[footfootfoot]

If the cookware truly is stainless steel, then no oil is needed. If it is not stainless, e.g. high carbon steel, like an ordinary wok, then you must be absolutely sure it is bone dry before you put it away or it will rust.

There is a lot of misinformation, hoodoo, and snake oil afoot in the world of commerce and I bet they are just telling you this so you think you are doing something special to your cookware. Anointing it as it were. Some people feel they have to do something extra to their toys to keep their specialness alive, rubbing oil on stainless steel qualifies as one of those things.

Cast iron is another matter entirely, and unless specifically requested I will forgoe the lesson in C.I. upkeep, as i don't have time now. (though my spidey sense tells me that either xoBruce or BigV or Busterb could pinch hit here)

If you can't bear to leave your pans high and dry (you strike me as a pan hanging kind of guy, rather than under the counter) then coat them with an unrefined oil that is not likely to go rancid easily, i.e. walnut oil. Most cheap cooking oil regardless of its provenance is three quarters on its way to being varnish. (long high heat in refining polymerizes the oil, that is why it is gummy around the top of the bottle you found in the back of the cupboard.)

At our house we go through about a gallon of olive oil every other month, so that doesn't happen, but when I have visited non cooking types or people with a fear of oil, it is pretty common.

There.