Clean/repair stained porcelain sink?

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Our porcelain-enamel kitchen sink has developed stains, especially where the plastic "feet" of a "sink protector" have rested. I think that stuff that has been dropped into the sink and not rinsed away immediately has caught on those "feet" and remained there long enough to stain the surface. I have cleaned the sink from time to time with Soft-Scrub, but hat no longer seems effective, and now I find that the stained areas actually feel rougher than the unstained areas.

Any suggestions how to fix this problem? Any way to seal the surface?

Perce

[dadiOH]

Depends on what the stais are. Scrubbing...bleaching...etc

If it is truly porcelain then the surface was made by heating the cast iron (or stamped steel) then covering it with materials that will fuse (melt). You wind up with the same sort of surface as you do on tile; essentially, glass. I know of no practical way to repair it, about the best you could do would be to use colored epoxy (best) or polyurethane.

If it is rough because you used something too abrasive to clean it and scratched it in the process but did not cut through it, you could alleviate it via finer & finer silicon carbide paper. When you get as fine as you can go with that, you can use the very fine aluminum oxide stuff that is used to polish plastic. Comes (usually) in a liguid medium, found at auto parts stores. There are other polishing materials too; you need something harder than glass (moh's 7) and finer than the finest wet or dry paper which is usually availble up to 2000 or 2500. The finer the grit the shinier the surface.

[trader4]

First thing I'd try is to plug up the sink, put some bleach in it and let it sit awhile.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

I've done that, and it works, but only till next time: the rough surface stains much more easily. I'm looking for a longer-term solution.

Perce

[Percival P. Cassidy]

What I man is: the rough surface stains so easily that I don't think things even have to be left on the surface: the rough surface gets stained simply from colored liquid or other material coming into contact with it only briefly.

Perce

[Erik]

Hmmm... try some 'Bar Keepers Friend' on it... It's gotten out stains I didn't think would ever come out. It's 'magic' ingredient is a little Oxalic acid. I've had best results with the powder version, but then again really don't have a lot of experience with their liquids.

A friend once had a slob in one of his apartments who let dishes, cutlery and whatnot sit in a wet porcelain sink for years. There were numerous deep dark rust stains & mineral deposits that looked hopeless. The usual cleansers took off the the surface stuff, but only lightened up the rust stains. BKF didn't remove them instantly... it took several good scrub cycles, but the sink came out looking new.

Makes stainless look new as well.

Many super markets now carry it.

No affiliation... just a happy user. Good Luck, let us know how it comes out.

Erik

[Robert Green]

I think Percival has discovered not the Holy Grail but the same thing I have: that Soft-Scrub isn't as soft as claimed. (-:

While I think that DadiOH's approach to restoring the surface is the best, my experience tells me once the original high-temp glaze is gone, it's not coming back - at least not the way it was when it was new. Material has been lost from the surface that's gone forever. Time for a new stainless steel sink - they're usually much more resistant to the kind of damage that the sink strainer's rubber feet apparently set in motion. Been there, done that. )-:

-- Bobby G.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Aside from refinishing, there is none. You have porosity and it allows absorption of the gunk in there.

Soft scrub should be call Delay Scrub and it is still abrasive and will just take longer to ruin the sink.

[Norminn]

How old is the sink? In my experience, with hard water, the porcelain might last 20 years, then allow water to reach the cast iron and start rusting. It's hard to imagine the rubber feet of the strainer causing abrasion of the porcelain...might it be some lime has collected? Tried CLR or LimeAway? I would try Magic Eraser after that, just to try to smoothe the areas without further abrasion...I've used ME on painted woodwork and wood furniture, with good results and very mild cleaning. Let us know :o)

[croy]

Not hard for me to imagine. When deliberately lapping surfaces, it's common to use a softer material as a tool to lap the surface you want lapped. The grit in the lapping compound embeds in the softer material, and abrades the harder material.

The rubber feet on the drain rack could well pick up abrasive material from cleansers, and act much like slow grinders on the porcelain.

[trader4]

That's interesting and I think true. I never thought about it that way before. But over the years, my sink has become more susceptible to stains. Probably as you say, from the surface getting roughed up over time. Still, the main thing that causes staining is leaving something laying in the sink that you shouldn't for a day or more. I just use Soft Scrub with bleach to get it mostly clean, then let it set there to bleach the rest out.

[Erik]

My house was built in the late 20's, and still has it's original white porcelain kitchen sink.

It had lost it's surface glaze long before my grandmother bought the place in the 50's. It had always looked 'ok', but required a lot of elbow grease.

Later, after I'd inherited the house in about 2k, I read on the net of Bar Keepers Friend (like I posted about a few days ago). Ever since, other than a couple of small chips/dings, it's looked gleaming new, bright white... with minimal effort.

Give it a whirl, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. If not, your out a whole $3.00 or so. Sure beats refinishing and/or replacing.

Good luck!

Erik

[DD_BobK]

in it and let it sit awhile.

[DD_BobK]

abrasive material from cleansers, and act much like slow grinders on the porcelain.

[HeyBub]

Watch your local CraigsList. At least once a week I see a stainless double sink offered from between free to $40.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Apart from the fact that we so not want a stainless-steel sink -- too noisy -- the present sink is no ordinary one: it has a lower-than-usual divider between the two parts to accommodate such things as large frying pans.

BTW, I don't think we ever actually scrubbed the sink with Soft-Scrub -- just poured it on and let it stand for a while, then brushed it off along with plenty of water.

Perce

[Erik]

I'm not a big fan of stainless sinks either.

However, years ago before installing one for a neighbor, I read that giving the bottom of of them a couple of coats of pre installation automotive undercoating helps a lot.

And it in fact did deaden the noise considerably! Dish water seemingly stays warm longer as well...

Not as nice as a full blown cast iron/porcelain sink, but a big improvement.

Erik

[krw]

We love SS sinks. Cheap ones are noisy but decent SS sinks are great. They're easy to keep clean and are almost impossible to damage. I wish we had an even bigger one, though.

[Lee B]

When I was selling my parents' house, there some dinged up sinks and bathtubs. I found out that there are porcelain refinishing kits that can allegedly be used to match and repair the surface. I don't know; I never tried.

When I sold my own house, my 1950s tub was rough and stained, so that time I hired a professional tub refinisher. He did a very nice job. Two drawbacks - 1) the process smelled! and 2) forever after you're supposed to use soft scrub type cleaners and not leave mats in the tub. I'm not sure how much of a hassle that would be for a kitchen sink or if they'd even do that. Might be worth getting an estimate, though. (I think 5 yr ago the tub was in the $300 range).

[HeyBub]

1. Add a noise-dampening substance to the sink before installing it.
2. NEWS FLASH: Stainless steel sinks are made in the exact same shapes as any other available material.

But, I do apologize. I thought you were trying to eliminate a continuing problem rather than finding an excuse to shun stainless.

I regret the error.