A preview of the picks below. Full recommendations and notes throughout the article.
That’s what a kitchen sink is for, right? It’s where you put dishes after dinner. Where you drain pasta water. Where you empty coffee grounds. Where you drain the last few drops of orange juice from the carton. Where the sponge resides. Where water comes out of the faucet when asked nicely. I hadn’t thought much about my kitchen sink until a couple of weeks ago, when my perception of its role in my kitchen changed radically. For about three decades (the approximate length of time I’ve had said sink), I’d thought of my kitchen sink as nothing more than the receptacle for all the garbage produced by food preparation and eating.
Apparently there’s a whole load of stuff you can screw up with a sink, and I was managing about twenty of those screw ups at any one time. I know this because at eleven o’clock last Saturday morning I realized the hard way that the water wasn’t draining and that the bloke who unblocks sinks appreciates Saturday call outs. Having got it unblocked enough for it to stop smelling like a swamp here’s some things I’ve been doing wrong with sinks for years.
Twenty-One Costly Sink Mistakes My plumber showed up on Saturday (which meant paying a Saturday-rate call-out fee). By the time I got home it was about one in the morning. And you know what I did with all of that mad energy of mine? I sat down and calculated just how much money I’m wasting on sink-related disasters every year. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been taking care of my sink, it was that no one had ever really shown me how to take care of my sink. Here’s just a small sampling of my sink-related woes: I buy drain cleaner every month (because I don’t use a strainer) I replace my sponges more often than I’d like to admit My garbage disposal smells like a gym bag I forgot about for a week (and had to be “fixed” with a candle) My faucet head is etched (because of whatever the heck I used to clean it with last month) And that’s just the beginning. Sink problems are expensive. I’m guessing I waste around four hundred and fifty dollars a year on sink-related problems. So here are twenty-one sink-related mistakes I was making (that you may be making too), how much money each mistake is costing you, and how to remedy each problem. And the best news? Most of these problems can be remedied for less than fifteen dollars.
The Drain Mistakes
No drain strainer at all.
I had never given much thought to how much spinach I went through, but apparently enough to create a spinach sludge in my drain that eventually turned into what I’m sure was best described as a spinach reef. (Especially since I also dumped coffee grounds, rice grains, and onion skins in said drain.) And when I say reef, I mean an actual coral-encrusted obstacle in the drain that decided at eleven o’clock one night that it had finally had enough of all the spinach I’d been washing in the kitchen sink and pouring down the drain and made its displeasure known by clogging the thing.
Silicone drain strainers only cost around seven dollars and can prevent greasy gunk and food particles from getting in your drain (just scrape whatever collects in the strainer into the garbage can after using). Avoiding clogged drains will save you money on drain snakes and trips to the hardware store, and/or the cost of a call to your on call plumber.
The silicone is soft enough to flex into a standard drain opening and stay put, but firm enough to lift out in one piece with everything it caught. I rinse mine in the disposal side of the sink and pop it back in. The thing has probably paid for itself in chemical drain cleaner I no longer need to buy.
View Pricing on AmazonA flat drain cover that lets everything through anyway.
But then again, a screen door on a submarine would at least keep out sharks and sardines. My point is, I have yet to meet a sink stopper that would keep out rice grains, coffee grounds, or the equivalent of half an onion’s worth of peelings.
I was unaware of their existence until recently, and now I’m kicking myself for not making use of them sooner. Basically, it’s a plastic protector that goes inside of your drain and catches gunk before it can make its way into your drain system. Just take it out, bonk out what’s stuck to it into your trash can, and pop it back in. Do this regularly and you’ll never have to deal with a clogged sink again. And it’s SO inexpensive, and I can’t believe I’ve never used one of these in my life.
It tucks into the existing drain opening so it stays out of sight while you use the sink normally. Everything that should not go down the drain gets caught on the outside of the mushroom shape, and once a week you lift it out and rinse it off. The standard sink cover is a costume. This is the real thing.
View Pricing on AmazonPouring grease down the drain.
But we digress. Another common (read: mine) mistake is to pour bacon grease down the drain. It’s not a big deal when the grease is hot and liquid, but once it cools, it forms a waxy substance that clings to anything else that goes down the drain. Over time, my drain became a smaller and smaller tunnel of caked-on grease. Yum.
You’re going to call a plumber eventually, no matter what. I keep a mason jar (the small kind) next to the stove that I pour grease into and once it cools down, I replace the lid and chuck it when it’s full. I don’t know if that’s the norm, but it’s worked for me so far. The cheapest insurance policy in my house.
Running the disposal with cold water. Or no water. Or hot water.
About half the time I’d run it with no water at all because I forgot to turn the water on. Bad idea. Food particles stick to the sides of the pipe instead of getting flushed away, and the motor grinds and shreds without water to lubricate it. About half the time I’d use hot water since I figured that was the right thing to do. Bad idea. Hot water turns grease into a soup that can congeal and solidify further down the pipe.
Always run cold water while using the garbage disposal, and for 10 seconds afterward. This is because cold water keeps grease and fats solid, so they can be ground up and washed down the drain instead of melting and re-coating the pipes. That last one was probably the most useful piece of kitchen-physics related information I have learned in years.
A garbage disposal that smells, treated with a candle.
For an embarrassingly long time my solution was a scented candle on the windowsill. Garbage disposals that start to stink do so because of crud built up on the disposal’s insides and the rubber splash guard designed to prevent spitting when the water is running. The smell is from inside. The smell is from food. A candle is just going to add a competing smell to the one coming from the food that’s been slowly composting there. This is not a solution.
To keep your garbage disposal smelling nice and fresh run a cold water cycle with a tablet garbage disposal cleaner once a month. This will help to rid your garbage disposal of any odors. These tablets will help clean the chamber of your garbage disposal as well as the splash guard. This will help get rid of any bad odors that may have been hanging around in your garbage disposal. Say goodbye to those expensive garbage disposals candles. There’s nothing like a garbage disposal that doesn’t stink.
The tablet foams up and scrubs the inside of the disposal and the splash guard, which is the part that holds onto smells longer than the blades do. One tablet a month is the whole habit. The first time I tried it I genuinely could not believe how much improvement came from a fifteen-second task.
View Pricing on AmazonLetting buildup harden inside the disposal walls.
This buildup acts as an abrasive and wears the unit out faster. Not only are you dealing with the grease, minerals and whatever else was being put into the disposal, you’re now grinding up some of the unit itself. This is also what causes that growly noise you’ve probably heard from your disposal that’s slightly angrier than the norm. That’s your disposal telling you that it’s working extra hard and you’re getting closer to overheating the motor. Which brings us to… A two-hundred-dollar paperweight. All because you didn’t want to spend eight bucks.
Monthly, toss in a Garbage Disposal Cleaner along with a squirt of foaming disposer cleaner for best results. This duo works to break down and eliminate buildup the Garbage Disposal Cleaner alone can’t break down, especially in areas that are hard to reach. Keep your garbage disposal in tip-top shape and help it last longer.
The foaming action is the part that actually matters here. The foam expands and clings to the chamber walls and the underside of the splash guard, which is exactly where the buildup hides. A blue foam climbs out of the drain, you let it sit, you rinse, the disposal is suddenly running quieter. It feels almost theatrical, and the results justify the show.
View Pricing on AmazonHard-water deposits in the disposal you cannot see.
Scale will also build up on the blades and other grinding mechanisms, which can make the disposal operate more slowly and with increased noise. Scale buildup is gradual, and is most pronounced in areas where water is hard. You may believe that your garbage disposal is simply wearing out with age, when in reality scale is the culprit. Most people aren’t aware that they even have hard water, so keep in mind that scale could be a contributing factor to a less-than-optimal garbage disposal.
When the foaming cleaner seems to be losing effectiveness, I use a citric-acid-based cleaner to dissolve any mineral deposits. I’ve found that alternating between the two types of cleaner every other month keeps my garbage disposal functioning quickly and quietly just like it did when I first installed it.
Citric acid is the right tool for mineral scale, full stop. The packets dissolve fast, the lemon smell is real lemon and not the chemical kind, and it gets at the part of the buildup the foaming cleaner can’t quite touch. The two products together are the complete maintenance routine.
View Pricing on AmazonThe Sponge & Brush Mistakes
A sponge slumped in a wet corner of the sink.
I’m embarrassed to admit that for decades I kept mine in the back left corner of the sink in its own small puddle until it achieved a smell I can only diplomatically call deeply concerning. I’d then proceed to use it to clean the dishes I ate off of. A wet sponge is basically a bacteria farm with a yellow swimsuit on. Not exactly a highlight in my hygiene resume.
Bacteria loves moisture, so by keeping your sponge lifted above the sink and out of its own puddle of moisture with a sink caddy, you’re removing the conditions that allow bacteria to thrive. Your sponge will last longer, work better, and smell less. Problem solved. (And if you haven’t noticed, this is going to be a theme in this article.)
It hangs on the inside or outside edge of the sink with a suction mount that genuinely stays put, the bottom is open mesh so water drains straight through, and the stainless steel doesn’t rust the way the cheaper ones do after about six months. It also looks intentional sitting there, which is more than I can say for the puddle.
View Pricing on AmazonUsing one sponge for everything.
I wipe the counter with the same sponge that I washed plates with. I scrub the inside of a chicken-stock pot with it, then wipe it up off the floor. This sponge has strong feelings about its job, by “strong feelings” I mean “smells,” and by “smells” I mean that biologically speaking, it should probably be tossed and replaced every two weeks.
I have one sponge that’s dedicated to cleaning dishes, a brush that’s dedicated to cleaning pots and pans, and a rag that’s dedicated to cleaning counters. Since everything has a specific job, everything lasts longer.
Scrubbing pots and pans with a sponge.
Sponges don’t cut it, however, for baked-on crud. They just soak it up and re-deposit it on other parts of the pan. After ten minutes of scrubbing and no visible progress, I’d give up, leave the pan to “soak overnight” and come back to it the next day, which revealed the same pan, same stubborn crud, plus a sad gray puddle at the bottom of the pan.
Swap out your dish scrubbers for this $10 bamboo one with stiff natural bristles. Baked-on crud lifts effortlessly with no smearing. The brush itself is easy to clean and dries fast, and lasted us ~6 months of daily use. Hands-down the best bang-for-the-buck in this list. When all is said and done and you’ve got an extra hour on your hands, check out my chicken tortilla soup. One pot, less cleanup than most things I cook.
The handle is bamboo so it doesn’t get that slimy plastic feel after a few months, and there’s a reservoir at the top you can fill with dish soap so you’re not dispensing soap separately for every pan. The bristles are stiff enough for cast iron and gentle enough for nonstick. It stands up on its base to dry, which is the small detail I now look for in every kitchen brush.
View Pricing on AmazonA dish wand you refill from a bottle nearby.
I’ve had sponge caddies on my sink for eons. But I always used them in tandem with a bottle of dish soap, which always got sticky around the lid (and developed an eternal yellow ring on the lid itself). And I always went through soap quickly because, as you may or may not know, imprecise squeezing is the only kind of squeezing my hands know how to do.
It cuts in half the amount of soap you use. No more drippy, soapy messes on your counter. It’s quicker. It’s easier. Just dispense your own soap into the wand, and when you’re ready to wash up, squeeze the handle to squirt it out of the brush end.
The soap control means you actually choose how much soap comes out, instead of guessing at a squeeze bottle. The non-scratch head is safe on every pan finish I own, including the nonstick I am trying not to scratch off. Replacement heads pop on and off in a second so the handle keeps going for years.
View Pricing on AmazonNo detail brush for the parts a sponge cannot reach.
There’s this tiny little spot on the sink where the faucet meets the sink that never gets cleaned because the sponge can’t fit in there. And then there’s one around the pump of the little bottle of hand soap that lives there. And one where the drain is. And they’re just little spots. But because they never get cleaned they get this buildup of minerals and soap scum and stuff that makes them this gross organic color, like brown. And I just… discovered this recently, and I was horrified to learn that this was happening in my very clean sink all this time.
You could also pick up a small detail brush set (typically includes a toothbrush style brush and a slightly wider scrubber) for tough to get to areas. This will cut the cleaning time to about a minute and I do this once a week. My kitchen sink looks 20% cleaner and I’m expending the same amount of effort I once did to NOT clean it.
Two brushes, one narrow and one wider, with grippy handles that don’t slip when your hands are wet. They get into the faucet base, the drain rim, the gasket around the soap pump, all the places the regular sponge gives up on. Cheaper than a bottle of wine and saves you the embarrassment of guests noticing what you stopped noticing.
View Pricing on AmazonThe Basin & Faucet Mistakes
Cleaning a stainless steel basin with abrasive powder.
It wasn’t until years later when I saw an infomercial about sink stains that I realized powdered scouring cleansers weren’t great for stainless steel (despite what my grandmother thought). The abrasive action of the powder actually etches small scratches into the surface of the sink, which then causes stains to adhere to the sink even more quickly. Talk about feeling like you’re losing the battle.
Instead of harsh powder cleanser, try a (slightly) abrasive paste cleanser (I like the cult-favorite pink one). It will not only remove coffee stains, watermarks, and those pesky gray scuff marks pots leave behind but it’s less expensive AND will leave your stainless sinks and appliances cleaner and brighter without scratching them like harsh powder cleanser does.
The first time you use it on a stained stainless basin you will think the photo on the tub was fake. It is not. A dab on a damp cloth, a circular rub, a rinse, and the basin looks newer than it did the day you moved in. It also works on glass cooktops, oven racks, and the inside of a coffee carafe, which is how one tub lasts me almost a year.
View Pricing on AmazonWater spots and mineral buildup on the faucet you never address.
Filmy haze. That’s how I’d describe the condition of my faucets recently. Hard water residue will build up on faucets and other fixtures giving them a filmy, hazy, aged appearance. On chrome and brushed nickel finishes, the residue can eventually etch the finish if not cleaned up regularly. It’s amazing how you can become accustomed to something that needs attention and not even notice it anymore (just like your front door). My faucets were starting to look pretty old and dated, and I was even thinking about replacing them. Spoiler alert: You don’t need to replace your faucets. All you need is a good cleaner and 10 minutes of your time.
You’re probably not going to need to drop four hundred dollars on a new faucet. It’ll probably be just fine under all that mineral haze. Foaming bathroom cleaner is ideal for cleaning faucets, as it sticks to hard-to-reach vertical surfaces, breaks down haze, and rinses easily.
The foaming formula is the difference. Liquid sprays just run down the faucet and pool around the base. The foam clings to the chrome long enough to actually work on the mineral deposit, and it rinses off without streaking. Use it on the faucet, the disposal flange, and the soap pump, all in one go.
View Pricing on AmazonA clogged faucet aerator nobody told you about.
Vinegar Soak Is the water pressure coming out of your faucets weaker than it once was? Before you think there’s something seriously wrong with your plumbing, check to see if the tiny screens (known as aerators) on the end of your faucets may be clogged with mineral deposits. If so, unscrew them and soak them in a bowl of vinegar for about five minutes. This should unclog them and bring back their full glory.
Remove the pressure plate by hand (they aren’t super tight), soak for about 15 minutes in white vinegar, give it a good rinse and then screw it back into place. It will perform like it did when it came out of the factory. I can’t think of anything you can purchase that would accomplish this, but hey, now you know, and knowledge is free. OK, so you’ll have to shell out a couple of bucks for a bottle of white vinegar, but you’ll only use a tablespoon.
Wiping the basin with the same rag you just used on the counter.
I would use this same rag to wipe down after preparing/cooking raw meats, after cooking pasta (hello starchy water), cleaning up wine glasses (hello red wine ring), etc. etc. Basically, I was bringing all of the stuff I’d wiped off of the counters and appliances into the sink (the place I wash my dishes), calling it “cleaning” the sink. Yuck.
Grab a couple of inexpensive bar mops from the drugstore and keep them in a small basket by the sink. Have one for washing dishes, one for wiping down the counter, one for washing your hands. Rinse them out each time you use them. By tackling small cleaning tasks right away, you’ll avoid bigger cleaning tasks later on. Your kitchen will seem so much cleaner, try it. Using three washcloths a hundred times more often works wonders.
The Habits That Cost The Most
Putting hot pans directly into a cold sink.
Thermal Shock is going from the hot stove top to the cold kitchen sink can shock your pots and pans, especially those with enamel coatings (hello cast iron skillet.). This can actually chip/crack the coating. I just recently realized that the dent in the bottom of my sink (that I always thought happened when it was being installed) is actually from all of the hot pans I’ve plopped in there over the years. Yikes. Stainless Steel Sinks, These can actually be easily scratched so be mindful of this and don’t just chuck utensils in there.
Take the pans off of the hot burners and let them sit on a trivet for a little while before washing them in the sink. Sudden changes in temperature can put stress on the pans, leading to cracks that you may not notice until they get big enough to cause problems. This will also be easier on your sink.
Stacking dirty dishes in the basin instead of next to it.
But if I left the dishes in there, the water would just rise around them. And in the evening I’d have to empty the sink and start over again. The bottom dishes would soak up all the nastiest of the grease and filth that accumulated in the sink and I’d have to scrub at them to get them clean. And on top of everything else, instead of moving the dishes out of the way to let the water drain, I left them sitting in there, effectively plugging up the drain.
I put dirty dishes in the dishwasher without draining them first. They go directly from drying rack (or square footage of counter that serves as drying rack) into the dishwasher. Nothing has dried on them to fall off and clog up the drain. And I’m able to wash dishes in probably a third of the time. I highly recommend this hack. I’ve been doing it for about ten years, and I’ve never once clogged my drain. My sink never backs up with dirty dishes, either.
Using the sink as overflow storage for the dish drying rack.
I’d wash dishes after meals, leave them on the drying rack for a bit, then dump them back in the sink when I was ready to put them away. Except I wasn’t ready to put them away. So the dried dishes sat in my sink for hours or even days until I needed to use the sink and had to move them all just to wash something else. An endless cycle.
I put away everything I can as soon as it’s dry, it takes 5 minutes after dinner and means that in the morning I don’t have to clear away the museum of what we ate last night from the kitchen sink (so that I can actually use the kitchen sink.), and I can just toss plates and such into the dishwasher (rather than into the basin of the kitchen sink.). Sometimes dinner involves almost no dishes at all, say when we eat something like these chicken fajitas made in the Instant Pot, and putting everything away takes about 90 seconds.
Letting the under-sink area become a swamp.
My sink cabinet is a slow horror movie. My house sink cabinet is 70% cleaning supplies and 30% the slowest of horror movies. The dish soap has a little leak at the top and the drain pipe can get a bit sweaty so everything in that cabinet gets a little filmy and the bottom gets kind of tacky. The type of tacky that, once you’ve noticed it, you can’t unnotice.
You know those little plastic mats that you put under your sink (to protect the cabinet from leaks and drips)? Get one of those (if you don’t already have one). Eight bucks from the hardware store will protect your sink cabinet (and whatever else you store under your sink) from slow and certain destruction (and from turning into some sort of science experiment). And hey, while you’re cleaning out your sink cabinet on a Saturday afternoon, fire up your slow cooker with something like our foolproof slow cooker whole chicken recipe.
Treating the sink like it is supposed to take care of itself.
It’s the silent one. There’s no flashing light to let you know the sink is unhappy, the way a dishwasher might. There’s no ominous groaning, the way the fridge will do when something’s up. No, you can chuck anything down the sink and it’ll swallow it, happy as anything. Until one day at 11pm it decides to rise up and revolt, and suddenly you’re on the phone to a plumber and wearing socks. And it’s your fault for not listening to the sink in the first place. So when the sink does start acting up, it’s important to listen to what it’s trying to tell you. Below are some of the most common signs your sink’s unhappy, and what they mean.
Once a month, on the same day you pick up laundry from the dry cleaner’s, drop a few tabs of cleaner into the disposal. Twice a year, unhook the faucet aerator and give it a good soak. Every week, allot ten minutes to sink maintenance. Run a replacement sponge through the garbage disposal. Rinse out the sink strainer. Give the sink basin a scrub. Wipe down the faucet. Change out the sponge if necessary. Ten minutes a week. Less time than it takes you to decide what to get for takeout and place the phone order. Your kitchen sink will thank you by doing its job and nothing more for years to come.
One last small piece of advice. If you also have a bathroom sink that swallows hair like a hungry pond, the TubShroom version is the bathtub equivalent of everything I just said about the kitchen drain. Same principle, different room.
Twenty-one ideas, none of them earth-shatteringly brilliant. You’re not going to inspire magazine features about how you’ve started using a drain strainer. But the problems taken together were costing me about five hundred dollars a year in kitchen maintenance, and a five-minute-a-week regimen of inexpensive products and minor behavior changes can keep your kitchen in good working order without spending an arm and a leg. Once the sink was under control the rest of the kitchen seemed to follow suit, as the sink really is the heart of the kitchen, and when things are calm around the sink the rest of the kitchen calms down as well. My kitchen isn’t perfect, but then again nothing is. I haven’t had a candle on my windowsill in two years, and I take that as a sign things are going well.