How To Clean Porcelain Sink: Simple, Easy & Frugal Trick

Here's such a dramatic difference between the before and after pictures from a reader, Dayna's vintage sink.

how to clean porcelain sink, before, during and after pictures

And do you know who helped her figure out how to clean her porcelain sink? It was you guys on the Facebook page!

A while back Dayna sent in several before pictures of her 1930's sink, and this was her exact question:

Need some help. We have this vintage sink in our house. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. But it has a very dingy look and I would like to know if there is something I can do to fix it.

Bar Keepers Friend uses around your home

There were lots of suggestions, but one that was mentioned, over and over again, was to use Bar Keepers Friend.

For those unfamiliar with this product, it is a staple in my home, personally. It can be used in so many ways, and in fact, I've actually collected quite a few of them at the link (click the picture of the product) because this stuff is amazing.

For a long time it was difficult to find outside the Midwest, since the company is based in Indiana (where I live), but you can find it in many stores now, or through the Internet. Look for it low on the shelf since it is pretty inexpensive (and a little goes a long way), next to other powdered cleansers such as Comet and Ajax.

But unlike those

products Bar Keepers Friend doesn't use bleach, but instead oxalic acid, which means it is very good at removing hard water scale and rust stains as well.

It is one of the best cleaners for everyday porcelain cleaning, as you can see from these before and after photos.

Because what Dayna did was use BKF (what many users of the product call it) and look at her dramatic results!

She said, "You all may remember my post about this stained porcelain sink from the 30's - as suggested I use 'Bar Keepers Friend.'

To use it, just get a sponge or cleaning cloth, sprinkle some onto the surface, wet your sponge and you're ready to remove all kinds of stains and dinginess and make your porcelain sparkle again.

I think it looks great! And so simple, easy and frugal. A wonderful combination! Thanks so much Dayna for asking your question, and then I'm so glad you showed us the results!

Keep the Facebook questions rolling in!

Bar Keepers Friend Products {Referral Links}

So how do you clean a porcelain sink? I'd love to hear what you've done. You can share your tips here or read others already submitted for multiple varieties of kitchen sinks and I'll add them to the site.

How to clean a porcelain sink, with before, during and after pictures for this very simple trick! {on Stain Removal 101}

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Comments for How To Clean Porcelain Sink: Simple, Easy & Frugal Trick

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Love how it looks
by: Mrs Bert

I wish I would've seen this post a couple years ago, as we also had the same vintage sink and finally just replaced it during renovations. I loved it so much, but thought it would be too much work to keep it in the design when we updated the kitchen. Now thinking we could have kept that old fashioned charm had we only known what to do with it to keep it looking nice.

Baking soda and Dawn
by: Anonymous

Wet the sink, sprinkle baking soda all around. Squirt with a few shots of dish soap and scrub away with a scrub brush or sponge.

Deep Cleaning
by: Kate at Cleaning Gig

I often use Bar Keepers Friend on the first visit when getting a customer started. I agree the results (especially for porcelain) can be amazing!

Limeaway worked for me
by: Anonymous

I recently spilled some Limeaway in the sink and didn't realize it for about 30 minutes, rinsed it out and couldn't believe how clean it became. It took rust and stains without any scrubbing. Sweet accident!

Grandmas way
by: Anonymous

My grandmother simply uses bleach and hot water, let sit overnight. It always looks so white the next day.

BKF amazing
by: Erika

I used bar keepers friend on my mother in laws white porcelain sink when they moved in her new home several years ago. She said she'd have to replace it because it looked terrible. I had some at home and brought it over one day and cleaned her sink. It came out looking brand spanking new and still does. Don't throw away your old sinks !! :)

Love Bar Keepers Friend
by: Anonymous

I too am from Indiana and grew up watching my mom clean with Bar Keepers Friend. It doesn't scratch the surface like some cleaners and it cleans porcelain like brand new!

Another way to clean porcelain sinks
by: Anonymous

I found this one somewhere on the internet. Sprinkle the damp sink with baking soda, let set a few minutes. Then using a scrubber, scrub the baking soda. Now spray with peroxide and let set 30 minutes or so. Rinse. The sink will look amazing. I am allergic to bleach and was desperate to find an alternative.

Barkeepers, soda, salt, peroxide
by: Anonymous

No luck with any of these suggestions, gonna try bleach.

More natural option
by: Anna

Scrub with baking soda and a few drops of dawn dish soap, then add hydrogen peroxide and scrub lightly just to spread it. Let sit 30 minutes or more and rinse.

Clorox or vinegar (not together, one or the other)
by: Anonymous

When I don't have time to clean the porcelain sink I just fill it as high up as it is dirty, with water, then add a cup or two of Clorox or vinegar. A few hours later if you used Clorox it will be clean without wiping. With vinegar you might need to gently wipe the grime off with a cloth.

clinging bleach
by: Anonymous

I too have the beloved vintage porcelain sink. My household has 6 (2 of which are mechanics) and family and friends over all the time, so my poor sink gets plum nasty! It's used not only for cooking and cleaning purposes but also as a bathtub and soaking station at times. I need my sink to be clean. I tried everything but could not get my sink as clean as I felt it needed to be to be bathing my grands in it. I had some clinging bleach on hand for the bathroom and thought why not...I applied the clinging bleach around the top of my sink and let it run down and do its work. I WAS AMAZED! Of course I had to go back and fill in the spots it had missed from being applied in a thinner layer but it did work amazingly! I only use it now for the weekly/monthly cleaning and use the baking soda/ dish soap on a daily but if you've got tough spots try this.

gray stains - help!
by: Anonymous

I have an OLD farm house porcelain sink with gray stains I cannot get out. I tried soaking the sink with Clorox, used Lime Away, used Comet, and still have stains. HELP, I don't want to get rid of it, it's a classic antique.

Remove rust stain from porcelain sink finish?
by: Anonymous

Need to known how to remove a rust stain from a bathroom sink with a porcelain finish, without damaging the finish. Any recommendations?

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Hi, I'm Taylor, a busy mom with 3 kids, so I have lots of hands on experience with house cleaning, laundry and my fair share of spots, spills and other messy catastrophes. Thanks for visiting my site.

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