[djrobsd]

As long as you don't mind the distressed scratched up look.

By the way, I think some stainless is worse then others. My counter top in the bathroom is stainless and it gets dirty fast, but it's very easy to clean with Stainless Steel Magic. It does scratch easilly, which is the down side of stainless, but I guess if you use steel wool to clean it, it will ALL be scratched and then it won't matter.

I bought a nice stainless trash can for my bathroom and it looks like CR*POLA... It is rusted and stained all over, and I'm going to have to throw it away. Or maybe I should take it back to Bed Bath & Beyond and complain?

By the way, for anyone who has used the Ikea stainless panels, would you PLEASE POST PHOTOS? I am thinking about doing my whole backslash in stainless.

[inafix]

Precisely. Nothing brings out the luster of stainless steel then stratches over every inch of your sink.

Speaking of the imperativ SS backsplashes why exactly are there horizontal streaks on them? I saw this when I actually went to Ikea to check them out. Shouldn't they be perfectly clean and shiny looking?

[kelly]

If the "stainless" rusted, its not stainless. Here from our friends at Scientific American:

ASK THE EXPERTS: CHEMISTRY
Why doesn't stainless steel rust?
Nancy Avery,
New London, Conn.


Metallurgical engineer Michael L. Free of the University of Utah offers this explanation:
Stainless steel remains stainless, or does not rust, because of the interaction between its alloying elements and the environment.

Definately get cha money back.

[Liz H]

The quality of the stainless does make a difference. A friend loved her stainless kitchen sink, so she had one put in her new house when it was built. Unfortunately, her DH selected it based on price instead of quality. It was about the only thing in the house she disliked though.

[Chuck]

I installed the panels for a customer, and was not happy with the way any of the process went. The panels are difficult to cut (to size, or for outlets/switches, etc.); they don't lay evenly on the wall from panel to panel; and the "grain" described above is pronounced and VERY noticable. My customer was so "pleased" with the finished product that she asked me to remove them - LOL ! Fortunately, she knew this was a product issue and didn't blame me.

If you're seriously considering stainless steel as a backsplash material, you might want to find a metal shop to do a custom installation.

For my customers who use stainless anywhere - appliances, counters, cabinets or backsplash - in the kitchen, I tell them it is easy to clean, but hard to keep clean.