After using double bowls my entire life, and then reading this forum, we chose a 36" single bowl for our cleanup sink. I was so tired of trying to clean big trays & pots in a double bowl sink, and although our last double had a larger side, it was still too small, and the small side was way too small. The argument that swayed me was the fact that with a large single, I can always use a plastic dishpan to create a smaller "bowl" for small items & still have enough room remaining to rinse or even put a drainer in the sink.

We LOVE our big single bowl! We also got the sink grids for it, which came split in two sections, and these have made the sink even more functional. I would never go back to a double bowl sink.

LOL! "Usefulness" depends on (1) what you plan to use it for and (2) personal preference. This is a common question and you will find avid adherents on both sides...the double-bowl lovers and the single-bowl lovers. You will most likely here from both.

So, where do I stand? I'm a double-bowl person! We have a 2-bowl 36" sink. It's the Ticor S405D (which, btw, comes w/grids & strainers & drains).

We use our larger bowl for stacking dirty dishes (it holds so much & hides them so well!) The smaller bowl is used for soaking flatware & utensils when cleaning up. Our GD is in the larger bowl. Our larger bowl is big enough to fit our largest cookie sheet or pan flat in the bottom. If we only had one sink, the smaller would probably be for prep, but we do have a prep sink.

Dimensions:
.....Overall: 35-1/8" x 20-7/8" x 9"
.....Larger: 21-3/8" x 18-3/4" x 9"
.....Smaller: 10-1/2" x 15-7/8" x 7"

Smaller bowl w/8qt stock pot:

Larger bowl after a marathon baking session & another w/cookie sheet in bottom:

This question comes up all the time, and people feel quite strongly about their preferences. It all depends how you want to use the space. I'd say NOBODY likes the old equal-size double sink with space for the faucet wasting half the space. I like my double bowl (unequal bowls), because I like keeping a small dish drainer in the small one. In a large sink, the clean dishes would get more spattered with the dirty wash water, I think. Since the faucet is offset, I can fit almost anything in the larger side (16" x 19") for soaking, etc. And actually, this sink (Kohler efficiency) is only 33 inches - so you might find a 36" sink with an even larger space.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I say the single bowl is more useful. I use a dishpan in my 36" sink and still have more than half the sink free for other uses. When I need the whole sink, I just take the dishpan out.

Double for me. I just went thru this decision and went with the double with each sink about equal size(a Ticor thanks to learning about them on this forum). I find I waste less water with the double. Yes, I can't put a large pan fully into the 2nd sink but I guess I am in the habit of washing in one and rinsing in the other.

I went with a double with one side very large and the other side much smaller.The large side holds my largest roasting pans and cookie sheets so I'm not splashing water on myself when I wash them. I use the smaller side for washing veggies, thawing shrimp, etc. Plus if I've left a roasting pan in the large sink to dry, I can still dump things down the other side.

All that being said, if I had had space for a prep sink, I probably would have gotten one big single bowl.

I've only had my single bowl sink for a few weeks, but I love it so much more than the double equal bowls I've had all my life. EVERYTHING fits inside! Of course it's deeper than my "standard" sinks of the past too. I see no reason to believe I will ever prefer a double bowl, but then we wash zero dishes by hand too. Though honestly I would just use a dishpan if I did. FYI our single bowl (Ticor S112) is only about 31" wide and it is still cavernous.

- Jim

A single is more versatile IMO. You can put a tub on one side of a big single bowl and essentially make it a double temporarily. I love my single!!

I went with deep double which I like, but if I do it again it will be single. If you need to soak anything you can use a tub like cambro mentions. Also, you put the disposal on one side - in a single it would be more convenient - you wouldn't have to think about what side the disposal is on.

A couple of friends have singles and I like them better.

I haven't installed mine yet, but it is going to be the very large Blanco Silgranit Super Single #511-652 in the Anthracite color. I really wanted a single-bowl sink, which I remembered we had in our house growing up. Somewhere in the 1980's my Mom re-did the kitchen, and that's when we got a double-bowl. And in the various apartments and houses I've lived in since then, they've all come with double-bowl sinks. But in all these years, I've wanted to go back to the single-bowl sink of my childhood. As others have stated, you can soak large pans with still room left in the sink, and there's no divider to get in your way. And I just like the way a rectangular single-bowl looks too, so simple and spare.

I was all set to get stainless steel single-bowl sink until this Forum (which is what makes this Forum so great!). I read all the enthusiastic threads about Silgranit, and decided to get that instead of SS. I've always disliked the water marks of SS, and Silgranit won't have that problem. If you do a search on this Forum, you'll see great photos of the Silgranit sinks that people have, and I like the Anthracite, but it also comes in brown, biscuit and white.

I've also learned the value of an "offset drain", a phrase which I'd never heard of before this forum.

The link below shows the sink I've bought. It fits in a 36" base. It says it's a drop-in, but it can also be installed as an undermount, which is what I am doing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blanco Silgranit Blancodiamond Super Single

I have always been an adamant double-bowler, so that's what we put in (more like a 1-3/4...good sized sink on one side, bigger on the other). BUT now that we have a prep sink, so I'm not needing to separate prep work from dirty dishes, I wish I'd gone with a large single. It'd be much easier to wash our larger pans, as well as parts to our rangetop. I am still considering taking it out and changing to a Super Single.

I went with a single after using an equal double all my life, but I would suggest one of the singles with an integral shelf and an additional rack. I think I would have missed my doubles otherwise. This way, I can raise the area I am working in, put items in the sink but keep them out of the "gunk" when I am doing prep, etc. I don't have a separate prep sink, though. I can also wash on one side and place items on the shelf on the other side, and keep them up and out of the way while they drain or dry. When I need to use it as a large single, like when I need a large area for washing big items, I just take the rack out.

It would still accept a separate basin, also, although I don't find I need one. I also don't need a strainer/drainer on the counter.

Love being able to use it either way.

Sue

I LOVE my single bowl rectangular sink. I can fit lots of baking sheets, casarole dishes, big Al-Clad pan, etc. in it. I hated not being able to soak large items in my double sink. My DH made a comment the other day, "I don't know if I am going to like the single sink. It will hold a week's worht of dishes!". Turns out we all love it!

Single bowl everytime