Making an old, dull stainless steel sink and draining board sparkle?

[WellTidy]

Is this possible please? I have an old, full stainless steel sink and draining board in my utility room. It’s perfectly serviceable and clean, but is it possible to make it sparkle and shine? I’ve tried Shiny Sinks and that helps to keep it clean, but it is still dull. I’m not obsessed with cleaning or anything, and I’m happy with simply clean, but it would be nice if it sparkles too!

Vivical spray is good.

Do you mean viakal spray, bluebell? I use viakal all the time as we are in a very hard water area and it makes no difference. It’s not limescale on the stainless steel surface, I don’t think.

Have you tried neat vinegar? I put kitchen roll on the draining board, soak it in vinegar and leave it for at least 30 mins, sometimes longer if I get distracted. Then use the wet kitchen roll to rub away any limescale residue and rinse with water. Leaves my draining board looking shiny for a month or so.

I haven’t tried vinegar, and will definitely the it give it a go. The sink and draining hoard are pretty ancient, I don’t know if they can be improved any further, it I will give it a go, thanks.

Bicarbonate of soda and a toothbrush

Don't use a scale-removing acid cleaner on stainless steel. Unless you quickly rinse and rub it away, it will stain.

Assuming it has a brushed (not polished) finish, you can get it pretty good with a green nylon scourer well wetted with WUL and water. Do not use it dry as it will make scratches that show. Rub up and down in the direction of the brushing and never in circles.

You can polish off with a damp cotton cloth.

I sprinkle bi carb of soda then take half a lemon, stab it with a fork then scrub the sink with the lemon using fork as a handle. The acid of the lemon makes the bicarb fizz and it really works!!!!

Barkeeper’s Friend polishing powder does a great job on old stainless steel, much better than Vim powder. Its active ingredient was originally extracted from rhubarb!
To avoid water stains I use a minuscule amount of Stardrops on a dry microfibre cloth. The remaining water is enough to polish it dry.

As an ex McDonald’s employee who had to polish acres of satin stainless steel with a bucket of soapy water and successively drier paper towel, I can tell you that polishing to dry is the key!

I used to work for British Steel Stainless and they recommended Jif which think is now Cif

My sink is 40 years old. I clean it with cream cleaner and a scrubby sponge rinse really well, this is important. Any left over cream cleaner will dull the sink. Then I spray with cif stainless steel spray, scrub and rinse. Then I dry with paper towel. I then put a tiny bit of baby oil onto a microfibre cloth and buff buff buff

Spotless and shines every time

Baby oil shines up stainless steel

Jif cream cleanser then buff.

Bleach

Oh sorry ignore me though I used bleach all the time

Get a new one. Stop wasting your time polishing something that won't stay shiny for more than a day.

Some great things to try here, thanks. I’ve tried cif cream and baby oil and they make no difference. I have some barkeepers friend on its way. It’s taken me ages to realise that WUL is washing up liquid!

WUL is washing up liquid! i wondered what WUL was, too

for sink, put in plug, fill with water and a bit of bleach, leave for a few hours...it will sparkle....

My mother cleaned my kitchen and used WD40 on the hob splash back and sink all stainless steel and they came up pretty as good as new! And my sink id trashed by “cleaning” with toilet limescale cleaner. Still looks pretty good

Pink stuff for a deep clean then cif in between the deep cleans.

But the sink might be past it's best as I recommended it to my mum for her sink and it did nothing. The sink is 20+ years old

I use car window screen cleaner to give it a shine

Bar keepers friend.

Washing powder...like for clothes. Just sprinkle on, rub in with a sponge and then rinse off. For sink fill up with hot water and sprinkle in half a cup. Leave to soak and then rinse well. Just make sure and wear rubber gloves

Make sure surface is dry. Put a very small amount of baby oil on a dry dish cloth and wipe all over, job done!😁