How can I freshen up the appearance of my old stainless steel kitchen sink?

The quote “everything but the kitchen sink” is actually referring to the things in our homes that we regularly clean. Our kitchen sinks are used daily for any number of chores from cleaning the dishes to washing the dog, but the most attention it usually gets, is a quick rinse when we are done the primary task at hand.

The first thing to do is scrub the living daylights out of the sink using a steel wool scrubber pad. The goal is to remove any chunks of food residue and the film left by grease and soap. If there is bad staining from hard water or coffee, you may need to fill the sink with hot water and a chemical like CLR or Lime Out. Allow this solution sit for at least an hour or two as it will not harm the sink itself.

Once the sink has been scrubbed, rinsed, and dried, apply a metal polish to the entire sink. The best metal polish is a paste, which can be found in the detailing section of any auto parts store. This polish is marketed for cleaning wheels and chrome, but it works well on the kitchen sink, too.

Rub this polish into the sink aggressively using a paper towel. I would NOT use a cloth for this, as it will become coated with a residue, which does not launder easily. Once the paper towel begins turning black, get another fresh sheet, and keep rubbing. Continue this until there is only a small amount of black residue being left on the paper towel. At this point switch to a clean dry cotton towel.

Using the cotton towel, buff the surface, until it is gleaming. Deep scratches will not be removed, but the sink will have a restored luster, and will look years newer.

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