Shining Sink = Brighter Day!

Most people have a stainless steel sink in their kitchen. Most are double. There are more and more people (those lucky ones!) who are having kitchen remodels done and installing lovely undermount sinks...

Farmhouse sinks....

or maybe something like this....

But, what if a kitchen remodel is not in our future...at least not for the immediate future.  How can we be happy with what we have when we really want something else?  In this day and age of immediate gratification (just charge it!) it can be difficult to not be envious of those beautiful things we see everywhere on the internet (Pinterest). Envy can be a harmful emotion. It makes us dissatisfied with what we have, resentful of others who we think have it all, and can make us into sour, surly people. I certainly don't want to be like that. How about you? 

What can we do to keep that green eyed monster away from our door? My solution is to to do the best with what I have already. To appreciate the fact that I really am blessed to have a home of my own, that is warm, dry and comfortable. We aren't drowning in debt because we choose NOT to over spend on things that we can live without. 

Now, what, you may be wondering, does this have to do with cleaning my sink?? Well, I have found that when my sink shines, my whole kitchen feels brighter! I tend to be more diligent about putting dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I feel better about my home and more motivated to tidy, clean and organize, which in turn, makes me feel better about...everything!!

So, how do I get my kitchen sink all shiny and clean, with hardly any elbow grease at all? Bleach! Amazing, awesome, wonderful and dirt cheap chlorine bleach! 

My kitchen sink is an antique porcelain one. It has drainboards on both sides of a single large sink and has a garburator in it.  I seldom fill it with water to wash dishes, as we have a dishwasher, but I do hand wash larger pots and pans. But, still it manages to get stained and dirty looking after a couple weeks of use. Coffee and tea can really do a number on a white sink. 

To bring it back to it's snowy white beauty, I simply put in the plug and fill it as high as I dare with hot water. Then add a cup of bleach. That's it!

Let it sit overnight, for a few hours, or all day if you go off to work.  You will most likely notice an improvement shortly after adding the bleach, but let it sit. I choose to do this in the evening after the dishes are in the dishwasher and we're heading to bed. No one is likely to need to use the kitchen sink til morning.  I let my sink strainer soak too so it gets a good cleaning.

First thing in the morning, I use a pair of tongs to pull the plug out. My sink is now clean and bright! Being an oldie but a goodie, my sink has a few minor chips out of the porcelain. I have a porcelain chip filler (it looks like white nail polish) that I touch up with when it needs it. You can see in the photo below I will be needing to do a bit of a 'fill' by the drain.

I use a bit of Comet/Ajax/Bar Keeper's Friend on a damp cloth to polish up the faucet, give it a good rinse, rub it dry and there it is! My beautiful shiny sink is ready to brighten my day! 

This works just as well for a stainless sink. I really don't know why they call it 'stainless', 'cause it ain't! I'd love to hear about your results and how they made you feel. Am I the only one who gets a charge out of a shiny, clean sink? Do I need to 'get a life'?? Let me know in the comments below and I'd love it if you'd share, like and follow! (That also makes me slightly giddy!)