Handwash ruins stainless steel, do people know this?

[nothingcomestonothing]

My bog standard hand wash has eaten little holes in my brand new Grohle kitchen sink! I googled what could cause tiny holes in stainless steel, and low and behold, this is a thing! And when I read the small print on the soap bottle, it says not to put on stainless steel or stone.

Do people know this, is it just me who didn't know this? It didn't happen with my old crappy cheap sink. The new sink packaging didn't warn me, and who reads the instructions on a bottle of handwash? Plus, what the hell is in handwash that it can eat stainless steel?

So public service announcement, do not use liquid hand wash in your lovely new kitchen sink!

Oh no op - sorry you have had this. I had NO idea

I had no idea! Thanks for the warning!

Nope, no idea!

I am pretty gutted, my lovely new kitchen now has a damaged sink . But at least I'm not just super uninformed and everyone would know this, I guess. So there's that. Hope my posting this saves someone else from making the same mistake.

It's only some hand washes that have that warning, not all. Did you have the bottle stood on the stainless steel part of the sink?

What hand wash were try using OP?

I didn’t know this and I’m in the market for a new kitchen. Thanks for the heads up and sorry your sink is damaged.

How bizarre! You mean literally holes in the base of the sink?

A friend had damage to some pipes after using a chemical unclogging agent. I couldn't quite believe it but the plumber confirmed it, said the cleaner probably had more corrosive stuff in it than explained on the bottle.

Blimey OP I have just read the packaging on my handwash and it says avoid contact with natural stone and stainless steel. What the heck does this stuff have in it?!

Hand wash as in liquid soap?
Or handwash laundry detergent? Either way we use both in our steel utility room sink!

Liquid soap. Mine is Lacura from Aldi.

Can you post a picture? I have a new sink and had not considered this. It looks ok and we've been using liquid soap

Surely hand wash by definition is used directly on your hands and diluted immediately as you rinse it off and then washed away? As such it wouldn’t be able to cause damage unless it was put on there and left?

Just checked some, Tesco Antibacterial and Carex and it's got the same warning about Stainless Steel and natural stone but the bayless and harding (non antibacterial) doesn't so it might be in the antibac?

@pinkearedcow

Liquid soap. Mine is Lacura from Aldi.

So is mine...eek. Oh well, the dilution must be enough.

I can't get a pic in this light. It's tiny little dark specks, it looks like something sprinkled on the edge of the sink, but when I tried to clean it I realised they weren't specks they were little holes showing the metal under the stainless steel coating. It's on the corner part, I have the handwash on the windowsill above (handwash as in liquid soap I should have said in the OP) so if any neat soap dripped or splashed, that corner is where it would land so it makes sense. I have now relegated all the Tesco and Carex to bathroom sinks and put a Bayliss and Harding soap in the kitchen.

@Bluntness100

Surely hand wash by definition is used directly on your hands and diluted immediately as you rinse it off and then washed away? As such it wouldn’t be able to cause damage unless it was put on there and left?

Try telling a 3yo who won't let you help and just presses down on the pump straight into the basin.... It always collects a bit around the bottom of the bottle in our house too. Sorry op that sounds really crap - ta for the warning tho.

Found this

vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/beware-cussons-carex-hand-soap-can-damage-your-sink.29692/

So you have surface corrosion, not holes burned right through? Can it be polished out with some metal polish/stainless steel cleaner? The sort of thing sold for car/motorbikes. Stainless steel is a solid material, not a coating.

No wonder my hands were trashed during lockdown...
What is in that stuff?

Thanks for the warning.

Surely a product designed to be used at a sink should, at a minimum, be suitable to use at a sink. The mind boggles.