Removing corrosion marks from stainless steel

hamzajuzer

Hi,
I recently had my flat professionally cleaned and as part of the clean, the cleaner had used diluted bleach on several of the stainless steel surfaces. I noticed several brown spots on the surfaces after the cleaner had left and although thinking they were initially stains that could be washed away, it turns out they were much harder to remove! After a bit of googling, i realized they must have been corrosion stains - I've attached a picture below for clarity. 

I called the company and they mentioned that this could happen if the steel was cheap (which I admit could be the case) and more prone to this affect when cleaned but didnt have any solutions regarding removing them. 

Does anyone know any method to get rid of or reduce the discoloration without replacing the surface? I read that baking soda and an oxalic acid cleaner could be a possible method but given these discolorations are quite widespread, I'm not sure if  they'll completely remove them. 

molerat

I doubt they are stainless but chrome plated and the holder will be plastic, not a lot you can do to fix that.  Try some chrome cleaner or maybe a bit of scrunched up tinfoil and water on the metal bits.

beaker141

Could it be the "wrong" cleaning product used that was too powerful etc. I once used something on my chrome taps which stripped a lot of the shine off and left not disimilar markings. 

FreeBear

molerat said: I doubt they are stainless but chrome plated and the holder will be plastic, not a lot you can do to fix that.  Try some chrome cleaner or maybe a bit of scrunched up tinfoil and water on the metal bits.

If the items really are stainless steel, then a metal polish & buffing should get rid of them. Toothpaste makes for a very good polish - Try that first.

There are chemicals that will remove stains from stainless steel - A company I used to work for would use a phosphoric acid mix. Steer clear of any acid based solution, it is real nasty stuff.