How Come My Brand New Stainless Steel Sink Stains?

They're very hard to keep clean, and easily discolored etc, at least that's been my experience. I don't care for stainless steel sinks at all.

Cheri

There are several grades of stainless. Stainless can stain but not rust.

Stainless looks nice but isn't really stainless. I had the same problem until I found a ceramic container to put our soap pump bottle in.

As another poster said, stainless can stain, but shouldn't rust.

The worst they can say is "no".

Maybe it shouldnt stain, is a bad batch of steeel possible, yes call kohler, they know whats up

Sink.http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?prod_num=3145-4>>

You are correct that there are lots of variations that are collectively called Stainless Steel. You are incorrect about it not suffering from corrosion. Even the marine grades of stainless can and do corrode, and sometimes quickly and severely. Stainless Steel loses it's anti-corrosion abilities if deprived of oxygen.

Maybe it has a different surface finish than what you're used to. Brushed, maybe? I love stainless steel, but you have to know how to clean it.

Try different cleaning methods. Start with a paste of baking soda and dishwashing liquid to scrub the whole sink with a brush. It works wonderfully for me.

If that doesn't work, move up to using some acid cleaning, like letting vinegar soak on it or by scrubbing it with Bar Keeper's Friend (oxalic acid cleanser).

By the way stainless steel CAN rust slightly if it is a poor grade alloy with insufficient chromium. I doubt that is the case here.

After looking up "stainless steel magic", it looks like your cleaner is the problem. It is based on petroleum distilates which are fine for breaking down grease, but are useless for dealing with calcium deposits, which is likely what you have from water gathering under the bottle and evaporating.

You'll need an acid-based cleanser, as I mentioned in an earlier reply (vinegar, oxalic acid, etc.).

Well...I guess I'm glad that my stainless sink isn't in an oxygen deprived state. I have a sailboat with lots of stainless rigging...30 years old and it still looks as good today as the day I bought it. But then it's got a lot of oxygen around.

Well that makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one who has had the problem (although I'm not sure why). In my case I have an extra hole in the sink for an under-the-sink soap bottle. So, I've now installed one of those.

I also have had another problem, though. I'm a bachelor and I sometimes fill a dirty glass with dish soap and water and set it on the rim of the sink to soak awhile. Low and behold, I now have a stain the shape of the bottom of a glass on the sink also. Oh well, I'm glad I learned before I really made some bad stains.

Sink.http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?prod_num=3145-4>>

Better check those stainless keel bolts! And rigging failures usually happen inside swaged terminals. Easily missed even with a close visual inspection. 30 years is pretty old for rigging. Time for regular dye testing at least.

And the OP was having problems from setting a soap container on the Stainless Steel. That could be creating an oxygen poor environment.

Sink.http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?prod_num=3145-4>>

A lot depends on the grade of stainless. When you are on the 316 end it is pretty hard to tarnish but it is softer On the 304 end it is harder but it will oxidize. The 304 stainless prop on my boat will show a little surface rust but it is hard enough to grind up an oyster bar if you hit one. The shinier (316 end) ones you see on speed boats would get kicked up.

Sinks tend to be on the 304 end. Will a magnet stick to it?

My sink is 20+ years old. Still looks good after a Brillo pad, some Comet cleanser and elbow grease. Guess the years of wear now hide any marks in the sink. You might try some Comet and a Brillo pad in the sink and see if that helps remove marks.

Sink.http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?prod_num=3145-4>>

You might be surprised--swaged fittings for example can corrode internally. You don't see the corrosion until the fitting comes apart.

mg wrote the following:

Wow! The baking soda/dishwashing liquid paste does work. I repeated the process 3 times (not scrubbing very hard), first cleaning it then rinsing and then drying and that eliminated about 80% of the stain with no scratches or marks, etc., from the cleaning process. Then I decided to try "Cerama Bryte" on the 4th go around. That's the stuff I use for my new smooth-top stove. That totally eliminated the rest of the stain.

Thanks Mike I really appreciate it. I'm trying not to turn into a fussy, old widower, but I want to all the trouble of replacing the water-damaged bottom of the cabinet and all of the trouble of installing the sink with a new disposal, along with new shut off valves, new supply lines and new drain pipe and then having the damn thing stain right off the bat was kind of a downer.

I'm guessing you're probably right about the finish, but I never really noticed the old sink. So, I'm not sure.

I'll remember the acid-based cleanser tip and I'm going to pick up some Bar Keeper's Friend to try in the future also.

Yup, as Mike says, that's how you do it. What bothered me was that I thought the stain was down in the metal, but it actually isn't. So, it's just a matter of using the right cleaning stuff.

keel bolts are bronze as is all the turnbuckles. Standing rigging are replace about every 5 years not from the stainless going bad but from the wire stretching. Agree on the OP.