Darkroom Sink Cleaner

I have an AMPRO sink made by Brown's of Birmingham( that's UK not Alabama). It's made of white polished fibreglass. In the early days I was able to clean it with washing up liquid. The kind you use for dishes. However I noticed that as time went on it was slowly starting to lose its pristine whiteness. I resorted to using dilute bleach but while this lifts most stains to an extent, it appears to be getting permanently stained. Things seem to be getting worse since colour printing with a JOBO. The JOBO sits in the sink in one corner and has left a slight pale brown outline of where it sits. I try and wash away any spillage immediately with a hose connected to the taps but by the next morning there is always a dried residue there.

A number of suppliers such as Firstcall and Nova Darkroom supply equipment cleaners but none seem to be specifically for sinks and compared to prices in the supermarket they are not cheap.

Before I take the plunge and either try the darkroom equipment cleaners or take a chance and experiment with the supermarket range, has anyone got any answers? The problems with strong chemicals is that if they are the wrong ones there's no second chance.

I'd consider homemade concoctions you use if you know they work. Once again the problem with APUG is that maybe 90% of you are N. America based and cleaning materials tend not to cross the Atlantic. So what Walmart or Adorama sells is unknown in the U.K Never heard of the latter until I became an APUGer.

Actually that's a problem with a number of things chemical. We may be two nations divided by a common language but what's worse we are divided by different names and brands for what may be the same product.

Thanks

Pentaxuser

I use arm&hammer baking soda on the ceramic kitchen sink and it removes rust stains and just about anything. Try sprinkling it on your sink, letting it sit for 1/2 hour, then rub it around with a scouring pad. I usually sprinkle it on a dry sink but try spraying a little water on the surface, then add the powder.

If Arm & Hammer doesn’t do the job you might venture out of the photography field into boating. I don’t know product names in the UK. My white fiber glass boat is on Lake Erie in the USA. We have all sorts of maintenance products available to clean and/or bleach white fiberglass. You might consider looking online at a UK boating supply vendors for product ideas.

I would avoid any scouring pad that breaks the outer surface or gel coat of the glass. That will just move the stain deeper into the fiberglass.

John Powers
Getting ready to pull her out of the water before the snows come

acetone will clean fibre glass, it removes the surface, to limit its action apply with a damp cloth, try on a small area first.

We've actually found Gel-Gloss to work very well on the fiberglass on our boat hull, as well as in it's intended use on sinks and countertops.

http://www.gel-gloss.com/