Erica Finamore is Real Simple's home director, sharing her knowledge on decorating, organizing, cleaning and DIYing. She has over 10 years' experience and favors statement sofas, gallery walls and organizing books in rainbow order.
There's no doubting that olive oil comes in handy for a whole lot of things. I mean, you use it in countless recipes, and even outside of the kitchen, it can hydrate your skin or help you get shiny hair. It's also been rumored to be an all-natural cleaning alternative to get your stuff shiny, and while that would be great (and we've even recommended it in the past), it's not really the ideal cleaning or polishing agent. We spoke to Jen and Brian Boyle, owners of MaidThis Cleaning and members of the Thumbtack Pro advisory board, to find out why you might want to leave your olive oil on the shelf during a cleaning binge.
Most of the time, when people talk about "cleaning" with olive oil, they're actually talking about restoring or polishing an item. " If you define cleaning as removing bacteria, viruses, and other germs, olive oil contains no known antibacterial or antiviral properties and, therefore, would not be able to sanitize or disinfect anything," Boyle says.
Applying a layer of olive oil to your stainless steel appliances won't harm or damage them, but it may not polish them quite as you intend. "As the oil dries, it leaves behind a sticky residue that can fill in small scratches," Boyle says. "But left in a natural household environment, it can eventually collect dust and lint." Ew. Plus, applying layers and layers of oil on appliances can cause a ton of grease and grime buildup, making those once shiny appliances look pretty dull.
We get it, it can be tempting to coat your oven racks with olive oil to prevent food sticking, but hold up. "Any oven temperature setting above roughly 375 degrees would cause the oil to break down and smoke, leaving you with a less-than-ideal cooking experience," says Boyle. That's because of olive oil's relatively low smoke point. If you do want to use it somewhere, you're better off using it on your grill grates outdoors so that the smoke is less of an issue.
""With so many effective, non-toxic, and all-natural cleaning products available today, in our opinion, it doesn't make sense to use olive oil as a cleaning product," Boyle says. You can use a damp cloth, steam cleaning, or a vinegar mixture instead. Start with these recommendations for non-toxic ways to clean stainless steel.