About once a quarter I get a call from a consumer telling me their sink is rusting. To date I have never had a sink that was rusting.

In other articles on this blog you will find more technical explanations on why stainless steel sinks do not rust. The truth is if there is rust in the sink it is likely coming from some other source outside the sink.

I once received a call from a consumer who told me his sink was rusting. I asked him to describe the rust. He told me it was half moon shape. I asked him if it was the size of a tin can and was it possible he left a dog or cat food can in the wet sink and it deposited rust on the sink. Cans, particularly pet food cans, if left in the sink will leave a rust ring in a sink. This is surface rust and can usually be easily cleaned with stainless steel cleaners like Barkeepers Friend.

If there are small pin point rust spots in the sink it usually comes from iron in the water supply. If the sink is not wiped dry the water dries and leaves behind the iron that then rusts. These spots can be removed with a cleaner but will return if an iron filter is not installed on the water supply.

There can also be small steel residue from grinding processes in the factory or at the fabrication shop.  A thorough cleaning will solve this problem permanently.

Some dish soaps particularly if left in stainless steel soap dispensers can cause a rust colored residue. This looks particularly bad and appears to be rust but it is easily cleaned. Changing dish soap brands often clears the problem.

And sometimes it has nothing to do with the sink at all. I received a call from a customer about a sink with rust in Wisconsin. When I visited the customer I said it looked like someone was cleaning a carburetor in this sink. The wife replied that that was impossible but the husband suddenly disappeared.

Another time I got a call about a rusty sink. When I visited the consumer there appeared to be and orange color stain in the sink but it did not appear to me to be rust. I asked her when this started. I was trying to determine if the stain was there when the sink was first installed or appeared some time later. The consumer said “It does not happen all the time.”

I asked her when it happened. She looked at me very sincerely and said, “Every time I make spaghetti.”

I gave her a half can of cleanser and told her if she used it every time she made spaghetti it would take care of the problem.

Water supply, cat food cans, dish soap, or spaghetti it is likely not the sink. If you have an issue contact me and will try to help….. even if it is not a sink we sold you.