Care and Maintenance of your
Stainless and Copper

Frigo Design uses only the highest grade 304 #4 Stainless Steel. The high percentage of chromium and nickel (18% and 8%) creates a Stainless that is highly resistant to stains, corrosion, and discoloration and at the same time exhibits the rich, vibrant shine synonymous with a Stainless Steel appearance.

Copper is a “living” natural product and therefore will react to the environment by tarnishing or creating its own patina. The process may be controlled by occasionally waxing the Butchers / Beeswax.

These products may be re-polished for a bright appearance. Re-sanding on site to remove signs of wear and scratches is also a fairly simple process. Minor scratches and mineral streaking can be brushed with a household Scotch brite pad. Frigo design highly recommends that when purchasing Copper or Brass for the use as backsplash ONLY, that the customer opts to have the application of … Non-tarnishing Sealer. This will eliminate tarnishing, preserver the original “shine & brilliance” and allows for easy cleaning with just warm water.

For Stainless Splash it is recommended that a Fingerprint-less Sealer be baked-on by Frigo Design. This will retard fingerprinting and will allow for easy, time-saving spot cleaning, rather than having to clean the entire splash with a special Stainless cleanser.

Frigo Design’s exclusive Matte Finish. This non-directional hand finish not only creates a sophisticated look, but makes it much easier for general maintenance, polishing, and re-finishing. As with most other  countertops materials, Stainless Steel is subject to scratching and denting. Although a “hard” surface, tops will gather minor scratches in everyday use and will dent if a heavy object is dropped on surface.

Deep dents are virtually non repairable, but most surface scratches can be polished out with the use of various abrasives and a medium amount of effort. (See refinishing process below). No countertop surface, except butcher block is made to withstand cutting directly on. All will scratch and will ruin your cutlery.

Frigo Design’s exclusive matte non-directional finishing process does make it much easier to “blend-in” scratches versus a top with a standard 304 finish. Will your efforts yield a “perfect” undetectable scratch removal? Probably not “perfect” because the area polished will have a “shinier” appearance that needs time to weather and change to the match the luster of the balance of the countertop’s surface.

There are many different cleaning procedures suggested by a multitude of different organizations and individuals including: stainless manufacturers, designers, homeowners, etc. The following are basic “things to do” to clean stainless steel or copper…

  • Never use chloride or ammonia based cleansing liquids. Using these types of cleansers can permanently stain and corrode the stainless surface.
  • Clean with warm water, mild soap thoroughly rinsing and drying with soft cloth.
  • Always wipe surface with a non-abrasive cleaning pad such as a damp rag or a sponge.

Application procedures for applying or Re-applying Matte Finish to Stainless Steel or Copper Countertops

Using any type of orbital hand held sander equipped with a FINE grit sandpaper-#180 (use a spray adhesive to hold sandpaper on sander)… let the sander move all over the surface in no particular standard direction. Let the sander do the work. Do not apply any hard pressure. Move the sander up and down and from side to side to produce a non-directional random look to the metal. When the matte finish is achieved throughout the surface, remove the Fine grit sandpaper and replace with a PURPLE scotch brite pad. The color purple designates a specific grade/grit of scotch brite. As in the first step, let the sander do the work. Just guide the sander in all directions until the scotch brite pad has created the desired finish – softens the look of the pattern produced in the first step. Wipe down surface with a soft cloth and alcohol until surface is free from any residue.

Follow same procedures for re-finishing Copper Matter countertops. Except: do not final clean with a stainless cleaner, use any copper polish.

Always wear latex gloves when working with stainless and especially copper. This will eliminate leaving fingerprints on stainless and tarnishing copper, caused by the acidity in one skin.

If you should have any questions regarding the above, please contact Frigo Design – 1 800 836 8746