Tuesday, July 24, 2012

How to Clean a White Sink Without Bleach

When we first moved into our apartment, I thought the white sink was a beautiful piece in our all-white kitchen. Little did I know, white kitchen sinks do not stay white and beautiful very long. I used to think Soft Scrub with Bleach was the only way to keep my white sink white. I've since figured out a couple easy ways to keep my sink white without toxic chemicals.



A simple scrub made with baking soda and dish soap works great. First, I dry my sink because baking soda will dissolve on a wet sink. Then I sprinkle a little baking soda in my sink, add a couple drops of dish soap, and scrub with a scrubber until it comes clean. Sarah over at Nature's Nurture uses salt and baking soda to scrub her sink, so add some salt if baking soda/dish soap isn't cutting it. I also use this baking soda scrub and a scrub brush to clean my textured bathtub.



If there are still some stubborn stains that won't come off, I add a few drops of tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide, or lemon juice to the baking soda scrub to whiten the sink. Then I scrub a little more. You may need to let the tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide, or lemon juice sit on the stain for a bit depending on how bad it is.



If I'm in a hurry, I use a Magic Eraser instead of the baking soda scrub. I know, I know, it's not "green," but I like that it doesn't have cleaners in it. It's the scrubber's texture that gets stains off. It really does seem magical since stains and marks come off so quickly. It works on bathtubs, walls, floors, and appliances too. I buy a generic version at Walmart for $.72/scrubber, but you can also find them on Amazon for about $1/scrubber. On Pinterest today, I found this pin about a generic version on ebay that's way cheaper. Coolness!



These methods also work on stainless steel sinks. How do you keep your kitchen sink clean without harsh chemicals?




This post was featured at:
Too Much Time On My Hands
This post was shared at: Simply Natural Saturdays, Once Upon a Weekend, Say G'Day Saturday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Tout it Tuesday, Jam's Corner Marvelous Mondays, Morristribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival, Homestead Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Homemaker on a Dime, Motivate Me Monday, More the Merrier Monday, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Alderberry Hill, Little House in the Suburbs, Happy Hour Friday, Simple Lives Thursday, Natural Living Link-Up, Simple Steps to Healthy Living, Penny Pinching Party, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Healthy 2day Wednesday, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday


33 comments:

  1. I can't wait to try this! Thanks.

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  2. Wonderful, I have a big beautiful country sink, and I usually scrub with Jax scrub, and still doesn't come perfectly white. I will try this. Thank you!

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  3. Great idea! I have a cream colored sink and I use just plain baking soda on it and it works just fine. Baking soda works wonders on so many things!! If I have a really dirty sink I use baking soda with a little of my homemade all purpose cleaner. Works great every time!

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    1. It's great to hear it works for you too! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. This is what I've been looking for!

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  5. Looking forward to trying this! I have tried baking soda before but never with dish soap and I didn't realize I needed to start with a dry sink. Thanks!

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  6. Excellent idea!! :) I love love love baking soda and peroxide for their whitening powers! I'm so amazed that they are more effective than a lot of other things and so much better to use! Thanks for linking up!! xoxo

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  7. I have been using baking soda and vinegar, but in some spots it's just not working well enough. I will give this a go today!

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    1. Vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a base. Combine them and, after the fun "volcano", it is inert and does not clean. One or the other generally work far better than they do combined.

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  8. baking soda is awesome isn't it? I think I will try this on my laundry tub. Thanks!

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  9. Baking soda is just the best, isn't it? I love it for practically everything LOL. Thanks for linking to my post :) And thanks for linking up at Tiny Tip Tuesday!

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  10. great ideas I will have to share this with my mother for her sink.

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  11. GREAT ideas!! Thank you for sharing!

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  12. Will have to try this on our solid surface sink that has some stains that bon ami won't budge. Thanks and I am a new follower...can't wait to keep seeing natural information and tips.

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  13. Yes, finally!!! I have been looking for something like this! Funny thing is I have tried all of these, just not together.

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  14. Because my sink is old and the shine was ground off with Ajax by the previous owners, and 'cause I'm kinda lazy, after I get the sink all fresh and white I give it a coat of carnauba wax (car polish). This gives it a matte glow and a protective layer for a time (it will be years, if ever, before we get a new sink).

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip Elke! I've been wanting to put carnauba wax on my glass shower doors after I get the hard water stains off, but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. My sink needs help, I drink a lot of coffee and have stains that just don't want to come out! I'll be trying this out, don't want to use harsh chemicals. Thanks so much for these tips! My fingers are crossed you will share all your tips over at Sunday's Best going on now!

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  16. Oh, this is great! I get the magic erasers at teh dollar store (2 sponges in a pack) and they work just as well as the original. I will have to try your baking soda/dish soap trick, though!

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  17. This is a great tutorial! I've noticed that the Mr. Clean magic eraser mop heads work pretty well for cleaning floors. I didn't even know that they made hand held scrubbers! Thank you so much for sharing on Marvelous Mondays! :)

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  18. Thanks for all the tips, I'll have to give them a try out. can't remember which site I found you on, but I'll bookmark this page.

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  19. Visiting from Kim at Too Much Time, this is wonderful! Thank you for sharing this, pinning next and doing this Monday!

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  20. Very nice! I really need to switch. Can you share what you use to scrub with? Brush, scouring pad, etc. ?

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    1. Hi Amy, I use the blue Scotch-Brite non-scratch scouring pad. Thanks for stopping by!

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  21. I have been struggling with my white sink and using a bleach product can't wait to give these a try I also pinned this I thought it should be out there for others who are struggling also.
    RaNae
    thanks for sharing

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  22. Mr Clean Magic Eraser Cleaning Pads-Old Product
    contains
    Formaldehyde-Melamine-Sodium bisulfite copolymer
    http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=16003386

    Product labelling for cleaners does not require this to be listed. I found this post because I'm looking for another product that contains the plastic-like abrasive pad without the chemical.

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    1. Hi James, The magic eraser is made from that chemical, but it is not present in the product once it's made (except maybe in trace amounts). On the Household Products Database link you provided, it says the magic eraser is considered non-toxic if ingested. It sounds like it's more of a choking hazard. It's far less toxic than bleach, so I don't have any problems using it. Here's a link with more info.
      http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/eraser.asp

      Thanks for sharing!

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  23. loving your blog, loving all the tips, THANKS. subscribed to your blog and added you on twitter, plan on trying these tips, I will let you know how it works.

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  24. Has anyone tried this on Corian sinks? My sinks get so stained and I've used bleach to get the normal color back. Would love a different alternative.

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  25. One of the main ingredients of bleach is hydrogen peroxide, so adding it to the cleaning mixture is not that different from using actual bleach except for the other main ingredient wich is chlorine

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    Replies
    1. Bleach contains chlorine, a poisonous gas, so obviously bleach is much more toxic than hydrogen peroxide.

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