Monday, February 16, 2009

Bleaching Your Sink

For a while I was trying to be one of Fly Lady's most diligent followers. But I just couldn't keep up... One thing I did incorporate into my regimen was bleaching my sink. I have a white sink that shows EVERYTHING. I can't even set my pots and pans gently into the sink without them leaving a gray mark on the bottom of the sink. I use cleanser and a scrubby sponge to scrub it clean every week. Every 2-3 weeks, however, I bleach my sink and get it looking good-as-new!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From FlyLady.com:

BE SURE AND RINSE WELL BETWEEN EACH STEP OF THE WAY!

  1. Take all the dishes out of the sink.

  2. Run some very hot water into the sink. Fill to the rim. Only do one side at a time. Then, pour a cup of household bleach into the hot water. Let it sit for 1 hour. Now, pull the plug with a pair of tongs. If you don't have tongs, then scoop some of the water out of the sink into the other sink and use your hand to pull the plug (wear gloves and don't get the bleach-water on your clothes).

  3. Rinse your sink well.

  4. Use some cleanser (Comet, Ajax, or Baking Soda) and scrub your sink. Ensure you rinse ALL of the cleanser from the sink.

  5. Take a sharp edge and clean around the rim of the sink, just like you would clean dirt out from under your fingernails.

  6. Clean around the faucets too. You may need an old toothbrush or dental floss.

  7. Now, get out your window cleaner, I use Windex, and give it a good shine.

Now if you have a stainless steel sink, I recommend all of the above directions with one extra instruction added: after you soak your sink, rinse well, and use SOS pads to scrub it. This will buff the finish. It will look like new.

If you still can't get it to shine after the Windex, put a light coat of lemon oil or olive oil on it. I mean just a tiny bit on a cloth and rub it. This will make you smile. Some people have had very good results from Bar Keepers Friend.

Go Shine Your Sink!
FlyLady

Last note: ensure you don't mix cleansers like Comet, etc. with Windex (or other ammonia based cleaners), you can create dangerous gases! It is worth repeating: rinse well between each step.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No matter how clean the rest of my house is, if my sink is icky, the whole house feels dirty. :P Happy sink-shining! :)

3 comments:

  1. okay..I think I love you now. This is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The best way to clean your sink is to use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I promise, it is magic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooo... I love my magic eraser. I hadn't tried it on my sink, but I will now. Thanks! :)

    ReplyDelete