Cleaning/mending old Belfast sinks to use as garden planters

[CarobBean72]

Today I rescued two Belfast sinks from a skip - with owners’ permission: I put a note through their door on Saturday & they texted & said I could have them!

The plan is to use them as planters in the garden (which is also a work in progress).

They are quite grotty & stained, with some rubbery adhesive on the edges where I think they’ve been attached to tiles.

One has a couple of chips out of the rim. The biggest about 3 cm long but not deep. I want to fill & seal these or I think they’ll deteriorate in the wet (if anyone remembers wet).

Any advice for cleaning them up / weatherproofing?

I have heard, although not tried it, that WD40 removes silicone from tiles and sink edges.

Belfast sinks are pretty tough, I don’t think the chips matter. They certainly didn’t detract from the ones I had. It all adds to the character.