The sink is one of the dirtiest places in your kitchen. All the soapy deposits, food stains, rust, and water spots accumulating on your sink. Luckily, the following 9 simple tips that can help you keep your sink sparkling clean.
Cleaning Your Kitchen Sink
Kitchen sinks see lots of daily use, and they can get dirty in a hurry. Whether you have a stainless steel or porcelain sink, you’re going to spend plenty of time trying to get it clean again. Knowing how to clean a kitchen sink properly makes your life easier and ensures that you won’t be stuck with a cleaning challenge you can’t handle.
When you use a reliable cleaning approach, you can relax and take care of any issue you encounter without worry. The following guides dig into methods of cleaning for any kitchen sink. In this article, you’ll find techniques for how to remove rust stains from a kitchen sink made from either porcelain or stainless steel.
Cleaning options cover daily maintenance, heavy-duty scrubbing, and everything in between. You’ll be ready for any kitchen sink cleaning emergency you encounter after you review these tips and tricks.
1. General Cleaning Tips for Any Sink
- Regardless of the material from which your sink is made, get out the dishwashing liquid, liquid laundry detergent or all-purpose cleaners.
- Using a small amount of detergent and a couple of drops of water, scrub the sink with a soft sponge.
Rinse away residue.
Notes: Don’t use an abrasive cleaning agent or applicator. A gentle cream cleanser is good for very bad stains.
2. For a Lightly Stained Porcelain Sink
Try one of these treatments:
- Rub a freshly cut lemon around the sink to cut through the grease. Rinse with running water.
- Use baking soda in warm water. Sprinkle a little baking soda around the sink and then rub it with a damp sponge.
- Rinse with vinegar or lemon juice to help neutralize the alkaline cleaner and then rinse with running water.
- Make a paste the consistency of toothpaste with baking soda and water and gently rub the sink with a sponge or soft nylon brush. Polish with a paper towel or soft cloth.
Notes: Never use scouring powders or steel wool on porcelain sinks, because they will scratch.
3. To Remove Heavy Stains
Rub the sink with a paste consisting of 250 grams (1 cup) of powdered borax and 60 ml (4 tbsp) of lemon juice.
Dab a cloth or sponge in the paste, rub around the sink and then rinse with running water.
4. To Remove Water Spots from Any Sink
Use a cloth dampened with methylated spirits or vinegar.
5. For a Sparkling White Sink
- Place paper towels across the bottom and saturate them with household bleach.
- Let them sit for 30 minutes, then rinse with running water.
- Do not use bleach in colored porcelain sinks, because it will fade the color.
- Clean these sinks with mild dishwashing liquid, vinegar, or baking soda.
6. To Maintain Your Sink’s Lustre
- Apply a car wash and wax, with a soft, cotton towel.
- Wipe the cleaner on, let it dry for 5–10 minutes and then wipe it off.
- Do this every three months or so.
7. Stains in Solid Surface Sinks
- These stains can be removed with toothpaste or a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water.
- Gently scrub the paste on with a non-scouring scrubbing pad, available from home improvement stores.
- Your last resort is scrubbing very gently with 800 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. Scrubbing too hard could wear a groove in the material. Polish the cleaned spot with a special polish made for solid surfaces sold at home improvement stores.
8. Water Spots
- Those that are etched into a sink’s porcelain are difficult to remove. Buff them out with a polishing compound as soon as you notice the spots.
- Use jeweler’s rouge (from jewelry-making suppliers), or rub gently with pink-colored silver polish.
9. To Minimize a Chip or Scratch
- For white porcelain surfaces— pick up a container of white enamel paint at your hardware or paint shop.
- Following the package instructions, paint over the trouble spot with a small artist’s brush, let it dry, rub it with fine sandpaper, then paint again.
- Repeat the process until the painted area is even with the surrounding surface.
If you want to get fancier, buy a porcelain repair kit, which will include filler, hardener, cleaning spray, sandpaper and more.