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As I have noticed an increase in Stainless Steel Wire Balustrade inquiries and installations on my decks, I thought I’ll touch on cleaning maintenance of your stainless steel wire.

Although Stainless Steel Wire keeps its lustrous finish even under adverse conditions, it still needs regular cleaning. Soap and water is usually all you need.

Frequency of cleaning will vary according to the required appearance and environment. This is best determined by varying the cleaning cycle until a suitable program is established.

If rust staining is noted (tea staining), or corrosion is suspected, closer inspection should be undertaken to determine the nature, cause and severity of the problem. If an attack is detected, please contact us for advice on corrective action. Normally cleaning and passive action can prevent further attack.

Do

• Wash regularly with soapy water or detergent using a tea cloth and, if necessary, a soft bristle brush, micro-fibre cloth or a 3M high performance cleaning cloth, which can be purchased from Handy Mick. We also have a kit which includes 1x3M high performance cloth, a 250ml bottle of Stainless Steel Sentry Oil, and an information card on the care of your Stainless Steel Balustrade.
• Remove non-washable deposits using an approved cleaner.
• Clean in one direction only, along the original polish lines, with the grain on the stainless steel.
• Rinse well with clean water and wipe dry.

Don’t

• Use steel wool or metallic scrapers to remove non-washable deposits. This is very important because the particles from the steel wool can scratch and cause incur rusting.
• Allow dirt to accumulate or dry out and harden.
• Use cleaners containing harsh abrasives or high in bleach.

Cleaning of your stainless steel

For rust or tea stain affected stainless steel it is recommended that a specialised cleaner be used.

Protection is always better than cure so we recommend a thin coating of Stainless Steel Sentry Oil or a liberal coating of car wax to be applied to your wires every 6 months. This prevents a build up of dirt in the twists of the wires and tea staining.