Maintaining Stainless Steel Kitchen Faucets
Faucets are a major part of any kitchen sink surface. They tell us a lot about the personality of the homeowners. Good kitchen faucets can completely change the look of your kitchen and make it more fashionable, classy, and aesthetic.
Out of all the different kinds of kitchen faucets in the market, stainless steel faucets are the best type you can find. Not just its supreme quality, but its overall shiny, neat and clean, and matte finish look can definitely lift the beauty of your kitchen sink.
However, despite how good a quality stainless steel faucet you buy, all of its attraction becomes worthless if it is dirty and full of stains. This gives a very unappealing look to it, portraying a negative image to whoever visits your home.
Therefore, it is crucial for you to have regular maintenance done on your stainless steel faucet to maintain its look and beauty.
Fortunately, most stainless steel faucets do not corrode or rust nor do they break down easily. Hence, maintaining them should not be a big problem.
Before you start cleaning your stainless steel sinks and accessories, it is best to go over important tips and ideas to help you clean and maintain them better.
How Do I Keep my Stainless Steel Sink Clean and Shiny?
To keep your stainless steel sinks clean and shiny, you must follow a proper cleaning routine. Having routine cleaning done to your sinks and faucets with soap and water would help in preserving the look, shine, and quality of the stainless steel.
Using only the right kinds of cleaners on the stainless steel and avoiding harmful chemicals and toxic substances would help you keep the sink clean and shiny. Make sure that you do not let damp cloth or rags dry on top of the surface of the sink for extended periods.
Making sure to regularly clean and simply rub and wipe down the stainless steel faucets and sinks after everyday use would prevent water spots and other stained areas around. All of this would help provide a long lasting shine to the sink.
What Should You Not Use on Stainless Steel?
While cleaning your stainless steel sink and faucet, it is important that you only use the right materials for the job.
Using strong and harsh chemicals and materials can damage your stainless steel products to a great extent.
Here are some of the things you must avoid on stainless steel.
Harsh abrasive cleaners
Scouring powders
Steel wool
Abrasive scrubbers
Bleach
Chlorine products
Oven cleaners
Hard water
Spiky brushes
Pot-scouring pads
What Should You Not Put on a Stainless Steel Sink?
While stainless steel does provide longer protection from corrosion and rust, it can still get damaged by surface rust and stains if not managed properly.
Scientifically speaking, the iron particles when reacting with any water particles present on top of the sink surface can cause rust build-up and eventually, corrosion. This would deteriorate the quality and look of your sink.
Hence, you must avoid putting dish mats made up of rubber, soaked sponges, and other kinds of wet cleaning pads on the surface of your sinks to prevent corrosion and surface rust. This is because the mentioned items can accumulate water, thereby, leading to yellow stains and discoloration eventually.
Things Required for Cleaning Stainless Steel Faucets
We have talked about the things you must avoid while cleaning stainless steel sinks and other products. Now let’s go over the following things that you would need to clean your stainless steel sinks, faucets, and other accessories.
Soft cloth
Warm water
Dish soap
Baking soda
Club soda
White Vinegar or lemon juice
Mild abrasive cleaner
Mild soap
Microfiber cloth
Hot water for drainage
Mild cleaning agent and cleaning products
Old toothbrush
Having these items would make your sink cleaning journey a lot easier and more fun.
Steps of Cleaning Stainless Steel Kitchen Faucet
Before starting to clean your kitchen faucet, it is advisable that you go over your stainless steel kitchen faucet and sink guide or manual provided by the company.
This would allow you to know what things are best for the cleaning purposes of your stainless steel kitchen faucet and sink and what products you must avoid.
However, if you do not have any manual with you, do not worry. Just follow these few simple steps with tips and tricks for a perfect cleaning project.
Step 1: Rinse the Sink and Overall Surface
The first step is to pour plain water down the sink as well as around the overall surface, including the faucets. This would help remove any food particles, dirt, mineral deposits, and another build-up from the area.
Make sure to use clean water around the drainage pipes and openings to remove any dirt that may be stuck around them. This would prevent any blocking.
It is better if you pour hot water down the drain to rinse the pipes as well. This would ensure nothing is clogged or stuck down the drain that would hinder your cleaning process.
Step 2: Spread Baking Soda over the Sink
Baking soda is a cheap and effective cleaning product. It can easily be found in every household and is best for cleaning any stainless steel sink or other surfaces.
Baking soda helps remove dirt, debris, grease build-up, and tough and hard water stains very easily, without having to use strong abrasive cleaners.
Make a thick paste of baking soda and warm water in a container. Then using gloves, apply this baking soda paste all over the stainless steel sink, faucets, etc. Make sure that all the surfaces, borders, and corners have been completely covered with the baking soda paste. After this, scrub the surface of your sink properly to remove tough stains but do not rinse it off yet.
For added cleaning, you can pour some lemon juice on top of the surface with the baking soda paste applied to it. The mildly acidic nature would help remove limescale, any iron particles, mineral deposits, etc. From the surface.
Step 3: Ensure Deep Scrubbing
After the thick paste of baking soda and lemon mixture has sat down for a while, you can start scrubbing the surface down properly. You should scrub in the direction of the grain using an old toothbrush. This technique would not only help clean the sink better but would ensure longer life as well.
While scrubbing, do not forget to properly clean down the countertop and side surfaces of the sink using a lint-free cloth, sponge, or towel for a perfect result and to prevent water spots.
Do not use Steel Wool
No matter how hard stains you encounter during the cleaning journey, never make the mistake of using steel wool on your stainless steel surface. The steel wool would cause tough scratches on the sink surface and faucet, ruining its look and quality.
Moreover, it would even damage the upper surface, making your sink more prone to rust and corrosion.
Step 4: Use White Vinegar for Hard Water Stains
Sometimes, no matter how hard you scrub down the sink surface using baking soda paste, some areas still remain dirty and unclean. You need to deep clean such areas. The best cleaning product to use in this circumstance is white vinegar.
Add white vinegar to a spray bottle and spray it all over the surface of the stainless steel sink and faucets, especially where you see faint lines or hard water prints. Spread the white vinegar evenly while you gently rub the area using a soft microfiber cloth. After you are done, rinse off the vinegar.
For enhanced cleaning, you can even sprinkle some baking soda over the vinegar surface and let it stay for some time. Then again scrub the area down until you see your desired cleaning results.
Vinegar is definitely a bar keepers friend as it is one of the greatest cleaners. It not only helps remove the toughest stains but even disinfects your sink surface. It also helps neutralize any bad odor there may be present, giving a fresh, clean, and fragrant feel to your kitchen.
If you do not have vinegar on hand, use a window cleaner as it also helps get rid of water spots easily.
Does Vinegar damage Stainless Steel Faucets?
Even though vinegar is a great cleaning agent for stainless steel sinks, a longer exposure could cause adverse effects.
The vinegar is acidic and hence, if it is kept in the sink for a long time, it can damage the stainless steel surface to a great extent. Prolonged exposure to vinegar can even add extra stains to your stainless steel surface.
Therefore, it is advised to only leave the vinegar on the stainless steel surface for a shorter time duration and make sure to rinse or wipe it off quickly.
Step 5: Wash off, Clean, and Dry
After you have applied the cleaning agents and have scrubbed everything down well, it is time to wash off the sink and surrounding surfaces.
Use clean water and a paper towel or microfiber cloth to wipe down the surface. The microfiber cloth is a soft cloth and therefore, it would allow you to wipe everything down gently without any fear of scratches.
Give the area a good rinse and then again wipe down the rinsed surface using a soft cloth or a lint-free towel.
After the surface is dry, give it a good look around to find any hard water spots, tough stains, or discoloration in any hidden area. If you find any such stains, use cleaners to wipe the area immediately.
Step 6: Polish the Surface
After the washing and cleaning have been completed, it is time to polish your stainless steel sink and faucet. You can use all-purpose flour to polish the surface easily and in a budget-friendly manner.
Sprinkle the flour over the stainless steel sink and faucets and rub it in properly. The flour would give a smooth, clean, shiny, and polished look to your stainless steel sink and faucets.
Finally, wipe off the flour from the sink and kitchen faucet and your sink and kitchen faucet would look fresh as new.
A great tip to keep in mind is that if you do not have any flour at hand, you can use club soda instead. Close the drainage hole of the sink and pour club soda into it. Let it sit for a few seconds before you drain it off. Rinse down any leftover product by running fresh water from the tap and letting it rinse off the entire sink.
Step 7: Lubricate the Sink and Faucet
The last step to achieve a perfect and clean finished look is to apply some amount of olive oil to the surface of your stainless steel sink and faucet.
The oil would provide an added protective layer to the stainless steel sink and faucet, making it last longer. Furthermore, it would also aid in protecting the natural luster present in stainless steel.
To apply the oil on your sink and faucet, put some amount in a cotton ball and use it to apply oil all around the stainless steel sink and the faucet. This technique would help bring shine and gloss to your chrome faucets as well.
Remember that less is more. Do not go overboard with the oil as adding too much would make your sink and faucet dirty and greasy, giving a bad look and odor to your kitchen.
Summary
If you need high quality stainless steel faucets, choose Faucetu, which has many kinds of faucets for you to choose from.
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