How to restore a stainless-steel sink
A: Since you mentioned floor cleaners, a customer service rep for a company that makes floor cleaners seemed like a good person to ask. Joni Thompson, who holds that role at Holloway House, which makes Quick Shine floor care products, heard a description of your problem and said the buildup could be residue from a floor care product meant to leave a shiny surface or strip it with a shiny finish. But these would leave a glossy coating, not white deposits. After seeing the pictures you sent and consulting a technical expert from the company, she emailed her that she was sure it wasn’t caused by a floor finish. “Possibly painting or just some piling up,” she said.
She suggested trying a Magic Eraser, a type of melamine foam sponge that works like very fine sandpaper to remove debris and just needs plain water. Be sure to scrub in the direction of the grain lines in the stainless steel to remove any scratches from the pads. (A two-pack of Magic Erasers is $3.29 at Target.)
If a Magic Eraser — or more, if they wear out quickly — doesn’t get your sink looking clean again, Thompson suggests trying nail polish remover, which should remove residual paint if you see it. “Stainless steel is very durable,” she noted. If that doesn’t work, you could try other household cleaners or stain removers, including staples like vinegar or baking soda.
You could even try what Thompson recommended when she initially thought a floor shine product or floor cleaner was to blame. Quick Shine multi-surface floor finishes and similar products from other manufacturers contain water-based polymers, which are basically synthetics formulated to leave a wafer-thin coating on the floor once the water has evaporated. If someone repeatedly sprays one of these products onto a cleaning cloth or mop in the sink and doesn’t rinse and wipe the sink thoroughly, the splashes can leave a stubborn residue.
A cleaning product designed to remove polymer coatings, like Quick Shine deep cleaner, might do the same if someone pours a bucket of mopping water into a sink and doesn’t clean the spills. The cleaner would re-liquefy the polymer on the floor, but the polymer could re-harden on the sink once the water has evaporated.
To remove cured polymer, whether from a product designed to leave shine or to remove it, Thompson recommended using a cleaner that contains ammonia or something chemically similar to it. Quick Shine Deep Cleanser is ammonia-free, but it’s what Thompson calls “an amine-based product — in the ammonia family but without the ammonia smell.” Or she suggested using Windex Original ($4.99 for a 23-ounce bottle at Ace Hardware) or Formula 409’s multi-surface cleaner ($4.99 for 32-ounce at Ace Hardware). You can also mix your own cleaner by mixing 3 or 4 tablespoons of ammonia with ½ cup of hot water. “Let the cleaner sit for a good two minutes,” Thompson said, then scrub and rinse.
If you want to try other cleaners, read their labels first. The big caveats are to avoid using products that contain chlorine bleach or are highly alkaline, such as B. Oven cleaner or drain opener. Stainless steel is rustproof – not stain resistant – because the metal contains chromium. Chromium on the surface combines with the oxygen in air or water and forms a protective layer of chromium oxide. But chlorine bleach, found in many cleaning products, breaks the bonds in the chromium oxide layer, allowing oxygen to get to the steel and form iron oxide or rust.
Luckily, as Thompson said, stainless steel is pretty much indestructible. So unless you already have a cleaner or solvent that will remove the white deposits, you can skip buying a bunch of other cleaners to test and instead work on removing the dirt to reveal fresh stainless steel underneath.
When asked a few years ago how to remove pitting caused by leaving oven cleaner in a stainless steel sink, a rep for Elkay, a sink manufacturer, recommended using a maroon Scotch-Brite pad ($2.79 at Ace Hardware ) and a powdered detergent, such as Bon Ami ($2.59) or Bar Keepers Friend ($2.99). Always rub in the same direction as the grit lines left by the manufacturer when polishing the sink.
Scrubbing down to fresh stainless steel is also the remedy when a sink has become dull and dark because someone has used chlorine bleach-based cleaners or fine steel wool instead of a synthetic scouring pad to clean it. Steel wool shards can break off and get stuck in the grain lines. Steel wool is generally not made from stainless steel, so the shards can rust, leaving the surface dark and dull.
However you clean or whatever scrubbing method you use, keep the sink looking its best by giving the metal a good rinse and then wiping it dry with a soft cloth or microfiber cloth so no water is left behind and starting to form a mineral crust. Once the sink is clean and dry, you can put a few drops of olive oil or mineral oil on a lint-free cloth and buff the sink until it shines. But drying the sink and adding that shine is just cosmetic. The stainless steel itself will do just fine without the spoiling.
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