How to polish your sink so it shines

9honey Living’s The Wash Up: Your 30-day spring cleaning guide is a month-long series aimed at making your annual house clean easier with hacks and expert advice.
Few chores are as satisfying to me as polishing the kitchen sink. Add in scrubbing a discoloured plug hole and you’ve got yourself a front-runner for my favourite cleaning task.
The part I don’t particularly like as much is scrubbing the inside of the drain. It’s a bit gross to see what comes up when you remove your scrubbing brush, but the impact on the smell and look of the drain is well worth it.
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It was time to clean my kitchen sink again recently, so I thought I’d take you through the process. Here’s how it’s done:
– Cream cleanser or paste (I used BarKeeper’s Friend this time but you can also make your own baking soda and dishwashing liquid paste)
– Dishwashing liquid
– Microfibre cloths
– Toothbrush
– Non-scratch scourer (optional)
– Bottle cleaning brush
1. Run the hot water tap until the water is hot and then turn the tap off.
2. Drizzle a little dishwashing liquid over the drain cover/plug hole.
3. Using a bottle cleaning brush small enough to fit inside the gaps of the plug hole scrub each section of the plug hole.
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4. With the same brush in one of the outer plug hole gaps angle it towards the inside of the pipe and scrub any discolouration.
5. Repeat for each outer plug hole gap until you have cleaned the entire circumference of the inner top of the drain pipe. For gunk inside the drain further down, you can try a longer drain cleaning brush.
If there is grime you can’t reach or blockages, you might have to take apart the sink drain trap (speak to a plumber if you’re unsure).
1. Drizzle your chosen cleaning product over the plug hole (for this part you can just use dishwashing liquid), including the gap around drain hole.
2. Add a splash of hot water from the tap and use the toothbrush to scrub the gunk from the gap around the drain hole cover.
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3. Rinse the toothbrush and continue scrubbing the drain hole making sure to get all the nooks and crannies you can reach (a small bottle brush scrubber works well for this too).
4. Once you’re finished scrubbing turn on the tap for a final rinse.
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Now for the fun part.
1. Drizzle your cleaning product over the sink.
2. Wet your microfibre cloth or scourer and get scrubbing using a circular motion across the sink. I like to do the strainer section first, then the smaller sink and finish with the big sink.
3. Rinse off the cleaning product thoroughly and dry with a microfibre cloth to finish off that polished look.
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4. Check to see if any spots need a further scrub or were missed and tackle those before standing back to admire the shine. By now you should be thoroughly bedazzled.
Polishing a sink isn’t really the same as disinfecting it, which is good to do weekly.
This task is all about getting rid of discolouration, tough stains and making your sink look its best so it’s OK to do this once a month, depending on how dull and grimy it gets.
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