Cleaning a granite kitchen sink

[aa]

What cleaning agents / methods are best to remove scale marks? We're in a hard water area unfortunately and the look of what was an expensive sink is being tarnished by these. Thanks.

[David.WE.Roberts]

Ummm.....fit a water softener?

Might save you money in the long run, perhaps in the short to middle term.

Cheers

Dave R

[aa]

Thanks, something I am considering, but other than fitting a softener, anyone any ideas?

[harryagain]

Well obviously you need a mild acid. Maybe vinegar? WD40 takes scale off. Dunno what it tastes like!

[stuart noble]

+1 for vinegar. I wipe our stainless steel sink once a month or so. I'm assuming granite doesn't react to acids

[aa]

Thanks Harry / Stuart, will give vinegar a try. Looks like baby oil could be a solution too..

[stuart noble]

Any oil will make it *look* better for a while because light reflects off its surface. You would probably end up with a sticky mess though as mineral oil doesn't ever dry. Vinegar does a great job very quickly if the haze is caused by hard water, but often it's the residue from Jif type cleaners

[aa]

Thanks Stuart. Malt vinegar best or some other type?

[stuart noble]

White has less smell IIRC

[Capitol]

Agreed, how about starting again with stainless?

[fred]

In article , aa writes

I'm guessing it's actually a stone filled resin such as Corian rather than actual granite which could change things a bit.

See the care table on page 7 of this doc (640kB pdf):

[Gordon Freeman]

Better and probably cheaper than vinegar is citric acid, you can buy boxes of citric acid powder from Wilkinsons for a quid or two in the cleaning meterials section.

[aa]

Thanks all for some excellent advice. Tried Malt vinegar yesterday and it worked very well though will try White or Citric Acid to reduce the smell.

[stuart noble]

Sure. Whatever's available locally. Citric is stronger than vinegar but not necessarily any "better". IME limescale is soluble in even slightly acidic solutions.

[alan]

Malt vinegar comes in at under 50p a pint. For cleaning limescale from a sink you are not going to use a expensive wine based vinegar.

[stuart noble]

Not all white vinegar is wine based