Kitchen cleanup after a great meal is hardly anyone’s favorite activity, but it doesn’t have to be a real chore. The secret is to keep up good clean up routine throughout the week, making your weekly deep clean easier—and as an appliance that gets daily use, your sink will be grateful for a good cleaning routine. Here’s how to clean the kitchen sink.
Scrubbing potatoes, draining pasta, washing salad...what would cooking be without your sink? Your sink will probably get used while you cook—and certainly afterward if you don’t have a dishwasher (ever wondered which is better—dishwasher or hand washing? We’ve got the article for you!). After cooking it’s likely you’ll have water marks and streaks everywhere. And just maybe you’ve noticed that the first limescale marks are already starting to appear? It's high time to clean the sink properly. Let's go!
Regardless of whether you have a stainless-steel, granite, ceramic or enamel sink in your kitchen, you can follow these basic steps. If cleaning the sink is part of your regular cleaning routine, it will remain your trusty kitchen friend for years to come. It's best to clean the sink immediately after use. All you need to easily clean your sink properly are these three things:
- Dish sponge
- Dish soap
- Microfiber cloth or paper towel
If you clean your sink consistently, no deposits will form in the first place—making after-dinner cleanup that much more satisfying. Especially with hard water, even the smallest drops quickly cause annoying limescale stains. Apply a little dish soap to the sponge, wipe out the sink all around and rinse with clean water. Then briefly wipe the surface with the microfiber cloth or paper towel to dry it. And you're done! It takes less than two minutes but will leave your space looking cleaner and ready for its next use.
Your stainless-steel sink is starting to look a little less than stainless? It's time to give your sink a clean—and before you feel too overwhelmed with yet another task, let us reassure you that it is pretty simple!
Because stainless steel has a soft surface compared to other sink materials, use the soft side of your dish sponge and be sure to avoid steel wool cleaning pads or abrasive cleaners of any kind. The best way to clean this type of sink is to use a soft sponge dipped in a cleaning solution.
Here are our best tips for specific issues:
A household product that works wonders against tough grime: is Soft Scrub® Cleanser with Bleach
If you don’t have Soft Scrub on hand:
- 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar and water to keep limescale stains at bay
- Baking soda or baking powder against discoloration
- Citric acid against stubborn dirt and limescale stains
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You’ll have an easier time of it when cleaning your sink if it is made of granite. Granite sinks are dirt repellent due to their special surface structure and are therefore easier to clean. With a wet cloth and some liquid dish soap, you can easily clean the sink if it is dirty. However, if you discover more stubborn stains, try this home remedy:
- Heavy-duty detergent: First mix a powder detergent with a little water. Rub the sink thoroughly with this paste and then wait at least two hours, or better yet let the paste work overnight. Then rinse the sink thoroughly with water and wipe it dry.
If this isn’t the quick fix you’re after, you can search for a commercial descaler and use that instead.
Because ceramic sinks are coated with a high-quality glaze, they are the easiest to clean. Water runs off and limescale stains are rare. However, grease and dirt can still build up. To clean a ceramic sink, you need the basic equipment mentioned above: a sponge, dish soap and a microfiber cloth. This will almost always remove the film of dirt effortlessly. For heavier soiling in a ceramic sink, you can even use Soft Scrub here as well and the scrubber side of your sponge.
If your sink is shining like new, you’ll want to keep it that way. When cleaning, also think about the drain—a blocked drain is a sure way to a grimier sink. Cleanliness is especially important in the kitchen, so cleaning the drain is just as important as cleaning the outer sink structure. This works well with a small bottle brush, for example. A toothbrush can also be used around the faucet. If you discover limescale deposits here, you can remove them in the same way as you’d remove stains in a stainless-steel sink. Or see our article on removing limescale for more options.
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