You can clean a sink with baking soda, distilled white vinegar, and dish soap to scrub away all the germs and residue. The key is to clean your kitchen sink and drain frequently enough to prevent slimy buildup, bacteria, and odors.
To deep clean a kitchen sink remember the one-to-two ratio: one part baking soda to two parts white vinegar. First place the baking soda down the drain, followed by a slow pour of white vinegar.
To give a white sink a deep clean, it's best to remove limescale with a vinegar- or lemon-based cleaner at regular intervals. Both standard cleaning products work very well indeed and break down naturally. You should ensure that your cleaning product isn't too aggressive and is compatible with food.
Vinegar may be a reliable natural disinfectant, but if you're looking for something with more of a kick, bleach may be the way to go. While it's not very safe for stainless steel, a bleach solution can be safe for your porcelain sink.
With time, baking soda and vinegar may work as a natural drain cleaner on weaker drain clogs, and the benefits of regular drain cleaning can help keep your drains free of clogs. But for tough drain clogs that need to be dissolved right away, you may want to use a stronger drain cleaner, like Liquid-Plumr.
Both baking soda and vinegar are highly caustic. They are, in fact, able to dissolve certain materials that one would not normally think of as being dissolvable. However, the extreme amounts of acid in vinegar, along with its acidic nature, are what cause the drain to become blocked.
To do this, you will need to use bleach. Mix a solution of one part bleach to 20 parts water or around 180 ml of bleach for a gallon of water. Let the solution sit in the sink overnight and then drain it. Rinse off the sink with just water and dry it.
Start by coating the wet sink in baking soda and adding a little dish soap and hot water to your sponge. Whenever you scrub a sink, start with the sides of the basin and work your way down, pushing any grime directly into the drain. Keep adding soap and water as needed or until the surface is scum-free.
You can use any EPA-certified disinfectant on your Sinkology fireclay, vitreous china, nickel, or stainless steel sink. It's possible that you have some of these products already in your home, like Clorox or Lysol wipes, so you can get to disinfecting right away.
Try cleaning your sink with a paste of baking soda and water. You can then rinse the sink with vinegar, which will bubble and fizz. Vinegar naturally disinfects while helping remove hard water stains from your stainless steel sink. Once your sink is clean and dry, you can easily add an extra shine.
Sprinkle baking soda or Borax directly on the hard water stain in your sink, then spray on the same vinegar and water solution you used on the bathtub. Let the cleaners sit for 15 minutes, then scrub with a soft brush or sponge. (Remember to wear gloves when cleaning with Borax.)
Make sure to use a 1:1 solution of distilled white vinegar and water. Spray it onto the sink, leave for a minute or two, then wipe and rinse. The solution shouldn't be left on the sink for longer because it can damage the stainless steel in the long term.
Giving your sink a wipe after use will prevent germs and grime from building up. Use a damp cloth with a washing up liquid solution or an anti-bacterial spray. Always clean your sink after preparing raw foods and rinse away liquids like tea which might stain lighter coloured sinks.
'The easiest kitchen sink material to maintain is going to be one made of stainless steel, copper, cast iron or enamel because they will not support microbial growth as they are not cellulose material,' says Darren Hudema, director of training and technical services at PuroClean.
Vinegar and baking soda are a versatile, efficient cleaning team for several spaces around the house, and kitchen and bathroom sinks are no exception. If you don't have lemon, follow your baking soda application with an undiluted vinegar spray to get rid of hard water marks and other difficult stains.
If you're looking for a good surface cleaner, white vinegar is great! It can help get rid of dingy limescale build-up that is hurting the look of your white sinks. While white vinegar is great at removing limescale, it also works as a disinfectant as well.
The visible grime and surface scratches will scrub away with the baking soda, but if stains are still persistent, I'll cut my lemon into quarters and use it to swipe around the edges, corners and drain. If necessary, an extra sprinkle of baking soda on the lemon will cut through stubborn mars in the enamel.
Let hot water run for a minute to warm up the pipes. Drop in 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain. Pour in 1 cup of vinegar, cover the drain with a plug and let sit for 10 minutes – you will hear fizzing. Rinse with more hot water.
Monthly Is The Way To Go
By using methods that incorporate baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water, you can ensure that your drains are working properly for days, months, and years to come without major work or an emergency call.
But common pantry essentials that are often used for cleaning — like baking soda and vinegar — shouldn't be mixed either. Unlike the bleach-ammonia mixture, combining soda and vinegar won't hurt anyone — but don't expect the mixture to do a good job cleaning, either.
Add Hydrogen Peroxide to the Mix
If the baking soda hasn't relieved your sink of all its stains, hydrogen peroxide may do the trick. Cover your sink in a layer of paper towels, then use a spray bottle to spray the hydrogen peroxide all over.