I know that farmhouse sinks are all the rage, but unless you have a pretty hefty budget or luck into a house that already has one, you may not end up with the Chip and Joanna-esque sink of your dreams.
In my last two homes, I’ve had stainless sinks. And I’m not even mad about it. They are easy to keep clean, and I don’t worry about chipping or staining any white porcelain or ceramic.
Today I’m going to show you my deep-clean process for the sink – and it’s cheap, simple, and not reliant on bleach!
What you’ll need:
- An empty spray bottle
- Dish soap of your choice (I use Mrs Meyers – here’s my link if you want a Grove Collaborative discount)
- Water
- Baking Soda
- Sponge
- Dry towel or bar mop (I use The Food Network’s Bar Mop Towel)
First, before we clean, we need to make our cleaning mixture. Just add a small drop of soap into your spray bottle, then fill the rest of it with water (leaving a few inches unfilled at the neck of the bottle). Close the lid tight and shake it until you see bubbles – that’s when you know the soap is dispersed evenly. (For future uses of premixed spray, shake before use for the same reason.)
Before I show you my process, we’re gonna have a real life moment… this is the before of my sink. It’s dingy, discolored, stained, and basically just gross.
So here’s the step-by-step process I use.
#1: Sprinkle the baking soda in your dirty sink. (I do take anything solid out – so if you had a noodle left or a piece of leftover celery or something, remove anything tangible first and quickly rinse out the sink.)
#2: Spray your mixture over the baking soda layer until it’s lightly damp. Let this sit for a few minutes – maybe check the mail or empty the dishwasher or something while it sits for a bit.
#3: Using your sponge, begin scrubbing the sink bottom. You’ll need to use some elbow grease with the scrubby-side of your sponge, but it should pull up any staining or discoloration. Check out this picture and video to see what I mean!
#4: Still using your sponge, be sure to collect some of the sudsy baking soda and wipe down the inside walls of the sink, too. You don’t realize how much splatter gets on the walls of the sink until you’re comparing it to a clean sink bottom!
#5: Rinse the sink, including the sides!
#6: Wipe the sink dry with your bar mop or kitchen towel.
All done! While a general sink photo still looks lovely, I’m going to include the before picture AND the after picture so you can see the huge difference this method makes!
What other cleaning tips do you have for the kitchen or home? Comment below – would love to hear from you!
Kate with a Twang 