Kitchen Help! Draining grooves on worktop by sink or not?!

[Kdubs1981]

I'm currently trying to make decisions about our long awaited kitchen! We have a large island with a sink in the middle, double Belfast. Pale/ white Quartz worktops.

I need to decide if I want drainer grooves? I've heard mixed reviews and that they can get yucky.

Does anyone have any experience/advice? I need to make a decision and have total renovation fatigue

It's a no from me. We had a new kitchen installed 6 weeks ago. The guy who came to template for our quartz agreed with me when I said I didn't want them. He said they don't drain, and collect gunk.

If you want yucky black mouldy stripes by your sink go for it! Otherwise I would give them a miss.

Don’t bother. They don’t drain and get gunky. Also I wouldn’t want a sink on an island.

Don’t bother. Looks so much nicer without. We have sink in island without grooves and there’s no issue

I have them but my granite is dark and I rarely wash up, almost everything goes in the dishwasher bar the odd large pan. This has been an eye opener to me.

No grooves!

It's a no from me.

We've got grooves on a white quartz worktop and I like them!

No. Just buy a microfiber mat and you can wash it. Or put it away when you want it to look sleek.

We have them but they don't really drain. Wouldn't bother again.

I have white quartz and grooves. It’s 10 years old, never had gunk or black lines. I like them and would have them again.

We've got them and they work fine. Also wipe them down when I wipe down the surfaces so they aren't gunky.

Where the hell does your water drain to if you don't have them?

We’ve just had quartz worktops put in. We don’t have grooves but we do have a flat slightly lower section (don’t know the name!) so the water gets directed into the sink.

Bit like this

www.planetgranite.co.uk/blog/silestone/silestone-recess-drainer/

I've got grooves. They don't drain, but I don't dry stuff on the island anyway so it's just for show I guess.

Not sure why it would go black or moudly, though.... don't you guys clean?!

It's granite or granite type stone. How are you people getting mould? How does mould even form on granite. Just wash yourself cloths regularly and wipe your bench people

I have white quartz and groves and they are fine, I wouldn't be without them! We do put most things in the dishwasher so only ever do a little bit of washing up of DC's bowls/plates that can't go in dishwasher and our knives etc and just pop them on the groves without a rack. Once they've dried and I've put them away I just wipe the groves down quickly when I wipe the rest of the worktops. Never had mould, gunk or any issues cleaning them, just takes a quick wipe.

No grooves here (we have marble)

We don’t wash much up, we put a teatowel down for draining and then hang it up when the stuff is dry and away.

Because there are no grooves it then becomes extra worktop space.

@skippy67

It's a no from me. We had a new kitchen installed 6 weeks ago. The guy who came to template for our quartz agreed with me when I said I didn't want them. He said they don't drain, and collect gunk.

These are my thoughts!

Thank you all! So helpful. Feel more confident in my "no" now!

We dont have grooves - think the quartz worktop looks nicer without and nowhere then for my DH and DS's to wash their dishes and leave them for the washing-up fairy to dry and put away....

I got a double sink so I could drain in one and not have all the washing up on show (too lazy to dry and put away as well as washing it!)

I would say no, we're regretting them now on our pale quartz worktop. The lime scale collects in them and they look grubby. The only solution to get them clean is a really strong lime scale remover we bought online but its so strong we don't like to use it much.

We have them. They work fine. I just checked by slowly pouring a litre jug of water in the middle of the drainer, and it all went in the sink. Yes, the last of the water stayed on the surface (of course - only the grooves have a slight slope on them,but everything between is flat).

I didn't try the same test on the bit without grooves, on the other side of the sink.

On a material which was at all porous, or if I washed up a lot, I'd get a sink with a proper draining board. But for our occasional washing up needs the grooves work fine.

Oh and the washing up fairy (a.k.a evaporation) works just fine for drying things up here! 😉

We were advised not to by the workplace shop. They said if you have grooves that space can only be a drainer. If you don’t have grooves it can also be work surface when you want it. He suggested a separate drainer from John Lewis for about £30 which you keep under the sink and just get out when you need to.