Help! Cleaning kitchen sink
 

We have a white kitchen sink in TV. Not porcelain or metal- some kind of plastic. The sink now has stained to a brownish color. We've tried Formula 409 and Tilex to no avail. Does anybody having the same kind of sink know the secret?

Two great products I use when all else fails on a stain is Bar Keeper's Friend and CLR. Bar keepers has been around for decades. CLR has been known to damage the color of your laminate countertop, so proceed with caution if using in the sink. Good luck!

Kitchen sink
 

I always have luck using "Magic Erasers" to remove tough stains, you can use with any cleaner you like.

Have you tried compresses of straight Clorox?

Definitely go with Bar Keeper's Best Friend -- it's one of the few products that won't scratch those sinks. If it is scratched, good luck on getting tomato-based stains out. Another thing to try is to fill the sink to the level of the stains and then add bleach and let sit overnight. Clean the next morning with Magic Eraser. Sometimes this works, depending on how old the stains are. (Best solution is to replace the hated Corian sinks!)

:MOJE_whot:: My laundry room sink is plastic and I had the same problem. Wash the sink with Softsoap liquid cleanser and a nylon scrubbing pad. Rinse, then fill the tub with water to cover the stain and add a cup of Clorox. Soak the sink for a couple of hours (or more if needed). Then apply car polish to the sink and you won't have anymore stains. Hope it works for you.....it worked for me!

bleach will eventually take the finish off the sink. I personally wouldn't use it. Bar Keeper's Helper is great, Magic Erasers are great as well. Try these first and good luck!!

I use Brillo pads on my glass cook top AND our glass shower door and it never scratches either. I use bleach for a lot of stains in my house but I don't have a composite sink except in my laundry room and bleach works on that.

Try gel dishwasher detergent. Just a small amount and work it in with a sponge, let stand for 5 mins. - Works wonders!

Oven cleaner?

Certain types of plastics are susceptible to being damaged by oven cleaner (referring to the O.P.'s description of their sink).......

Bill

In my NJ home we had a counter and sink of solid laminate and I think that may be what you have, as i've seen them in some friends homes here. They can be cleaned with a mild household cleaner and baking soda.

They can get deep scratches in them from pots and pans, so be cautious when washing them. You can sand the scratches out, but it's an awful mess of dust, even with a wet sander.

Here's a link to explain the cleaning that I've located that seems right on the money.

http://www.countertop.com/care/

If ducati's sink is like ours (patio villa in Duval), it's truly a plastic of some sort. Doesn't seem like Corian or anything like that. Bought our home as a resale and all the sinks, kitchen and baths, have been scrubbed on somewhat of a regular basis with some type of mildly abrasive scrubber, it seems - the surfaces have been scratched a bit and dulled down (inconsistently) pretty good. I can't help but think there's nothing we can do to resurrect the finish given the plastic surface. We're just going to roll with them til we get to some future point of feeling we should perhaps replace them.

Bill

I you purchase your home new, you should have a listing in your paperwork of all the items installed in your paperwork.

On a resale like yours, i would call The Villages Home Warranty Dept. at 352-753-6222 and give them your Unit # and Homesite # and they can tell you what's installed in your home and/or give you the name of the original contracted installer of those items.

I use this on what I think is our fiberglass bathtub! Works great, so does shampoo.

Hi Richie - Yep, we got all that paperwork from the prior/original owners. It's at the villa............and we're in OH at present. Boo! :) I already had made a note to myself to check the info on the sink when we get down there to TV next month.

Thanks!

Bill

I have a similar sink..called featherstone. I use Clorox "Cleanup Cleaner" and a 3M scrub pad. This works great and is one of the manufacturer's recommended cleaning methods. I do this about every week. No stains so far.

OK - after some further investigation (a trip to Lowes today) - I admit that you guys know your stuff. Guess I don't get out much as I've never heard of a plastic sink - yup, in Lowes there was a genuine porcelain imitation plastic sink.

Don't use oven cleaner on those for sure - oh wait, oven cleaner might be just thing to rid that stain - it would eat right through the plastic making sink replacement mandatory so the stain is gone afterall.

But oven cleaner is awesome in removing soap scum on my genuine procelain bath tub - works better than all that hand scrubbing with comet. Wife tells me to use that body wash stuff (that doesn't add the soap scum) but it washes off my hands before I even get one toe washed and then I smell like a girl once done. Nope - no body wash for me. (Dollar Store oven cleaner works as good as the expensive stuff for whatever it's worth - at least on bath tubs).

Keep that awesome exchange of Villages knowledge going - you guys are smart.

Thank-you Kit9240- I tried your suggestion of gel dishwasher detergent, leaving it sit for 10 minutes or so and it worked very well! The stains are gone and it looks 90-95% better! That last 5-10% I may never get back just because of age and use. Its the bottom that doesn't look pure white & glossy any more but I am much happier with the look now. TOTV solves another problem!

Hey, thanks!! I just tried brillo pads on my glass cooktop and it worked! That is one hard surface to keep clean, and I have tried everything!