Shiny Sinks

One of the best ways to care for the sink is to clean it with a product called ‘Shiny Sinks’ (available from most major supermarkets) which can be used daily. It is helpful to dry the sink thoroughly after cleaning.

Avoid:
(a) the use of plastic bowls for washing up, as these cause heavy localised scratching;
(b) leaving salt, vinegar, citric fruit juices, mustard or pickles on the surface for any length of time as they can cause corrosion;
(c) abrasive cleaners such as bleach, scourers or wire wool pads
Scratching
The surface scratches which appear on stainless steel sinks rarely have any appreciable depth and will become less noticeable with age. A stainless steel sink will develop a patina with time and will look better a year after installation than during the first few months of use due to the fact that the scratching will have evened out. All sinks manufactured in stainless steel perform in exactly the same way in this respect be they Franke’s manufacture or by a competitor.

We recommend the use of ‘Shiny Sinks’ which is available from large supermarkets or good hardware stores and when used regularly will assist in maintaining your sink. We would point out that the use of a plastic washing up bowl will over time cause the development of regular abrasion marks over the sink’s surface.
Rust Spots
As the world’s largest stainless steel sink manufacturers, Franke are extremely stringent in the quality and standards required from the steel suppliers. The material used is a high quality chrome nickel steel which is metallurgically incapable of rusting or corroding in normal household conditions.

It can, however, harbour ferrous particles from the water supply and these often occur with newer installations when the pipework is disturbed, or from ‘wire’ scouring pads or utensils. These filings get deposited and cling to the sink surface and unless removed will rust.

In this instance we would recommend that the sink is cleaned thoroughly using a product called ‘Bar Keepers Friend’. This should be sprinkled onto the sink and scrubbed into a paste with a stiff nylon nail brush (NB simply using a nylon washing up brush is not sufficient as the product needs to be worked into the ‘valleys’ of the texture of the sink), which should be left on the sink for at least thirty minutes before thoroughly rinsing off.

We would point out that unless the particles are completely removed they will return. It is therefore very important that after cleaning the sink, it is dried thoroughly. This process needs to continue at least daily for a period of 7 to 10 days until the problem disappears.

The problem is sometimes particularly obstinate to remove and it may take several attempts to restore the sink to its pristine condition. We would also recommend that a product such as ‘Shiny Sinks’ is used following each application of ‘Bar Keepers Friend’.

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