How do I clean a stainless steel sink so it stays shiny?

Stainless steel has a directional grain and a thin protective chromium oxide layer. Working across the grain leaves visible scratches, and chloride-based cleaners such as bleach attack the protective layer and cause permanent pitting.

What you'll need

• Washing-up liquid
• Bicarbonate of soda
• Microfibre cloths
• White vinegar (optional)
• Olive or baby oil (optional)

Step by step

1. Find the grain direction.Look closely — there are fine parallel lines. Every wipe from now on follows them. Working across leaves visible marks.
2. Wash with hot water and washing-up liquid first.It removes grease, which otherwise just gets spread around by anything you do next.
3. Make a bicarbonate paste for marks and stains.Bicarbonate and a little water. Rub gently along the grain with a soft cloth. It is mildly abrasive and safe on steel.
4. Use white vinegar for water spots and limescale.Spray, leave a few minutes, rinse. Bicarbonate handles marks; vinegar handles mineral deposits. Do not use them at the same time.
5. Rinse thoroughly.Any residue dries as a visible film, which is what makes a cleaned sink look worse than before.
6. Dry completely with a cloth.This is the step that produces shine. Water left to evaporate always leaves spots, particularly in hard water areas.
7. Finish with a few drops of oil on a cloth.Olive or baby oil, buffed along the grain. It repels water and makes the sink look considerably better for a week or so.
8. Never use bleach or steel wool.Bleach contains chlorides that attack the protective layer and cause permanent pitting. Steel wool leaves particles that rust into the surface.

Tips

• Do not leave cast iron pans, steel wool or tins sitting in a stainless sink. They transfer iron particles that rust as orange spots.
• Rust spots on stainless steel are almost always contamination from something else rather than the sink itself rusting, and bicarbonate usually removes them.
• Drying the sink after each use is the whole difference between a sink that looks good and one that does not, and it takes ten seconds.

Common mistakes

• Using bleach on stainless steel — Chlorides break down the protective chromium oxide layer and cause permanent pitting and staining.
• Scrubbing across the grain — It leaves visible scratches that catch the light. Always work along the grain lines.
• Leaving it to air dry — Evaporating water leaves mineral spots. Ten seconds with a cloth is what produces the shine.

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