Seeking advice for cleaning appliances

Actually, I love black appliances. :) But when we got this house, it came with the standard white gas stove. But for black appliances, have you tried Windex with ammonia? That always seemed to work for me. Except your right...a paper towels or wash clothes will leave lint. LOL Try using a sponge. But dedicate a sponge for that sole purpose. Hope that helped!

The best thing I have found to clean black appliances is a type of Window cleaner. It's the foam style. I get it at the dollar store but I think there is a name brand they sell at other stores. There is also a bathroom cleaner like it, Foaming bubbles type. Both work great. I find it cleans the grease off and leaves the surface shiney and without smears. It makes them look like they are still new.

my boyfriend of 7 yrs uses vinegar to clean everything and i mean everything it works

I have tried everything that you have discussed so far, with everyone, even the scrubbing bubbles, etc...and I have learned that the best thing is to scrub everything first, with comet and pine sol...(comet deep cleans, and pine sol removes the grease), and then, if you want to spray it with window cleaner, you can do that....that is what works, most of the time, for me. And, I do have sponges just for cleaning the appliances, and I use a dishrag for the lint and all that, and that seems to work. I like black appliances with stainless steel, but I ended up with white, and when my mom was remodeling and updating everything in her home, she insisted on getting white again, which is what she likes.