Stainless steel sink cleaner

nsurit · May 12, 2009

There is a product made for cleaning stainless darkroom sinks, the name of which escapes me. Does anyone know he name of the product or perhaps some suggestings for a relatively low impact cleaner for stainless sinks. It needs to be able to remove some small rust stains and chemical stains. Bill Barber

mgb74 · May 12, 2009

I would try "Barkeepers Friend" first. It's a powder and comes in a gold and blue color cylindrical container. Available at the supermarket.

Not sure how it will work on chemical stains (would like to hear your experience if you try) but relatively low impact.

jmcd · May 12, 2009

I would probably start with Simple Green, and see if that works. It does seem to do a good job on chrome and my stainless steel vent hood.

Anscojohn · May 12, 2009

I agree with Simple Green, first. Then, as suggested, "Bar Keeper's Friend; or perhaps, a product called Zud, and (of course) the old darkroom rat standby, Bon Ami.
In my experience, the Bon Ami in the cans is the least aggresive cleaner of the three powders.

Softest of all is the Bon Ami in the bar form--if it still be made and one can find it.

The latter is what the darkroom rats used to clean and polish ferrotype tins, many of which were stainless steel and did not take kindly to any kind of scratching.

bdial · May 12, 2009

Try water, elbow grease and Scotchbright. In the paint/finishing section of hardware stores you can find Scotchbright in various grades sold as synthetic steel wool. Works good, very low impact.
I prefer the actual 3M stuff, but Norton abrasives sells a similar product, which is more common in the big-box home centers.

konakoa · May 12, 2009

I'll third the recommendation for Barkeepers' Friend. I use it and I've seen it clean up some pretty crusty stuff.

bdial · May 12, 2009

All steel has iron, it's part of what makes it steel. For corrosion resistance, stainless has a lot of nickel and chromium alloyed with it, but that still doesn't make it corrosion proof, just highly resistant. There are many different grades of stainless steel as well, some more resistant to corrosion than others. Seams may be more prone to rusting than the base metal because of differences in the welding alloy.

richard ide · May 12, 2009

The only stainless recommended for photographic purposes is type 316 which I think is the most corrosion resistant. Even it will rust under certain conditions if not passivated after fabrication. Passivating is a chemical process using nitric and hydrofluoric acids which removes contaminants and increases the resistance of the very thin oxide layer coating the stainless. We use stainless where I work for aeronautical and marine applications and do not allow normal steel to even contact stainless because of possible cross contamination. An explanation of passivation and related issues is well covered with information available on the net.

bobwysiwyg · May 12, 2009

mgb74 said:
I would try "Barkeepers Friend" first. It's a powder and comes in a gold and blue color cylindrical container. Available at the supermarket.

We've used it for 30 years in our stainless kitchen sink (same sinK), works great. I have no reason to believe it won't remove the chem stains.

mjd23 · May 15, 2009

I saw this stainless steel bar sink online where I think it can be useful in my kitchen. I just don't know if this is the right thread for this but I'd like your opinion from anyone who tried this product. Please provide feedback.

bobwysiwyg · May 15, 2009

Don't know if it's the right thread either, but if this is your only, or primary sink in the kitchen, I think it is a bit small. Ours is 22" wide, 18" front to back and 7" deep, and these are bowl measurements. Anything much smaller is going to be awkward in my opinion.

nsurit · May 16, 2009

Barkeepers Friend and a Scotchbright/sponge did the trick. Both sinks are shining like a new silver dollar. Thanks, Bill Barber

parkerbaby · Jun 30, 2009

Give this baby a try, I've been using one these for years and it's definitely good.

Stainless steel sink cleaner

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