Stainless Steel DIY Gone Wrong!

A little over a year ago my husband and I purchased a foreclosed home in our town. We spent an entire month painting and replacing parts of the home. The multiple home improvement projects took a huge toll on the budget and we had to put a few projects on hold. One of those projects was a brand new kitchen.
The DIY...
I really desired all new stainless steel appliances for my new kitchen and it wasn't something I really wanted to wait on. I remember stumbling across DIY Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel online and I decided if I can't afford to purchase new appliances I will redo the ones I have.
If you are a DIYer and plan on trying the Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel you must read this first...
I was over joyed with the thought of having what I want and not having to deplete my home improvement budget.
I purchased the Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel Range kits online and was super excited to get started. When the products arrived I watched the video multiple times and read over the directions over and over again. I was ready to begin.
The application was super easy and looked fantastic. I was very pleased. What could go wrong.
The Wrong...
After a week of using my stove the rim around the burners started turning brown. The brown ring started growing in size. The top of my stove that at one point was beautiful stainless steel was now brown and yucky. How can this be? What did I do wrong? Was I not supposed to paint the top of the range? Horror crept in. I searched the site for help and this is what I found...
"Like all stainless steel range tops, Thomas' Stainless SteelTM will 'season or bronze the stainless steel around any burner that accommodates pots or pans that are significantly wider than the burner. This bronzing typically seasons about one inch of the stainless around the burner. You can observe seasoning on all stainless steel range tops in chef's kitchens. " -Thomas' Stainless Steel
I was horrified! This was located under the FAQ tab and if I would have seen this I wouldn't have purchased the product. Who wants their over to look like it hasn't been cleaned in a year? As for seasoning, it's more like burnt paint.
The photo above was taken after I started the removal process. I wish I would've snapped a photo of the stove before hand to show how terrible it looked, but I was so embarrassed I couldn't bring myself to take the photo.
The really dark ring is usually where the black burner insert covers and the lighter brown rings show beyond the insert. This is the area of seasoning, as they call it. I call it horror.
Stop back on Monday for the part two of this post for the actual removal with photos. It surprisingly comes completely off with a awesome cleaner and a little elbow grease.
Andrea Fogleman
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Teresa Teresa on Jul 02, 2016
    Is there any paint you can use on a range top to get the wanted results?
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  • Annie Doherty Annie Doherty on Jun 19, 2016
    Hi Archiestown I understand where you're coming from, it seems that Andrea was so happy to have found this product that maybe she didn't research the subject thoroughly however, it takes a bigger person who can happily admit they got it wrong, we've all been there. Thanks to your post she now knows that the Company has a generous refund policy which is terrific. Maybe this product would be more suitable for fridges freezers etc if not for use near direct heat. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
  • Sonia Burrows Sonia Burrows on Jul 02, 2016
    You probably would have been better off using a spray paint (like Rust-oleum BBQ) that can take high heat. Unfortunately it only comes in white, black or silver. I'm not sure how close the silver would be to the stainless steel.
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