The kitchen sink is truly magical. It seems to have a certain power over the rest of the kitchen. When the sink is clean and shiny, it’s harder to let the rest of the room get messy. It’s easier to hand-wash a glass or two. It makes you want to put your dirty dishes right into the dishwasher so you don’t mess up your sink. It gives an instant first impression to visitors, as well. They don’t know how long those dirty dishes have been in the sink! It could have been an hour, or it could have been several days.

Tools:

Dish soap

Dish cloth

spray bottle with diluted cleaner

old toothbrush

baking soda

vinegar

bleach

towel

I find that the most logical time to clean the kitchen sink is after dinner, after I have loaded the dishwasher. We probably won’t use the sink again after dinner, so that is a logical time. It is so nice to wake up to a nice clean sink each morning!

If there are dishes in your sink, the first thing you need to do is wash them or put them in the dishwasher. NEVER stash dirty dishes in the oven! Never stash them in a bin under your sink! You’re reading this page for a reason… and those tactics DON’T work for messies! You have to keep your dishes clean. That means you HAVE to wash the dishes at least once a day. If you have many dirty dishes, then get them washed and put away before working on shining the sink. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

OK, now I’m assuming that all of your dirty dishes have been taken care of properly. Ah, if you stashed them, go back and wash them! Trust me, you will feel GREAT without that weighing on your conscience!

Remove everything that hangs out by the faucet. You’ll need to find new homes for almost all of this stuff. I’ll tell you what can stay there when we’re done.

Spray the whole sink with the spray cleaner. Spray the faucet, the knobs, the base, the whole sink. Use the wet dishcloth to scrub everywhere, including the faucet and knobs. Use the toothbrush to scrub all around where the faucet meets the sink. If you’ve never done this before, it will be disgusting. Use the dishcloth to wipe away the yucky stuff. Rinse well.

This step is optional. I like to use baking soda and vinegar to keep my drains open. I haven’t had a clog since we’ve been here (19 months) so it seems to work. It’s better for the environment and for the pipes than caustic chemicals. It’s also cheap… and fun to watch! I dump some baking soda, about a fourth of a cup, into each drain. Then I pour about a half a cup of plain white vinegar into each drain. Enjoy watching it fizz! When it stops fizzing, give it another two minutes or so, and then run hot water down the drain for a few moments.

On the days that you don’t do the baking soda and vinegar, you should sanitize your drain. This should be done every other day at least. Make a solution of about a teaspon (a sploosh) of bleach and about a liter (quart) of water. Then, pour the solution down the drain! (Make sure you pour some into your garbage disposal, too, if you have one.)

Now, dry out the sink with your towel, paying special attention to the faucet. You may put back the dish soap, the handsoap, and a tube of handcream. Nothing else should be by the sink. Put the dishcloth and towel into the laundry and set out a clean dishcloth and towel, and you are done!