How to clean and shine a stainless steel sink.
Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser or delicious-looking recipe? This is the place to find out! I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It’s like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!
I pinned a link to a recipe from that claims it would make your stainless steel sink shine like new. The pictures looked promising. Since my sink was looking pretty scuzzy, I thought I had better investigate pronto!
Here are the materials you will need to round up:
First, spray the sink with vinegar. Sprinkle baking soda over every surface. Wait ten minutes. While you are waiting, boil some water. After the ten minutes is up, rinse all the baking soda and vinegar away with the boiling water. Next, scrub the sink with more baking soda. Rinse. Apply Goo Gone and wipe off. End by rubbing olive oil into the surface. Buff and shine until everything looks sparkly clean.
But I know what you really want to see are the before and after shots, so here you go:
Well I’ll be…that sink is shining like the top of the Chrysler building!
When my husband got home from work, he said, “Did you clean the sink or something? It looks really shiny!” That’s when I knew that the test was a success. If the husband notices, it must be pretty obvious, right?! Ha Ha.
And since things in the sink area were looking so schnazzy, I decided to switch out my dish soap and hand soap bottles for something a little prettier:
They are olive oil glass bottles I bought at WalMart for around $10 for both. They are definitely a step up from the store bottles, don’t you think?
I will definitely call this Pin a win, but I do wonder how long this shine treatment will last. Although the process was easy, it’s not something I would probably do very often because it does take time. And let’s be honest, the day old crumbs on the floor and the stack of dishesin the sink have to take priority over how shiny said sink is. I did do one load of dishes and the sink was still looking good, but I’ll let you know in a few days how it’s holding up.
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Comments & Reviews
Wow. Such a big difference!
The sink looks great! I actually have a question about the soap dispensers. I did this with our dish and hand soaps a while ago – I actually re-used a couple cute beer bottles and added olive oil dispensers to them. I've been having issues with the hand soap coming out (the dish soap works fine, I'm thinking maybe the hand soap is too thick?). Have you had any issues with that? Suggestions?
I had the exact same problem at first! I think hand soap is just too thick, so I stirred in a little bit of water and it came out perfectly. Easy fix and it will make the soap last a little longer too! 🙂
I think it is awesome that you did these bottles. I had a roommate do this about 6 years ago and people thought we were nuts!
Love the bottle swap! Ill be using this for sure 🙂
so how long did it last?
Unfortunately only a few days! One sink full of gooey dishes and my sink was done for.
You can skip the boiling water and the other stuff except for the baking soda. I use just that and a plastic scrubby sponge thing and the results are phenominal also. I was OBSESSED with having a short clean sink when pregnant with my oldest and did this every other day.
I love a clean and shinny kitchen, only I use Norwex Microfiber and it makes the job fast and easy! It polishes the stainless steel in no time. If you want to know more let me know or check out denisetibbitts.norwex.biz! Happy Cleaning!
Could you post the steps for this? The link to the instructions is by invitation only now. Thanks!
Hi Amy. I just took out the broken link and wrote the instructions out for you. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
I just did the dish soap switch tonight! I actually had an extra olive oil bottle laying around– it was a wedding gift (from who I'll never know…there was no tag). When I opened it I laughed and tossed it in the cabinet. Who knew I'd randomly find a great purpose for it? Thanks for the neat idea!
Yay! I love finding a use for things I already have!
How would you stop the spout of the bottle from rusting? Mine has gotten rusted and I do not know how to stop it from doing that any ideas?
I wish I had a solution… mine get rusty too! I've just been buying new tips. They are cheap on Amazon. But if anyone knows of a solution, do share!
Spray it with Rust-oleum 2X Ultra Cover Clear. A great product, It should work.
If you wipe down your sink everyday with a paper towel and vinegar then dry with a paper towel this too will help keep it shiny.
They make plastic pour spouts for liquor bottles that would work and they wouldn't rust.
Genius idea! Off to search for them on Amazon. Thank you!!!
You say rub it with olive oil but your picture shows veg oil… so which did you use?
I did use vegetable oil even though the instructions said olive oil…. I am cheap! Haha.
You say rub it with olive oil but your picture shows veg oil… so which did you use?
I used vegetable oil because I was actually out of olive oil. Either one works though!
I wipe all my stainless steel sink taps microwave with baby oil great results
Awesome tip. I'll have to give it a try!
Baby oil does wonders for glass shower doors as well.