How to Clean a Porcelain Sink

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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White porcelain sinks aren't the easiest item in the kitchen to keep clean. Stains and spots show up and the sink starts to look dingy and dirty. Although porcelain is not fast and effortless to keep looking clean, it's still one of the top choices for sinks. Porcelain is durable, comparably cost efficient and matches just about any decor, which adds to the value of your house. Follow these steps to keeping it clean.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Clean regularly with non-abrasive cleansers and non-scratching sponges. Hard scrubbing surfaces can scratch away the protective layer of the sink making it more porous and easier to stain.

Step2

Use fresh lemons to whiten small new spots and stains weekly if possible. Lemon is a natural bleaching agent and can fade away small new stains without using harsh chemicals. Cut the lemon in half and rub it directly on the stain. Let the lemon juice sit on the sink for at least ten minutes. Before rinsing see if the stain has faded, if it has rinse, if not let it set for another ten minutes and check again.

Step3

Rub a mixture of alum and lemon juice to get the stubborn stains out. Mix even parts of both ingredients and scrub the sink with a soft sponge till the stains lighten or disappear. This may take a few tries for all stains to disappear so don't get discouraged from using this after your first try.

Step4

Bleach out the "not going anywhere" stains with liquid bleach or a nonabrasive cleaning product that contains bleach. Stop up the sink and fill it with bleach from the bottle letting it soak in for about ten minutes. Keep an eye on it and when the stains are gone, rinse the sink thoroughly. The problem with bleach and products that contain bleach is that the harsh agents that clean and disinfect so well, also slowly remove the nice finish of porcelain sinks. For small stubborn stains, bleach pens are the best way to go.

Step5

Shine up your porcelain sink with a vinegar bath. Pour the vinegar straight from the bottle and scrub. It will leave your sink shiny and looking new. Be sure to rinse well so the smells doesn't linger. This will bring back the shine if you have not scrubbed or removed the protective coating off the porcelain.