Accidentally made an imprint on to my pan

August 21, 2010 11:41 AM

How would you clean off an imprint of a towel on a stainless steel pan?

I was doing the dance of the waterdrops test last with my pan and accidentally tried to use a microfibre cloth to wipe away the water beads. The pan singed the cloth where it made contact and now there's a pattern of dots on my pan. You can even feel them if you rub your finger over the pattern so I presume these are melted polyester/nylon/synthetic dots from my kitchen cloth.

I've tried vinegar overnight, boiling with hot water and plain scrubbing to no avail. It's a pretty damn good (and expensive) Calphalon pan so I'm not ready to give up yet. What else can I try?

posted by tksh to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

It's stainless steel, try nail polish remover? You aren't going to harm the steel, maybe even try burning it off.

I'd just use steel wool, but it may leave scratches.
posted by Max Power at 11:45 AM on August 21, 2010

I use Barkeeper's Friend for any stubborn deposits on stainless steel pans. Zud cleanser is also good, but I don't like its odor.
posted by wryly at 11:49 AM on August 21, 2010

Best answer: Baking soda seems to work for these people who've melted plastic on pans: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/325026
posted by JulianDay at 11:52 AM on August 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding Barkeeper's Friend. As a last resort, I've used foaming oven cleaners but they're pretty noxious.
posted by Majorita at 12:08 PM on August 21, 2010

Scrape it off with the edge of a sterling silver spoon (silver plate would work, but could be damaged), or copper spatula, because those are softer than stainless steel.

I'd recommend copper mesh, but the last one I bought ('chore boy') was actually copper plated steel, presumably because of the high price of copper.
posted by jamjam at 12:10 PM on August 21, 2010

I'd never use steel wool or anything like it on stainless because it will scratch (from what I've seen). Nylon pads - I call them green pads because they are almost always green (though I've seen red ones) though made by many companies - don't scratch and work well.

I'd try boiling water in the pan and scrapping it while the water is boiling (with a wood spoon and/or green pad), if that didn't work I'd add something acidic to the water (like vinegar). Basically, deglaze the pan. Good luck.
posted by Some1 at 12:19 PM on August 21, 2010

Um, Comet or Bon Amie + hot water will take it right off. But only if it is really stainless. Do not use those on a non-stick surface.
posted by jeffamaphone at 2:14 PM on August 21, 2010

Response by poster: Boiling some baking soda did the trick! Had to use a spoon to scrape off the bits but they came right off. The parts where the cloth had melted are now way shinier than rest of the pan and there's some light scratch marks from the spoon but otherwise it's good as before.

Thanks everyone for the quick answers.

NB. I stick with those green pads too with my stainless steel stuff but I was rubbing the pads thin without taking anything off the plastic. Baking soda though, damn wow.
posted by tksh at 3:18 PM on August 21, 2010

I'd never use steel wool or anything like it on stainless because it will scratch (from what I've seen). Nylon pads - I call them green pads because they are almost always green (though I've seen red ones) though made by many companies - don't scratch and work well.

Beware this advice: proper green Scotch Brite pads do scratch stainless! The scratches are softer and look like dull spots (usually with a shiny dot in the middle denoting where the piece of debris used to be). Blue Scotch Brite pads do not scratch stainless, however.

Use plastic to scrape, and then Bar Keepers Friend to polish it out.
posted by gjc at 4:31 PM on August 21, 2010 [1 favorite]