To wonder how people choose a sink. All types appear to be s***t!

[Candl3Mak3r]

Admittedly new to the new kitchen game but had no idea sinks needed so much thought.😳

From my research:

• enamel chips and breaks things
• white stains
• black shows up water marks and looks awful
• stainless steel gets scratches and is no longer in

😫

Stainless steel set into granite - don’t even notice it. Plus ours is now 18 years old and looks like new. Tip: draining board is more important as it’s more visible and needs to be easy to keep clean. Avoid black plastic (not heat resistant, plus water marks), wood (always a mistake).

Washing up bowls were used with ceramic to stop the smashing and keep the water hot.

Before plastic, people had a wooden rack at the bottom of the sink. It can double as a drainer at the end. A metal one could work the same way, I guess.

Can I ask a stupid Insta question? If you go to someone’s page, can you search it for the post you want rather than just scrolling through? I’ve found her but how do I find her pantry?

I was just coming to say that!

Who knew taps would be so difficult to chose!

Pantry is 6 rows down. It’s yellow. 😍

Two stainless steel sinks, never noticed any scratches, easy to clean with lovely German jet wash tap, still both look like new, classic and won’t date.

I have stainless steel. I clean it regularly with cif limescale remover and elbow grease cleaning paste (finer than pink stuff) and it comes up nice nice and shiny. The elbow grease cleaning paste polishes out any scratches. In my experience bleach damages the finish on most other types of sink and makes them stain more easily but that's not he case with stainless steel.

Ah OK I was looking for the sink though and that isn’t in the pantry. I got confused cos someone else mentioned the pantry. But pantries don’t have sinks, that’s utilities… 🤦‍♀️

Sink is lovely too.I got sidetracked!

While we’re on a roll, does anybody know the best white counter top material for heat resistance and ability to clean stains off?

I’m in the process of designing a kitchen. I’m going stainless steel under mount too. I had one in my last place and totally took it for granted how easy it was to use and clean. We inherited a composite white sink with our current place and I HATE it. Stains and scratches everywhere.
We are also hard water and I’m not getting draining grooves as they are a magnet for lime scale and waste good counter space. I’ll get one of the Joseph Joseph drainers that collects the water and put it away after use.
On taps… after much research time getting stainless steel too. It’s not the best match for my cabinet and counter choices but the reality is almost every appliance has some stainless steel trim so it’ll blend in. And once all the kids crap is dumped everywhere not having a copper tap will be the least of my concerns.

Per my research there is no perfect counter top. Dekton chips and can be hard to fix. Quartz isn’t heat totally resistant. I did less research on granite and marble as not my style. For me it was a choice between risk of glancing blows (Hoover, stool, jar etc) and risk of heat. I can manage the latter better so went quartz.

Glass. We have a glass worktop in pale green but it can come in any colour you like.

it is fully heat resistant- you can put pans straight from the oven on it
easy to clean.
doesn’t stain
cut to shape and have grooves cut in
looks modern but I don’t think it will date badly.

I really like mine (came with house but would use glass again if I replace a kitchen)

We got a cream ceramic one when we got kitchen done 2 years ago. Chipped already and stains something shocking - although I do drink a ridiculous amount of tea which is what causes the majority of the staining.

See the word glass gives me fear, I drop things.

Would like white but worried thinking my teenage DD’s Sriracha habit is heartbreak waiting to happen.

There was a thread a couple of days ago about a hack involving draining cans of tuna down the side of the sink. Therefore, go with the sink that facilitates this best!

😂 Sorry! I’ve probably ruined all your kitchen planning by sharing the dream kitchen/insta.

Well yes I am now back to wondering if we could shoe horn in the pantry of dreams we sadly let go a while back. 😂

Wondering if a double under counter stainless steel sink would sort the drainage conundrum.🤔

I am very clumsy but not had any problems with breaking things. And zero worry about breaking the glass.

Large stainless steel undermount with a tiny sink for pouring out liquids etc when the big sink is in use

Stainless steel tap with hose

Worktop… Granite is the most indestructible of the stones, especially if you get matt (honed/leathered) rather than shiny which can get dull patches. But mostly comes in dark colours or beige. Quartzite is similar and does come in more light colours, but hard to get hold of.

If you want white/white ish, then quartz is probably most indestructible but big variation between brands and isn’t fully heatproof.

We have marble and I’ve found it less high maintenance than expected… totally heatproof, it doesn’t seem to stain, it does etch with acids but we have honed (not polished) so less obvious.

If you want bombproof then get Dekton or other porcelain but personally I don’t love how it looks especially if it’s imitating marble, never looks at all real but that’s just my opinion.

Stainless Steel - my one is at least 30 years old and you can polish them up really well.

This is a timely thread. I am just about to order a new kitchen with double Belfast sink and now rethinking it! Stainless steel seems very popular...

Thank you that’s a really helpful summary.

Surprised at all the stainless steel votes - the aesthetic is an acquired taste and they look weird in period properties.

Funny you should say that about the double sink. This is my actual sink OP and after replying to your previous message about water getting everywhere I came down and looked at it and realised that I do sometimes use the second bowl for draining things! (As well as having the grooved worktop)