New Kitchen Sink – What’s best?

dND

Help required please – I’m totally confused.


I will be putting in a new kitchen shortly, the current one is over 20 years old and typically French. It has a ceramic double sink on concrete walls and a white tiled topped (think public loo) concrete double unit with rough wooden planks for a shelf beside it!
I’ve been looking at the options for a new sink and can’t decide what would be best.

Stainless steel: But would that scratch?
Ceramic: What about cracking and chipping the glaze
Plastic: Do they stain?

I’m posting here rather than the DIY section because it’s mainly kitchen use that it will get but it will also have to cope with washing paintbrushes and cleaning other DIY stuff, as I don’t have a utility area.

I’m grateful for any help/thoughts.

Seakay

I have a stainless steel sink; it is easy to clean with bicarbonate of soda, and as it never really has a mirror shine in the way that chrome does, minor scratches do not show up too much IMO.
My Gran had a ceramic sink for years -you had to be careful not to drop anything in it or it would break, and the glaze had "hazed" in places, so staining was worst in those areas- Mind you she'd had it for 50 years or so so I think that it was doing well!
Only come accross one plastic sink and that was in the early '80s - it was a pain for geting scratched, but materials could well have improved since then.

angelavdavis

I have a Ceramic sink - butler style which has already been chipped by something being dropped into it!

My OH has a stainless steel sink which is a pain in that any splashes of water seem to produce water stains, I am constantly wiping it dry after even the slightest use.

I would try a composite sink next time (unless someone on here has a horror story to offer!)

Here are a couple of quite good guides:

http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Buying-Guides/Kitchen-Sink/5
http://www.kitchen-sink-materials.co.uk/kitchensinks-ce.htm
http://www.thesexykitchen.com/the_sexy_kitchen_sink.html

nej

I've got a plastic one and it's horrible. My wife wants a stainless steel one in it's place.

broke_mary

i've just had a new kitchen and had a brushed stainless steel one and love it. while we we're looking at sinks my oh was looking at a ceramic one which i wanted and accidently knocked it gently and it broke so that put me off!!

[Deleted User]

I have had a composite sink twice. The first one was replaced when something fell into it and it cracked. It was brown and matched the kitchen but over time it looked HORRIBLE as it faded and got very marked and it was a good brand. I HATED it. I have brushed stainless steel in my 2 year old house and I love it

my dd has a white nightmare composite sink. It is dreadful for staining. Never ever again

MATH

I've got a white plastic sink in the emids but it stains like the devil and has a number of chips where I have dropped things into it. At the coast I have a good old no frills stainless steel one and it is great. It bleaches and buffs up a treat and doesn't need tender care. HTH

rev229

I have had a white plastic sink x2 and they stain really easily so spent all my time bleaching it, I have also had a brown one no tea stains but lots of limescale. We now have a franke stainless steel sink (expensive but used tesco deals at MFI to pay for it) It was really nice and shiny the first hour we had it, but they do scratch, however after a while you no longer notice the scratchs.

tiff

I would definitely go back to stainless steel. We inherited a plastic one when we moved into this house and its awful as most people above have said.

Gers

Stainless steel - best you can afford.

A Franke is always a sound buy. B&Q have them on special offer at the moment.

Angelraesunshine

I have white plastic at the moment and its stains terrible, i will be having a belfast sink in my utility rooms when th extention is done too but i would not want that for the main sink.

My kitchen extention is being done at present and i have chosen my sink already, this is the one i have fell in love with is very large and you buy the acessories to go with it to make it a work station too. is quite a bit of money seen it in b&q this site is cheaper but i am gonna shop around for it.

HERE