If the sales person who sold you a stainless steel sink with your countertop told you that your stainless steel sink would not scratch then they were mistaken. They may not be lying because many are misinformed themselves. Stainless steel sinks will scratch particularly if you have heavy pots or pans that you use regularly.
So what can you do?
Ecliipse Sink Grid (Grate)
If you purchased a sink with a mirror or matte finish there is little you can do to repair the sink. If your sink has a brushed finish there are several things you can do.
You can prevent most scratches by using a set of high quality grates (sometimes called grids or grills.) Eclipse and most sink manufacturers make grates that are made specifically for their sinks. Having poorly fitting grates can cause more problems than they solve.
Once you have scratches, what do you do? On a high quality sink like Eclipse you can remove the scratches. We have found that the best product to use is a product called Scratch Away. If used as directed it will remove most scratches. The application involves wetting the scratched area, applying a polishing agent in the form of a white liquid, then sanding out the scratches with a series of pads that go from course to fine.
Warning; it works well on high quality sinks with a brushed finish but will not work on mirror or matte finish. If you have a poor quality sink removing the scratches may cause a bright spot and while it might hide the scratches the bright spot might be worse than the scratches.
Some tradesmen use steel wool or even grinding wheels to remove scratches. These methods work but be careful of a couple of downsides. Steel wool or metal grinding wheels can leave metal dust that once it gets wet can rust and leave marks – see previous article. Power tools can also wear away more steel than desirable and cause an indentation.
A note on brushed finish, it is better to have a sink that is brushed from front to back on the bottom. When you throw silverware into the sink the scratches tend to be front to back and the brushing will hide those minor scratches.