kitchen sink suggestions please? replacing awful stainless steel one that constantly looks dirty!

[cornonthecob]

We currently have stainless steel kitchen sink and due to the high lime content in London water it's impossible for it to ever look clean unless we never use it.

Thinking of having it replaced, but not sure what marerial is best to avoid the dirty look? Any suggestions much appreciated. Thanks

London is a nightmare for limescale - if you can get a water softener, that will help but what ever sink you buy it will still become encrusted with limescale. You could go for white corian - but you would be best to replace your worktop and have it as a seamless sink...the limescale won't be as obvious.

I'd suggest instead to clean your current sink with Shiny Sinks to get rid of the limescale maybe once a week and then just dry it after every use - it's a pain.

thanks pink yes on my list of london gripes! cleaning isn't a problem, i used to have stainless steel kitchen units and cupboards pre-family and find baby oil is fab to clean up also!

someone else has also suggested corian so must be a good thing. our worktops are oak which we'd like to keep so might not work, thanks for suggestion though...

any other kind of sinks we could look at?

Have you tried white vinegar or Barkeeper's Friend?

Possibly I have a bad memory but we had a steel sink in London and I don't remember it being permanently dirty, it always polished up OK.

I say this on every sink thread but do not go for those 'granite'/'fragranite'/composite sinks if you want them to look clean - the limescale sticks to it like, well, limescale and then soaks up tea stains. And it scratches. I want my stainless steel back!

i have an astracast granite sink in black and i also live in a hard water area - i had major reservations about it but i have to say its been fantastic. its got a 20 year guarantee. it matches my black work tops and looks good all the time. no limescale probs.

We've got a ceramic Villeroy and Bosch sink which I love. It comes up clean easily with just washing up liquid or on bad stains Barkeepers Friend; and we live in an even harder water area than London - according to our plumber recently.

Vicar, do you have a dishwasher or is it your main washing up sink?

I have a big white ceramic farmhouse sink and it stays pretty clean.I soak it once a week in ariel and leave it an hour and all stains come off.

Also in a hardwater area - We replaced our ceramic farmhouse sink because it looked grubby except when just cleaned - we now have stainless steel, and that cleans up well with wire wool brushed over it, I find.

i do have a dishwasher but i also wash up daily too,

i honestly thought it wouldnt fair very well but its been absolutely brilliant. better than my friends Franke sink which was twice the price.