This post has great tips for how to clean a porcelain sink with baking soda, vinegar, and Bar Keepers Friend. Learn how to fix a stained white sink easily and clean the drain effectively!

how to clean a porcelain sink.

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I get questions from readers all the time about exactly how I clean certain parts of our home. Even with a complete cleaning schedule in Journey to Clean, I really hadn't broken down exactly how I do the cleaning tasks in my book until a year or two ago. I originally published this post to start breaking down those "how to's" and have published quite a few cleaning tutorials since!

How to Clean a Porcelain Sink With Daily Maintenance

Today, we're working on the kitchen sink. This is a part of the home that gets dirty incredibly quickly if it's not kept in check. I have a sink deep cleaning task on the calendar each month in Journey to Clean, but I'm a big believer in giving it a quick clean with your dish sponge every time you do dishes as well. That goes a long way in keeping the sink clean in between monthly deep cleanings. Simply get the whole sink wet and give it a good scrub each time you do the nightly tasks in Journey to Clean! (We use these sponges for dishes and love them for both dishes and sink cleaning - they're so durable and can break up just about any kind of gunk imaginable.)

dirty porcelain sink drain.

How to Clean a Porcelain Sink (Deep Clean)

But, even with those nightly scrubs, you're still going to have some deep cleaning to do every now and then. So, when kitchen week rolls around on my cleaning schedule, this is how I really get our white porcelain sink clean and shiny.

(Note: I get questions all the time about our sink. It's an Ikea Domsjo sink and I absolutely love it, but it was discontinued shortly after we bought it. I'm so sad - it was such a great product!)

spraying sink with water.

1. Add Baking Soda and Vinegar

First thing's first - wet your whole sink with water, using a sprayer if you have one. (This is our faucet...it's great! It has an adjustable spray nozzle and the sprayer comes right out as needed.)

canister of baking soda.

Then, I add my absolute favorite secret weapon to getting all of the gunk off and making the white porcelain shine - baking soda. (This is the container from our pantry - you can see how I made these easy clear labels here.)

 coating sink with baking soda.
porcelain sink covered with baking soda.

You'll want to pour a thin coat of baking soda on every surface, including the back drying rack if you have one and down the drains (to help with any smells).

spraying sink with vinegar.

Then, use a spray bottle of half white vinegar/half water and wet down all of the baking soda. This will fizz a little, which seems to help break up all of the dirt and grime. Allow this to set for 5 minutes or so.

2. Scrub the Sink with a Melamine Sponge

wiping sink with melamine sponge.

After the baking soda and vinegar mixture has set, use a melamine sponge to scrub down everything, including the drains. Don't be afraid to give it a little elbow grease!

(I know this sponge looks TERRIBLE - I promise I threw this one away after this use! 🙂 I get them from here for much cheaper than you get the name-brand ones.)

wiping faucet with melamine sponge.

Also make sure you scrub the bottom of your faucet - you wouldn't believe how much nastiness builds up there.

Spray everything down with warm water and make sure you got all of the stained porcelain surfaces as clean as possible, rescrubbing after rinsing as needed.

Next, you'll want to look around your sink for really built-in scratches. (My Instant Pot is notorious for leaving these.)  No matter how much you scrub with a sponge and baking soda, these won't come out!

3. Remove Scuffs and Stains from Porcelain with Bar Keepers Friend

bar keeper's friend.

That's where this magic potion comes in. Bar Keepers Friend is a cleaner that was actually recommended on a Instant Pot Facebook group I'm in for getting your inner pots clean. I use it for getting those really stubborn stains and scratches out of this white porcelain.

sprinkling bar keeper's friend on porcelain.

Just sprinkle a little Bar Keepers Friend on your scratches or rust stains around the sink drain and really rub it in with circular motions with your melamine sponge. The scuff marks and discoloration should come out really easily.

4. Finishing Up Your Clean Porcelain Sink

After everything's looking good, I like to wipe all of the porcelain surfaces down with a dry dish towel to finish everything up. This makes sure there's no cleaner residue or hard water stains left.

clean porcelain sink.

And, that easily, you have a sparkly, pretty, clean porcelain kitchen sink - at least for a few hours! 🙂

before and after of cleaning a porcelain sink.

It really is as simple as that. By doing a little bit of daily maintenance and taking maybe 10-15 minutes out of your schedule once a month, you can make your white porcelain sink shine too! Of course, you can use this same method on white porcelain bathroom sinks as well.

clean porcelain sink.

Video: How to Clean a Porcelain Sink with Baking Soda & Vinegar

Happy cleaning, friends! Check out more of my cleaning posts here and check out my complete cleaning system, Journey to Clean, here.

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13 Comments

  1. Would this process work on a dark granite sink as well?

    1. Yes, it should! I would recommend trying the baking soda on a small section of your sink to make sure it doesn't take any kind of finish off, but baking soda is generally safe to use for cleaning granite.

  2. This is just what I needed. Planning on replacing all sinks in house if they ever come back in stock! None of the hardware stores around here have had any sinks since Nov. All stock has been stuck out on the ships at the docks. GRR Once my ex said he'd clean the kitchen sink and proceeded to use sandpaper!!

    Thanks for the right way to clean them, if I ever get new ones ♥
    *hugs*
    deb

    1. Leslie Lambert says:

      We love this sink! Ikea does have a similar style now, but I don't believe it's got the grooved back part (which we love).

  3. Catherine Sokolowski says:

    Me and my husband were just taking about how we could clean our sinks! Does think method work on sinks attached to a solid surface countertop?

    1. Leslie Lambert says:

      As long as the surface of the sink is porcelain, it should! I would just be careful about getting baking soda on countertops, that would be too abrasive for most stones.

      1. Dr SANCHEZ says:

        HELLO DEAR LESLEY MY SINK, TOILET AND BATHTUB ARE BLACK PORCELAIN MADE, MY LATE HUSBAND PURCHASED BACK ON .TH TIME OF HURRICANE ANDREW, I DON'T WANT TO RECYCLE THEM, CAN I STILL CLEAN THEM WITH BAKING SODA?

        1. Leslie Lambert says:

          Yes, baking soda should be just fine on black porcelain!

  4. Judy Guillot says:

    I have cast iron sink with black porcelain finish. The bottom of sink has water stains which looks dull. Could I use the baking soda and vinegar recipe you mentioned to clean and make shine again?

    1. Leslie Lambert says:

      I would try either the vinegar/baking soda combo or the bar keeper's friend (which I would think would work better to polish).

  5. Andrea Walker says:

    I have an old Avocado Green porcelain farm house sink from the 70's. Surprisingly, it is in great condition! No chips or scratches at all. However, I do live in the country with well water. So the bottom of the sink does get kinda rusty stained fairly quickly. Would these methods work for my sink as well? Thank you for all of your helpful tips and tricks 🙂

    1. Leslie Lambert says:

      I'm guessing it's rust-colored because of hard water - we have that too! Yes, these methods work great for that. You're just going to need to put in a little bit more elbow grease when scrubbing.

      1. Andrea Walker says:

        Thank you for the quick response. I have the sink soaking now 🙂. And yes, hard water, even though we have a water softener.