
Stainless steel is thought by most to be "non-magnetic" which is not entirely true. There are three broad categories of "stainless" steel: Austentic; Ferritic; and Martensic, but these days it is probably better to classify them by their chemical makeup.
Martensic stainless steels have a tendency to be more magnetic than the other types, but any can be made magnetic, a little, by cold forming.
The "non-magnetic" property comes from the addition of nickle and other alloys to iron, which stabilizes the crystalline structure within the iron and prevents the magnetic domains from aligning, rendering it almost non-magnetic. Sufficient shock, as by cold forming, can re-align the magnetic domains, just as banging on a magnet can take away its magnetism.
BTW, "stain less" steel is a misnomer depending on how you read it. Stainless steel is not "stain never" it is really "stain less frequently" or "stain less easily" and in my opinion should be called "stain not as much" steel. The Chromium in stainless steel forms a very thin coat of chromium oxide on the surface which protects from (iron) corrosion and penetration, but doesn't necessarily stop it. If you work hard enough at it, you can make stainless steel rust.
A while back I had a customer trying to prove to me that our stainless steel refrigerators were not, by sticking a magnet to him. I was able to refute his argument in one swift move, by sticking his magnet to the plastic interior of the same fridge. There is a lot of magnetic stuff back there and even stainless steel is not a "magnetic shield."
Back in my younger years I worked with a company called Mosler, and we did mostly banks.
It was always fun to see if the cleaning folks were wiping down the vault door by how much rust it had on it. I've seen one that was bathed in Windex and had a nice orange haze to it, except for the upper third, which must've been outa reach...
Another interesting thing about SS, is its desire for oil: it's still an iron alloy which is corroding as we speak, and it wants oil. Actually there is a complex chemical reason with ions and all that, but suffice it to say that the reason SS fingerprints the way it does is because it is sucking the oil out of your hands every time you touch it. Use a mineral oil containing cleaner, and between cleanings wipe down with just plain mineral oil; voila, less fingerprints.