Inside: How to clean a stainless steel sink in minutes with the best tricks for removing rust stains, tarnish; plus the best DIY cleaner for stainless steel; methods for managing scratches on the sink.

Nothing grosses me out more than a dirty sink. Okay, maybe that’s not true, but a dirty sink is pretty nasty and it can be the source of smells and unwanted critters in your kitchen if you let it get out of hand.

Short of wiping the sink down a couple times a day after use, deep cleaning the sink about once every couple of weeks is a good idea and it takes only a few minutes!

Here are my best tips for cleaning a stainless steel sink to make it sparkle like almost brand new. 

How to mix your own sink cleaner

First things first, this is not necessarily a drain cleaner. If you have problem drains, you likely need to consult a plumber or do something beyond this particular solution.

This DIY cleaner will get your sink sparkly clean looking though! And for sake of honesty, here is the grossest half of my double sink after two days of baking, dough cleaning, and spaghetti dinner.

This is the half that sits beneath our dish drainer and it gets so dirty so fast. Yuck!

I have found the best way to start is with the drain stopper itself which takes the brunt of the grime. Here’s what you need: 

• glass bowl to hold the sink stopper (I use a two-cup measuring cup)
• baking soda to just cover the sink stopper – about 1/3 cup
• white vinegar to just cover the sink stopper – about 1/3 cup
• a few squirts of liquid dish soap
• 

Put all of that into your bowl in that order and let the bubbles do their magic.

Let it sit for a couple of minutes to loosen all the dirt. While that’s happening, you’ll want to add about 1 Tablespoon of oxy bleach powder to your dry sink just to get that process going.

I love oxy bleach and I clean 90% of my house with it. You can see all the different ways I use oxy bleach to clean around the house here.

Now go back to your sink stopper and scrub it vigorously with a scrub brush. You might even want to use a toothbrush for this part to get into the crevices and nooks and crannies. 

How to clean the stainless steel sink

Okay, now that the sink stopper is clean, put it into your sink and start running HOT water. You’ve already got some oxy bleach powder in there, so it will start to dissolve.

This is an incredible way to get rid of drain flies and fruit flies if you have them too . While it’s running, pour in the baking soda-vinegar-soap solution you have left over from cleaning the drain.

It will only help boost the sink cleaning!

I always like to put a clean cleaning rag into this soapy mixture and let it sit for a good five to ten minutes. This way the rag is saturated with cleaning solution and I can use it to wipe down all sorts of kitchen surfaces.

While this is sitting, I dampen the scrub brush and get into the corners and seams of the faucet and around the edges of the sink. 

Then, once the rag has been sitting in the water for a while, I drain the sink and use the rag to wipe down EVERYTHING including what I can reach of the actual drain.

If you look closely, you can see me in the shiny faucet LOL.

But what about rust stains on a stainless steel sink? 

Ah, yes. We have one of those. Our old dish drain split a bit and for about a week, there was rust showing up on our dishes and I couldn’t figure out why. Now there’s a tiny spot of rust on the side of the sink. 

Good news is getting rid of rust stains on stainless steel isn’t that hard! It’s basically the same ingredients you use to clean the sink, but more concentrated and left on for a bit longer. 

Here’s what I did. I made a baking soda-vinegar mixture and turned it into the consistency of paste; almost like an icing. I slapped it onto the rust stain and let it sit there for a good long time. My rust stain is small and not super dark and I left it for about 15 minutes. 

If you have worse rust stains than mine, you will need to leave it on for longer and likely repeat this process. Once the 15 minutes was up, I used the scrub brush and some clean water to gently scrub the paste away and the rust went with it!

This is also the best way to deepl cleanse in case you’re wondering how to clean kitchen sink stopper.

What if your stainless steel sink is scratched? 

Mine is certainly not pristine and has some fairly large scratches from everyday use. While I was wondering how to clean a stainless steel kitchen sink and I did some research.

I discovered that it is entirely possible to sand out the scratches on your stainless steel sink! I haven’t tried it yet, but plan to do it soon. 

How to clean kitchen sink drain cover

Gradually, the kitchen drain can get stuffed with food debris, dirt, grime, and other residues. If you do not clean it often, the sink can start to smell bad and it can clog the water pipe in the kitchen.

To clean a dirty kitchen sink drain cover, you can use boiled water, deodorize the sink with white vinegar and baking soda. You can also clean it using a professional metal sink cleaner.

It will remove residue drain and grain easily. To know more about how to clean a kitchen sink drain stopper, read the steps below.

Step 1: Boil the water

There are a lot of methods if you ask how to clean a sink strainer. The first method is by boiling three cups of water in a saucepan. Put the water on the stove and bring it to a boil. But the water has to be at a certain temperature to avoid any damage to the sink pipes.

If your pipes are plastic or PVC, the water temperature should be 140-degree Fahrenheit, (60-degree Celsius). It is the hottest temperature of the water that you can use to avoid any damage to the pipes.

Extra tip: Clean the sink strainer every time you wash dishes to maintain their cleanliness. The drain stopper can get dirty pretty soon and smell very bad if you do not clean it often. That is how to deep clean a stainless-steel sink. You can take the gasket out after washing the dishes and clean it using soap and a sponge.

Step 2: Pour the hot water

Pour the boiled water slowly into the sink. Do it carefully and make sure that you do not spill any water on yourself. Pour all the water from the pan to flush all the garbage. You can also mix some soap with water to clean the grease in the pipes.

Step 3: Pour cold water down the sink

After you have cleaned the drain with hot water, let it be for five minutes. Then pour cold water into the sink to remove any debris remaining in the drain. After that, do a final flush again with hot water.

Another method to deep clean the sink is using baking soda and white vinegar. Pour one cup of baking soda into the drain and flush it with four cups of boiled vinegar. The finally pour down boiled water for a finished cleaning.

How to clean tarnished sink drain

A tarnished kitchen sink can be gross, nasty and a source of bad smell. It may also give birth to unwanted critters in the room if you do not clean it immediately. Even after wiping the sink after every use, the kitchen sink may get tarnished. You may not get enough time to clean it daily, but cleaning it once or twice a week may work. Read below the best tips on how to clean a kitchen sink strainer.

Here is how to clean stainless steel sink drain with a cleaning solution. But to clarify, it is not a solution for drains with big problems. If you have a problem with drains, it is better to contact a plumber than to try fixing it by yourself.

The DIY cleaner solution makes your stainless-steel sink shine new.

Here is everything you need:

• Glass bowl to carry the sink strainer. The cup should be equal to the volume of two cups.
• About 1/3 cup of baking soda to cover the sink strainer.
• About 1/3 cup of white vinegar to wash the sink strainer.
• Dish soap to deep clean stainless-steel sink.

Step 1:

Put all the ingredients in the cup in the order mentioned above. Let it sit and the bubbles will do their work.
Let the sink drainer sit in the solution for a few minutes. It will help loosen all the dirt.

Extra Tip:

During the process, you can add about one tablespoon of oxy bleach powder to the dry sink. It can clean do its work of cleaning the sink while the strainer is in its process. Now here is the step on how to deep clean the kitchen sink strainer.

Step 2:

Using a scrub brush, scrub the sink stopper with all your force. You can even use a toothbrush to reach the crevices and crannies and nooks. When you are done with scrubbing, wash the stopper finally with water to give a cleaning finish.
After the sink stopper is clean, put it back into the sink and pour down hot water.

The oxy bleach powder in the sink will already start to dissolve. It is a very helpful way to remove fruit flies from the drain if there are there.

While the water is running, put the leftover baking soda, soap, and vinegar solution into the sink. You have now mastered cleaning the tarnished sink!

How to clean a sink strainer – Step By Step

Recommended Reading

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• Getting rid of pet hair in your house
• DIY Air Freshener to combat pet smells
• Great uses for Oxy Bleach around the house
• How to get rid of fruit flies in sink

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