How to clean an enameled cast iron kitchen sink

The best way to clean tough stains on your white porcelain enamel cast iron sink

I always thought I wanted a white farmhouse sink... until we moved into this house! It has an almost 25 year old white porcelain enameled cast iron drop-in sink in the kitchen. From afar, it's beautiful. But when we moved in, it was so stained and dirty that I thought I wanted to get rid of it ASAP! I have tried everything to clean this sink over the past few months. No matter how much elbow grease I put into it, I could not remove the stains that had settled into the surface scratches from normal wear and tear over twenty-something years. Well, I'm excited to say, I finally found a solution, and I will not be getting rid of our farmhouse sink just yet 😁 Add this to your spring cleaning routine for an almost new enamel kitchen sink!

This post is in partnership with HomeRight. All opinions are my own. 
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How to deep clean a white cast iron sink

I tried everything to get our cast iron sink clean, including some chemical cleaners that I later learned I should not have used!

Our sink was manufactured by Kohler and shows a date of 1995 imprinted in the iron underneath it. Naturally, being so old, it has lots of surface scratches from years of use.

The scratched areas hold stains much easier than the enameled surface does. Those scratches held some very deep set stains.

After trying what seemed like everything, I decided to combine a few different methods, all of which were safe for the enamel finish: Baking soda, dish soap, distilled white vinegar, and hot steam.

I had already tried each of these methods on their own, but using them together made all the difference.

The combination of a well known household cleaner recipe and the power of steam is the secret to a clean white enamel sink. Here's exactly what I did...

Start by using a steam cleaner to remove surface stains in the bottom of the sink and to start loosening some of the deeper stains. Heat truly works wonders for cleaning (plus it sanitizes without harsh chemicals).

I love my HomeRight Steam Machine. I've used a smaller cleaner in the past, but this one has an extra long hose which makes it easy to work with, and it has attachments for every job you could think of.

For cleaning the sink, I used the jet nozzle and both the small and large nylon brushes.

Run some water to get the bottom of the sink wet.

Sprinkle with baking soda.

Squirt blue Dawn dish soap on any areas with deep stains. (I have no idea why blue Dawn is always the recommended color for cleaning mixtures... but it has worked well for me in the past, so I'm sticking with it!)

Mix a bowl of 1:1 blue Dawn dish soap and distilled white vinegar. Put a paper towel in the solution, ring it out slightly, and lay the wet paper towel on the bottom of the sink (I also put one on the middle divider because it also had some deep stains).

Pour any extra solution onto the paper towel on extra dirty areas (the problems areas for me were right around the drains). Allow to sit.

While the baking soda, dish soap, and vinegar are working their magic, use your steam cleaner to start cleaning the rest of the sink. I started with the jet nozzle and sprayed along the edges of the sink and the fixtures.

Then I went back around everything with the small nylon brush. Look at all that dirt and debris!

Once that was all clean, I wiped it down with a clean wet cloth and refocused on the bottom of the sink.

Work one side at a time.

Here's the important step! Use your steam cleaner with the nozzle attachment and steam the soap and vinegar soaked paper towels (heads up- this will smell strongly of vinegar!).

This will help loosen some of those deep set stains that the vinegar mixture has been working on.

Let those hot paper towels sit there another minute or so until they feel cool to the touch. Discard them.

Then use the large nylon brush attachement on the Steam Machine to scrub the sink with steam.

Spend as much time as you need to fully remove the rest of the stains. The stains should now come out much easier, but some areas may still take a few minutes and a bit of scrubbing with the steam.

Then use the jet nozzle to run steam over the whole area one more time to sanitize.

Rinse thoroughly and then repeat on the other side of the sink.

I am SO amazed by how clean it is.

I was seriously ready to toss this sink out the window because it looked so gross, but now other than the scratches, it looks brand new in color!

The bright white surface has me feeling inspired to restore the sink back to its original glory. I'm on the hunt for replacement drains, a new faucet and drinking faucet, and a surface repair kit for the scratches.

(Update- you can see the sink with the new faucet here!)

It's truly amazing the difference a few common household cleaners and a powerful steam machine can make! 😍

How to maintain your clean enamel sink

Now that you've deep cleaned your sink and removed all of those stains, how do you keep it clean?

• Try not to let dirty dishes sit in the bottom of the sink for too long.
• Wipe out your sink with a warm soapy cloth or sponge each day, then rinse with water. (I do this in the evening each day after dinner dishes are done)
• Do not use abrasive or highly acidic cleaning products (see below)
• Steam clean your sink once a month
• When deep cleaning, use only approved products on the enamel finish. The following products have been tested by Kohler and/or RetroRenovations and are approved for use on Kohler enameled cast iron sinks:
• Kohler Cast Iron Cleaner
• Green Works All Purpose Cleaner
• Formula 409 Antibacterial All purpose cleaner
• Fantastik Antibacterial Heavy Duty
• Soft Scrub Gel with bleach
• ROG3 Tub & Tile Cleaner
• Distilled white vinegar (be sure to rinse after use)
• Baking soda

What not to use on your enamel kitchen sink!

Did you know that there are certain cleaners you should not use on your enamel cast iron kitchen sink?

One of them might surprise you... I've seen Barkeeper's Friend recommended online by many people, but Kohler actually specifically lists it as a product that may harm the finish on the sink. See this post for details.

Here is the list of cleaners that are not enamel safe:

• Barkeeper's Friend
• Zud
• Comet
• Magic Eraser
• Any abrasive cleaners
• Steel wool
• Wire brushes

Order the HomeRight Steam Machine for your spring cleaning projects here.

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