I love my SS sink. The scratches just form part of the patina and you never notice them.

No regrets here either. Love my stainless sinks.

Nope. Love my big SS single bowl. I just put the same Franke in the new kitchen as I had in my old one. I redid the old kitchen 7 years ago and am still in love with my sink.

I also love my stainless sink. Bar Keepers Friend keeps it looking great.

No.
No chipping, yellowing, cracking problems.

I'm very happy with our SS sink with built in drain board. I did get a few scratches on it, but they clean up decently with not a lot of effort. But we don't use a sink protector...if you use one of them, you're less likely to get scratches.

Very happy with my franke professional single bowl SS sink. HOLDS everything and two people can be at it without any problem. I was a little concerned when I saw the size of "the box".

Hated my stainless steel sink from the time we moved into this house and after eight years finally completed a Kitchen remodel...(almost done) and honestly...

I WOULD RATHER CHEW SAND THAN EVER HAVE ANOTHER STAINLESS STEEL SINK!!!

I now have a composite granite sink that I LOVE...oh did I say I love it??? I meant to say...I totally LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!

Bertlingirl - I was starting to think I was the only one! I know I have seen many posters on the forum say they don't like their ss sinks, but for some reason they are not chiming in on this thread. Anyway, I suggest to the OP to see if she has any friends with a ss kitchen sink, and go over to their houses and check them out in person.

shannonplus2 and Bertlingirl, you're definitely not the only ones. I've had ss sinks before and hated them. Hated the scratches and water spots. They never looked clean. Never have understood why people like them. Don't get it at all.

It seems like there great options rather than the ss route. People seem to really like their silgranit sinks and the Kohler cast iron. I love my Rachiele copper sink. It was one of the best decisions I made in my kitchen.

Another SS hater here. I've had them in the past, but not by choice. I HATE SS sinks. They look beautiful in the showrooms and at install before the water is turned on. Then....water spots, scratching, and that noise. You couldn't pay me to have one in my kitchen. In 2000, we replaced our avocado cast iron with a white Kohler cast iron. I got tired of the chips, black marks, and all the scrubbing to keep it looking white.

With those experiences in mind, I felt I hit the jackpot when I found out about Blanco's silgranit sinks for our recent reno. No chips, black marks, water spots, scratching, staining, or SS noise. My two sinks in metallic gray always look gorgeous. I have to remind myself to clean them, in fact. Maybe that's not always a good thing. :)

You'd have to pry my silgranits out of my cold, dead hands.

I have had a lot of different sinks. I grew up in a house with a 80+ year old porcelain cast iron drain board sink. I have had at least 3 kitchens with stainless steel, and I have had newer enameled cast iron.
In this house, I tried something new and went with Silgranite.
I do not mind getting out my BKF or Bon Ami and cleaning my sink, it gives me a perverse sense of satisfaction to go to sleep knowing my kitchen is clean and my sink is tidy.
I wanted cast iron, but I knew with my sons and my husband and my penchant for cooking in heavy 12" cast iron skillets that they would chip it and that would make me very sad. So, I was going to go with SS. I wouldn't have minded the cleaning, I wouldn't have minded the patina. I changed my mind about going with stainless for looks, because it just felt too cold for my space. I wanted my kitchen to have a very warm, cozy feeling while still feeling light and a little modern. My biscuit Silgranite looks warm and homey; it looks awesome with my countertops. I can honestly say I will never have another SS sink.
To answer your question, I have never regretted having a SS sink, having experienced Silgranite now, I will never have another SS sink.

I have SS Ticor sinks, and I love them. Before that we had a Corian sink that would often get stained with things like tomato sauce. It would eventually fade away, but it took several washings and several days. I do use a grate in the main sink, which we use for washing dishes. Since we don't put sharp or hard objects in the other sinks, they do not get scratched. For daily cleaning I just use dishwashing soap, and every other week I use Bar Keeper's Friend. With that routine, they are sparkling every day. With the main lights out and only the pendant lamps on, the sinks literally glow in the dim light. Having said all that, it's all a matter of personal preference and what matches with the rest of your kitchen.

To me, it's easy to get the look of an SS sink, and a lot cheaper than buying one.

First take some tin foil, put the dull side out,
beat the "He**" outta it with a mallet, (Patina), OH, don't forget to "water spot it", then cover your existing sink with it. There ya go, looks like all the other SS sinks, at a fraction of the cost.

Yep, as I said, I hate everything about them, the cheap looks , sounds, U name it!!!

Gary

No regrets at all. Sounds? What? I don't care about scratches, but with a grid, nothing of significance in a year's use. That's not why I have a grid anyway. It's true there are water spots, and that's my only complaint. But considering I was on a tight budget, it was appropriate for me. I have plenty of things I might do differently next time around. A white sink appeals to me. I like a spotless kitchen and don't mind surfaces that show that they need to be cleaned.

Such haters on the ss sinks! Oh my! :)

I love my ss sink. We replaced our first ss sink with another ss sink on our first cosmetic remodel. Now we are knocking down a wall and increasing the space and going with a single bowl ss sink. The minor scratches don't bother me, occasional water spots don't bother me and my sink always looks clean and shiny.

Not sure what the big deal is. Guess it must be all about personal style and budget.

Only regret I have with my double SS sink is not getting one deep enough.

My last three sinks were white Swanstone (12 years), SS (1 year), Silgranite (a few months). I did not like the stainless steel at all. Scuffs and scratches and waterspots. Was hard to keep looking clean. Oddly enough, the Swanstone was perfect, it would get grey scuffs from pots and pans and light staining from tomato based produces. Everything would scrub right out with a green Scotch Brite pad and Comet with Bleach. It looked almost new after 12 years.

Now I have a truffle Silgranite, so far I love it. I would never get a stainless steel sink again.

I've always had SS sinks, and really like them. I'm a clutz, so I need a sink with a little give, and have no delusions about a sparkling sink in my house! Sound coating is a nice feature to look for.

LOVE my ss sink. I don't know where the noise comes from, but I hear none even with my new hearing aids!! :) I don't have any more scratches than with my old cast iron. As far as water spots.........well, it is a sink that holds water!! A few swipes with BKF and it looks like new.

No regrets about my $300, 30 inch SS Nantucket sink. I don't mind the scratches at all and I don't now what the noise thing is about. I didn't spend big bucks on some parts of the kitchen like the sink, and the faucet, which was a floor sample in a high end place for $200.

I can't wait to get rid of my SS sink. Never looks clean. I'm getting a Blanco silgranit sink in my remodel. They are not that expensive (search on the web for prices--amazon has decent prices). It's not "free" ie--comes with your counters, but for me it will be worth the price!!!

I have a single-bowl rectangular stainless steel sink, and I do find the water marks and dullness annoying. The scratches don't bother me - they have developed into the Kitchens Forum's "patina" as mentioned above. Those people claiming not to have water spots must have soft water; my water is only slightly hard, and there are instant water spots. While water spots and dull film aren't--in the scheme of life--the most disastrous things that could happen, I could do without them. They don't ruin my day, but it would be nice to use the sink and not have instant dullness. I have seen the Silgranit sinks at other people's homes, and in numerous pics on this forum. I am 100% certain I will have a Silgranit sink in my next kitchen (the Super Single with offset drain), though that will be several years off.

I had my stainless steel sink custom made due to an odd size needed for a funky corner location. Part of my custom order was that my sink is made of 14-gauge stainless steel (the lower the gauge, the thicker the SS). I do not have noise. However, my home's previous sink was 18 or 20 gauge. I think the word "clatter" came into our language just to describe the noise a thin-gauged stainless steel sink makes. For those in this thread who say they do not understand what people are talking about with sink noise, if you hear a fork land in a thin-gauged sink, or even water for that matter, that tinny sound will go right through you. Frankly, I would have no less than a 16-gauge stainless sink if I were to opt for a stainless sink (which I won't be doing again).

This post was edited by akchicago on Sat, Dec 29, 12 at 16:36

Yep, Akchicago. That's the noise to which I referred. Sends shivers down my spine.

I had a SS double bowl sink for 37 years (plus the 2 years before we got here), and I really don't get the "spots and scratches" thing. When I cleaned the old one, I used an SOS pad and it looked great. My brain has never processed, "Oh, a water spot!" I know they must be there, but it's just not what I'm looking at - as in, I never remember to look for them.

My new sink is a single bowl SS and I *love* it. I've only used soap and water on it so far (1 year), with an occasional bleach bath for the grid. When it was about 2 weeks old, we had a Christmas party and everyone was oo-ing and ah-ing over the kitchen, particularly the soft close drawers. One guest looked at the large sink and said, "Love it, but the water spots would drive me nuts." What water spots? Dodge59's "tinfoil" (so showing your age!!) was hilarious, but honestly, my sinks never looked like that.

My conclusion? Different strokes for different folks. This is one time when you get to suit yourself.

In all of the houses I've lived in there has been SS except for one porcelain. I love SS. Of course I grew up with a metal shop in our basement so maybe I'm impartial. I'm very hard on mine and a clean freak. We also live in the country and have very hard water. I clean it like I should (to disinfect) and I use a little metal cleaner once a year for big parties.

Presently have a SS sink and it never looks clean. Always water spots. It looks clean for about one hour after cleaning until someone runs the water and then it is all spotty again. They are indestructible but I like the look of a cast iron. I have purchased a Kohler Whitehaven enameled cast iron for my new kitchen. I had a cast iron at my first house and loved it so I am hoping I will love this one as well.

Good luck with your decision. It does end up being a personal decision : what look you want, the ease of keeping clean as well as the concern of durability.

Ten years ago we moved into a house with a two-bowl sink, one 3" deep by 19" side-to-side and one 6" deep and 14" side-to-side, both about 15.5" front to back. The sinks were installled in 1960 when the house was built. If there are any problems with stains or spots, I have not noticed them. I love this sink especially because because it came with a cutting board that fits over the wide side of the sink with a hole to push the cutting trash into the 9" deep sink drain so the garbage disposal can handle it.

I think this is testiment to the durability of ss compared to other sink materials. I would not buy any other type.

Well, it seems like most people either love or hate ss, no in-betweens. Great idea to look at neighbors ss sinks. I'll also take a closer look at silgranit, maybe it'll grow on me.

I had a Blancowave in the last house and loved it. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers were my cleaner of choice.

Hated my Kohler SS sink. Never looked good unless the entire thing had been wiped down after use. Much happier with my Shaw's.

Meek - I just redid the "coffee bar" area in my kitchen and salvaged the 30-year old sink.

All I had to do was remove the old faucet putty with some solvent and scraping, and scrub heck out of it with barkeeper's friend and then finish with Stainless Steel sink cleaner. It looks good.

All 30 years of scratches have turned into PATINA!

I would salvage the other SS sink, but I don't like the basin layout. It's getting replaced with more SS sink with built-in drainboard.

I am taking delivery of a SS sink tomorrow. I have always had one and am fond of the durability and how a ss sink takes the abuse of cast iron pots that might be dropped. I do not align with the opinions of those stated re water spots, noise levels, or scratches. I researched many many sinks and posted inquiries on the GW. I currently have an Elkay double sink with drainboard, top mounted. I am replacing with a double sink with drainboard, under mounted. Sinks with drainboards are common in Europe, but uncommon in the US. My exhaustive search led me to a small independent company, Seamless Sinks. I worked directly with the inventor/owner of the company. I will not bore you with the details, but if interested I will reply directly to you. My sink has a 10" depth with a dropped partition. "Seamless" means there is no rim for the drain. The bottom of the sink has no seams, just a drain opening that is integral to the sink. Hard to describe, but very sleek and clean. Ciao ciao

Lorenza, can you post a picture? I like the dropped partition, too, and am leaning toward the ss anyway.

Meek, I will try. I am very very technically challenged.......

I like my Elkay ss single bowl. The water spots and scratches don't bother me...but ymmv. I WILL say I loved our old corian sink...but I didn't get corian counters for this kitchen...and silgranite wasn't in the budget. (We ended up way over budget with the counter and backsplash.) The other nice thing about my sink? It was made in Lumberton, NC!

Meek, I have pressed my geek squad into service. Hope the resolution is okay. Please ask any questions that might help you . Ciao ciao

I'm going to out myself as a neat freak here...We had a stainless steel sink in our previous kitchen and hated that thing. We have the softest water around, and that sink never looked clean unless I spent ages cleaning it and wiped it VERY carefully after each use. Everyone's that I see in real life looks scummy and spotted. We were glad to move and get an old white cast-iron sink, and we chose another cast-iron sink when we did our remodel. If I wanted a darker colored sink, I'd go with Silgranit, but you couldn't pay me to have another stainless sink.

ANYTHING has to be better than what we have now. Just moved into this house in October and the kitchen is making me crazy. The sink is some kind of plastic-ish stuff and seems to have tiny "holes" all over it for texture. Not sure why you would need texture in a sink! Anyway, it is a BEAR to clean. So far the only thing that has even remotely worked was a Magic Eraser and that didn't work very well. Coffee, tomatoes, red wine - it looks worse and worse every day. I would LOVE to replace it but since the range is making me even more crazy, it will have to wait. We had SS at our old house. Water spots don't really bother me and I thought it cleaned easily and well. My sister has a black porcelain sink that makes her crazy. She keeps a "sink towel" to wipe it down every time someone turns on the water.

We just had a Blanco Siligranit Cafe Brown 1 and 3/4 sink and prep sink installed. My main issue with stainless in our last house was the sun glare that came off of it when the morning sun came in the window it gave me horrible headaches.Our current kitchen gets the late afternoon sun-I didn't want to risk it. I even returned the Blanco stainless sink grids because the glare from can lights over the sink was blinding.

I had a white cast iron sink in my old house and I really didn't like it. Now I have two SS Ticor sinks and I am perfectly happy with them. I have grids in both of them. Yeah, there are scratches, but I really don't notice them. I polish them regularly, I don't think it's a lot of work at all...

Scrappy25, the details for the sink in the photo in my previous post:
Overall dimensions 19 x 53 1/2
Sink basins 20 x 17 1/2, 14 x 17 1/2
Partition dropped 4" between basins
Drain board 16 x 17 1/2 with a 1 1/4 inch drop from right to left.
The price was $1750 plus shipping and included the drain baskets.
The website for the products is seamlesssinks.com
You will not find my sink in the offerings as it was one of two manufactured as prototypes for consideration to place in the line.
Ciao ciao, L

I'm with p.ball2 and WindyCityLindy! Love, love, love my Kohler cast iron Lakefield. As I think I've said before, when I buy a house, first thing I do is rip out the sink and slap in a Lakefield. They've been making that sink at least 30 years, I know. For our refurb, I am flirting with an IronTones Smart Divide, but still Kohler, still cast iron.

The only SS sink I've ever had was in a vacation home we bought about 15 years ago, and I hated, hated, hated it. I felt I spent my weekends wiping down a danged sink to keep the water spots off it. That said, I think it was a cheap-ish sink. Dunno. We sold it last year, and I danced a jig.

I would love some SS knowledgeable folks to comment on the effect gauge strength has on SS sinks. Are they quieter in a heavy gauge? Is there a superior finish, perhaps, that makes them retain fewer water stains? As I said, I'm pretty sure mine was cheap. It was very old, too, and put in just as the fashion was turning from cast iron to SS.

My housekeeper keeps the water spots off with furniture the sink. Clean it, and then polish it like you would furniture, and the cheap no-name stuff works best.

It keeps the water from beading up and making spots.

Repeat once a month or so.

Have never regretted the choice of ss for my sinks. I have had higher end sinks, either 16Ga. or 18Ga. and noise has never been an issue. As for scratching and spotting; The scratches are not prominent, haven't even thought of them as scratches until this thread got rolling. I think they are part of the patina of the sink and I never have issues with rust or black marks that can happen on cast iron/porcelain finishes with certain pots and pans. Water spots are not an issue either, the only frustration with water spots is at the base of the faucet resulting from drips off of my hand when operating the handle. My sinks have always had a brushed finish and this would explain why routine scuffs or scratches are not visible or objectionable to me. I would guess that a high polish ss sink ie a Franke that I have seen would be very problematic for scratching. No middle ground on sinks it seems, one is either a cast iron/silgranite enthusiast or a ss enthusiast. I am in the ss camp and always have been. Ciao

I have 2 Franke sinks and I never noticed scratching and I am not careful.

I don't polish. If I am feeling anal I dry with a microfiber towel (takes 2 seconds) and it looks quite pretty.

We had a stainless sink in our last house and have one in this house too. Both were installed by previous owners. I think our sink is the attached link. I liked both of our sinks. I never notice spots or dirtiness. I don't use a grid (just another thing to clean in my opinion). I clean it once a day with Soft Scrub lemon and Scotch Brite heavy duty scrubbing pads (because they are green which matches my accent color in the kitchen!). How could you not clean your sink daily (or wipe counters off after cooking or rinse toothpaste out of sink after brushing)? Isn't it just part of keeping a clean home?

Here is a link that might be useful:

Lorenza, thanks for the pic. I wish I had room for a double sink and drain board. Now I just have to decide on the sizes of the bowls, either 60/40 or 50/50.

Some people talk ill of a stainless steel kitchen sink but I think it is good. Having a good experience with this sink over the years, I can confirm that it is a good sink. But it depends on the particular model number that you decide to buy. I can provide a material to guide you in selecting the right stainless steel kitchen model number. Click here to view the material.