Who doesn’t love a clean sink? Having a clean sink makes the kitchen really shine in my opinion.
I used to rely on traditional cleaners to get my sink sparkling white, but I never felt great using them between the harsh smell and the film it would leave on my hands if any got under the gloves I was using. I kept using it because it worked, and it was easy.
I do my best to use mild or natural cleansers elsewhere in our home, so why was I resorting to harsh ones for this?
Well one day I decided to do some research and determined baking soda and lemon would be my method of choice! Two things I almost always have in the pantry anyway. I tried it and I am so happy to report that it works. It really works. Bonus: It’s just as easy as using Soft Scrub or Barkeeper’s friend, which were my old go too cleaners.
Read on if you’re interested in this simple sink cleaning method!
THE SUPPLIES
- Baking soda
- 1 lemon
- A brush or sponge with a scrubby side
That’s it! You can wear gloves if you want, but I don’t find this method makes my hands extra dry or filmy if I don’t.
TIP: I did this tutorial on our white enamel sink, but you can also use it on stainless! I have done our stainless bar sink with this process and it worked wonderfully.
THE PROCESS
Last weekend I snapped these pictures of our sink after a week of daily abuse. Honestly, I was a bit bummed our sink wasn’t dirtier, so you could really appreciate the before and after, but I guess we were a little easier on our sink last week than normal.
You’ll want to cut your lemon in half. I use one half of the lemon for each side of the sink. Use the cut side of the lemon halves and thoroughly rub down every inch of the sink. You will start to see gunk and grime come of with the lemon alone.
After you have rubbed the lemon generously sprinkle baking soda all over the sink. Let the baking soda sit on the lemon juice in the sink for a minute or two.
Use your brush or sponge and scrub the sink like normal. For scratched areas you may have to scrub vigorously, but the scratches should come (mostly) off.
After you have scrubbed to your satisfaction rinse the sink with water and it should sparkle and shine like new!
Our sink is roughly 40 years old and some of the scratches don’t like to buff completely out, but they didn’t even with traditional cleaners. Is it perfect? No. But it sure does look good.
