How to Clean a Stainless Steel Sink
Like a Professional
Stainless Steel sinks are beautiful but can get stained easily. Water drops dry and leaves a mark, hard water accumulates, and sometimes rust can form. But there is a very easy way to keep it looking clean, shiny, and as beautiful as new.
To clean a stainless steel sink use a cleaning powder like Ajax or Bar Keepers Friend, scrub with a non-scratching scouring pad, rinse and dry. The whole process takes just a few minutes. See below the step by step process with pictures.
The steps are very simple:
1- Polish and disinfect with a powder cleanser. Powder cleanser, also called scouring powder, is a fine powder that gently polish the surface you clean with them, some have bleach and some don’t, some brand names are Ajax, Bar Keepers Friend, Comet, etc. They all work great and you can use any brand you have at home. Put on some gloves, turn on the water and get the entire sink wet, add powder all over the sink.
2- Scrub following the grain. If you can see or feel the grain of the steel, scrub following that direction, if not just do a circular motion. Use a non-scratching scouring pad, never use steel wool pads. Add powder and water as necessary to cover the entire area. You don’t have to use a lot of force, just scrub gently, the powder does the hard work for you.
3- Rinse and wipe away all residue. Rinse with water, wipe away all leftover powder with a damp cloth, if you see remaining stains repeat the process, if you have hard water deposits that won’t go away use a scraper blade to remove them, be gentle and very careful when doing this
4- Dry completely. Use a microfiber cloth, make sure you don’t leave any water droplets left because they show if you let them air dry.
Here is the step by step with pictures:
1- Use a powder cleanser like Ajax or Bar Keepers Friend, wet the sink, and apply the cleaner all over it.
2- Scrub following the grain. Use a non-scratching scouring pad and a little water, just enough to make it foam, add more powder and water as necessary to cover the entire area
3- Rinse and dry. Rinse with water as much as you can, wipe away all areas the water can’t reach. Use a microfiber cloth to dry and polish, make sure there is no residue or water drops left, they will show when dry
Enjoy the fantastic results! Your sink will look as good as new! Shiny, clean, and disinfected
To keep it looking this good:
- Dry the sink after doing the dishes
- Use this method once a week
- You can do it daily, it won’t damage your sink
Stainless steel is resistant to rust because is an alloy of different elements, the one that prevents rust is chromium, which forms an invisible layer that protects from corrosion. There are more than 100 different grades of stainless steel, depending on the elements used in the alloy, so the material used for your sink might be different than the one used for appliances, they might have special coatings and finishes that will be damaged if using a powder cleanser to clean them. Always refer to the user’s manual before cleaning any stainless steel appliance. Take a look at my recommendation on How to Clean a Stainless Steel Fridge
Stainless steel sinks are usually more resistant to scratching and rust than appliances but they can still rust or stain, so make a habit of cleaning stains as soon as possible, the longer you wait the harder it is to clean.
If you look closely at the before picture, you will notice a rust stain on the upper right side, is from a plastic suction cup used to hold a soap tray, it was on that spot for so long that water trapped started to damage the surface. I was able to remove it using this method and I told the homeowner to not use that anymore, the stain didn’t come back.
The most common problems for sinks are water stains and hard water deposits, don’t let them build up, hard water deposits can damage the coat of your sink allowing it to rust. If you already have hard water deposits, remove them using the method mentioned above, you can also use a scraper blade if necessary, and remember to dry the sink after doing the dishes.