smudge-resistant

Stainless, once a high-end amenity, has become so popular that it is subject to innovation, such as the smudge-resistant finish.

These products include a powerful juice extractor, an elegant coffee maker, an efficient stand mixer, a smudge-resistant food processor and a simple hand blender.

Eight months ago Fisher & Paykel, a New Zealand company with cult status, introduced an $1,100 smudge-resistant version.

Its coatings were created to allow greater transparency in lenses made of certain plastics by repelling rain and being anti-reflective, smudge-resistant, dust-resistant and scratch-resistant.

At Citibank, which this month introduced its branch of the future on Park Avenue and 53d Street in Manhattan, the new look includes advertising kiosks and smudge-resistant walls, as well as changes in how branch workers are deployed and how they use the bank's computer system.