Most appliances have 304 SS.

Some low end SS appliance come in 430 SS.

Some SS comes in anti-smudge coating.

Benefit no fingerprints or steam stains.

Cons If it scratches it can't be refinished.

As long as you buy all 304 or all 430 they will match color and almost match grain.

You have to have SS from the same exact roll to match perfectly.

Even if you buy all the same brand this is highly unlikely.

What you gain is matching handles.

Buying appliances by handles is dumb IMO.

Buy the best in each category given your budget.

Post a budget and all the appliances you need in size(30 or 36" range) and configuration ( SxS or French Door fridge) and you will get better recommendations.

If you want more responses post in Appliance Forum.

Thank you so much!!! I will post in the other forum with the info you suggested tomorrow.

Our budget before rebates is $4000. We need a refrigerator(French door), stove & microwave (no convection necessary) and dishwasher.

When you are looking and/or mixing, note there are warm colored and cool colored SS's. Fingerprints are tiring and look bad all the time. Things like that grow old fast. You might want to look at the smudge resistant kind. I don't know how effective they are.

My LG Refrigerator and GE Café Gas Range have more of a brushed type of stainless steel that does not hold any magnets are are so easy to keep clean.

My very expensive top of the line KitchenAid has a white type of stainless steel that holds magnets and is so difficult to keep clean and smudges so easily.

I wonder if the KitchenAid uses the cheaper 430 stainless steel while the LG and GE appliances use the preferred 304 stainless steel? The LG Refrigerator matches my GE Café Gas Range, my Zephyr Range Hood, my GE counter microwave. The KitchenAid does not match.

If a magnet sticks it is 430, that is one of the properties.

deeageaux, Thanks for letting me know. I spent so much money for this dishwasher which I like except for the smudgy stainless steel. I wish KitchenAid would have used the better stainless steel.

lynn2006

Maybe five six years ago there was a spike in SS prices due to the massive demand coming from China.

Some appliances that you would assume to have 304 started using 430.

How old is your fridge? Is it freestanding or built-in?

My KitchenAid Dishwasher KUDE70 is the one with the smudgy mirror like stainless steel that magnets stick to that is 3.5 years old. The LG Refrigerator is not built in but magnets do not stick to it and it is so easy to keep clean with more of a grayish brushed stainless steel. The GE Café has the same color and nonmagnetic stainless properties. Thank you deeageaux.

lynn2006 how do you like your lg refrigerator and is it a FD? I'm looking for a new fridge and I like the new one that has extra space but no reviews on LG refrigerators here.

Look for recent "cleaning SS" threads. I've written on many of them about avoiding using oil-based cleaners/polishes on SS. Fill a spray bottle with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water (I use anywhere from 30%-50% alcohol, plus the corresponding am/'t of water) with some essential lavender oil, spray, and wipe/buff dry with a microfiber cloth. Easy to mix up and use, and you can spot clean your SS with it, too. Terrific on granite--no smearing or residue left behind. :)

I have a year-old KA side-by-side and a month-old Bosch DW. Both are stainless and are magnetic. If that means they are 430, then they are. Neither appliance is top of the line, but not the bottom either. The stainless has a brushed look, not mirror and not "white" which I can't quite picture in my mind. Neither is particularly bad with smudges or fingerprints, but I think if you stick to using the handles on fridges and DWs, you can minimize that for the most part.

The fridge and DW are on opposite sides of my small kitchen and they go fine together, not necessarily matching, but do not look wildly dissimilar. I'm not a matchy-matchy person, so anything close is fine.

I was sold a rather pricey SS cleaner when I bought my fridge. It does have oil in it. I find it seems to repel and/or minimize any smudges. I tried the homemade water/alcohol/lavender solution and it made a streaky mess. Different strokes.

My old stove is white enamel and is a dream to keep clean. One day it needs to be replaced and I do worry about smears and streaks since the environment is inherently greasy.

I never gave matching a thought and bought based on features, general reviews, etc. I have a Kenmore Elite (made by LG) fridge, a Bosh DW, and GE Profile stove and Micro. No one, not even me, notices or is bothered by different handles which aren't all that different. Keep in mind that your appliances aren't next to each other where any differences in finish might show more.

Just a note....I LOVE my convection MW and think it was well worth the extra few hundred dollars. My kitchen is small (we have a stove and OTR micro). , so it serves as another oven. And it's great for cooking small portions..no heating up the big stove.

To whoever asked about the LG fridge. We have a FD LGT that is perhaps 5 to 6 years old. It is a piece of junk. The interior plastic parts are so cheaply made that they break very easily. Needless to say, we won't be buying another LG.

I really do like the FD configuration though, and ti was LG's FD configuration at that time that sold us on this particular model.

thank you need info1 I'm considering all options just not sure I want to spend7000k-1000k for a refrigerator like DH wants.