The booking says “Clean Sink Bowl, Faucet And Drains” or “Deeply Scrub & Disinfect Inside / Outside Sink”. The bowl in front of you is white, or steel, or speckled grey, and there may be a bottle of cleaner under it. Neither line names a cloth, a product or a method, and the word “bleach” means yes on one maker’s sheet and no on another’s.
Below is a one-page card for that decision, with two fictional visits. It is a suggested personal record for independent cleaners, not a Hometress requirement, training standard or app feature. The rules come from three makers’ own care sheets, read November 1, 2026: Elkay’s “Stainless Steel Sink Care and Cleaning” and “Sinks, Faucets and Accessories Care and Cleaning”, Kohler’s “Care and Cleaning Guide”, and three Blanco documents for its SILGRANIT granite composite sinks. Those are a few sinks from three makers, not every sink, and this guide does not claim otherwise. The task lines come from Hometress’s published checklist.
The short answer
- The material decides. A blanket “never use bleach on a sink” and a blanket “bleach is fine” are both contradicted by the makers’ own sheets.
- Stainless steel: Elkay says “Do not use cleaners containing ammonia, bleach, or other harsh chemicals.” and Kohler says “Cleaners containing chloride are not recommended.” Both add that if one is used, the surface should be rinsed at once.
- Fireclay: Elkay prints a bleach step and a bleach bar in the same row. For difficult stains, “use a 50/50 water/bleach solution or non-abrasive cleaners”; it also bars “straight or undiluted bleach solution”. Kohler puts “Soft Scrub Gel with Bleach” on its “Products to consider” list for fireclay, vitreous china and enameled cast iron kitchen sinks, with no dilution and no time.
- Granite composite (Blanco SILGRANIT): all three Blanco documents allow a bleach-and-water solution for stains, and they differ on how. The next sections print each.
- Steel wool is barred by Elkay for stainless and fireclay, by Kohler for stainless and enameled cast iron, and by Blanco.
- All three makers say to dry the bowl.
- The faucet is its own row. Elkay’s faucet page says to wipe with a damp cloth and “NEVER use cleaning products of any kind on this product”. Kohler’s chrome and oil-rubbed bronze kitchen faucet finishes say “Never use cleaners containing ammonia, bleach or acid.”
What the sheet says and what it leaves open
Hometress’s published Standard bathroom list includes “Clean Sink Bowl, Faucet And Drains”. The Deep list adds “Deeply Scrub & Disinfect Inside / Outside Sink”, and Move and Dream Home, which build on Deep, include both. The Standard kitchen list has no sink line, and the Deep line names no room, so the sheet does not say which sinks it covers. Our guide to what each cleaning tier includes lists every line.
Neither line names a material, a cloth, a pad, a product or a time. Our guide to what a cleaner carries to a first job pairs the bathroom lines with “a bathroom cleaner”; this card reports what three makers print and does not overrule that. The word “Disinfect” on the Deep line is a separate question: this card does not say whether any product on these sheets disinfects, or for how long, and our disinfectant-label worksheet is where that verb is handled.
One more gap. None of the six sources gives a way to tell one sink material from another. So the card has a row for “material and how sure”, and an unsure row means the mildest route, not a guess.
Three makers, six sources
Elkay’s two sheets sit on its own file host: the stainless sheet is document 1000005386, dated 1/20, and the multi-material sheet is dated 02/18. Kohler’s guide is Form 14-1597-0414, “© 2014 by Kohler Co.”, read from a copy on Home Depot’s PDF host; the card uses its kitchen-sink, kitchen-faucet and bathroom-sink pages. Blanco’s three are the two-page “Sink Care & Maintenance, Granite Composite Sinks” sheet, Rev 02/21 (a stone importer’s copy), the one-page “Blanco Silgranit” sheet, undated (Costco’s copy), and Blanco’s own SILGRANIT care page, which shows no date. Each hosted copy is a copy of the maker’s document, not a maker page, and a sheet this old may not match what the maker prints today. The 2014 Kohler guide in particular names products that may have changed.
Who says what
| Sink material | Maker and document | Cloth and pad | Bleach and named products | What it bars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stainless steel | Elkay, stainless sheet (1/20) | “ordinary mild detergent and soft cloth”. “Soft abrasive cleaners may be used when necessary (Blue Scotch-Brite Pads).” | “Chemicals containing chlorides (bleach) are particularly damaging to stainless.” “If used, rinse the surface immediately to prevent corrosion.” | “Do not use cleaners containing ammonia, bleach, or other harsh chemicals.” “Steel soap pads, steel wool, or wire brushes should never be used” |
| Stainless steel | Kohler, Care and Cleaning Guide (© 2014), Stainless Steel Kitchen Sinks | “Nonabrasive cloth or sponge”. “Be sure to rub cleaner with the grain.” | “Cleaners containing chloride are not recommended. If used, rinse the surface immediately to prevent corrosion.” | “Do not use steel wool, wire brushes or abrasive sponge pads.” |
| Fireclay | Elkay, multi-material sheet (02/18) | “use soapy water or vinegar-based cleaner and a sponge and towel dry.” | “Difficult stains: use a 50/50 water/bleach solution or non-abrasive cleaners” | “straight or undiluted bleach solution”, “scouring pads, steel wool”, and “caustic solutions containing ammonia or alkalis” |
| Vitreous china and fireclay | Kohler, Care and Cleaning Guide (© 2014), Kitchen Sinks | “Use a soft abrasive cleaner when necessary.” | “Products to consider” includes “Soft Scrub Gel with Bleach”. No dilution, time or instruction to use it is printed. | “Using strong abrasive cleaners will scratch and dull the surface of KOHLER vitreous china products.” |
| Enameled cast iron | Kohler, Care and Cleaning Guide (© 2014), Kitchen Sinks | “Use abrasive cleaners sparingly if needed for rare stubborn stains.” A soft cloth is on its list. | “Products to consider” includes “Soft Scrub Gel with Bleach”. No dilution, time or instruction to use it is printed. | “Do not use steel wool, wire brushes or abrasive sponge pads.” |
| Granite composite (SILGRANIT) | Blanco, Sink Care & Maintenance, Rev 02/21 | “mix water with soap and scrub gently with a sponge.” Deep clean: a dishwasher tablet in hot water, a nylon pad in the morning. | Food stains: “use a bleach water solution or pour the bleach onto a cloth and cover the stain.” “Allow the bleach to sit for at least 1/2 hour and then clean with dish detergent and water.” | “DO NOT use strong abrasive cleaners, metal scrub pads or steel wool.” |
| Granite composite (SILGRANIT) | Blanco, “Blanco Silgranit” one page, undated | “for stains, please use a mild abrasive cleaner, along with a soft scouring pad.” | “A solution of 50% bleach, 50% water should only be used for tough, stubborn stains.” “Let the solution sit in the bottom of the sink for one hour”. Daily cleaning may use “Soft Scrub with Bleach”. | “Straight bleach”, “Commercial alkalis, such as ammonia and/or caustic solutions”, and steel wool |
| Granite composite (SILGRANIT) | Blanco, US SILGRANIT care page, no date | “Wet and squeeze some dish soap onto the soft side of a sponge.” | Visible text: dish soap daily, BLANCOCLEAN Daily+ weekly. In the collapsed panels: “use an equal-parts bleach water solution or dishwasher tablet.” | In a collapsed panel: “DO NOT use strong abrasive cleaners, metal scrub pads or steel wool.” |
Where a cell names a product, it is the maker’s own text, not our pick. “Products to consider” is Kohler’s heading; it is a list of products, not a dilution, a contact time or an instruction to use bleach. The Blanco page’s bleach and “what not to use” lines sit inside collapsed “Show More” panels, which we read from the page’s own source.
Rows outside the table are why the card has a stop-and-ask step. Elkay’s copper and antimicrobial copper sinks say “Never use abrasives, metal (copper) cleaners, scouring pads, lime or rust removal, alkaline-based, ammonia-based or acidic-based chemicals or cleaning products.” Its cast brass sink says nearly the same, and its quartz sink asks for soapy water first and, for stubborn stains, a pad with water or a 50/50 white vinegar and water solution. Kohler’s bathroom-sink pages repeat the pattern: enameled cast iron and vitreous china list “Soft Scrub Gel with Bleach” among the products to consider, glass sinks bar “bristle brushes, abrasive sponges or abrasive cleaners”, and bronze says “Never use abrasives, metal polishes or lime/rust removal products.” A sink that is not on the table above is not covered by it.
Where the makers differ
Bleach follows the material, not the maker. Elkay’s stainless sheet and its fireclay row are one company, and they give different answers for different materials: bleach is “particularly damaging to stainless”, while “a 50/50 water/bleach solution” is a difficult-stain step for fireclay and undiluted bleach is barred. Kohler splits the same way. That is why the material decides.
Blanco’s three documents differ from each other on how. The Rev 02/21 sheet says to use “a bleach water solution or pour the bleach onto a cloth and cover the stain”, and to leave it “at least 1/2 hour”. The undated sheet allows “50% bleach, 50% water” for one hour and lists “Straight bleach” under DO NOT USE. The current page says an “equal-parts bleach water solution” and an hour. This card does not reconcile them. It prints each with its date or “undated”, and the current page is the one to check.
Soaking is the other split. Kohler’s guide says “Do not allow cleaner to soak.” Elkay says no part of its stainless sink should soak in its vinegar-and-water or baking-soda mixes. Blanco prints half an hour to an hour for bleach, and an overnight fill for a deep clean: a dishwasher tablet on the Rev 02/21 sheet, a mild laundry detergent “once or twice a year” on the current page. Different materials and different makers, and the sheet gives no time of its own. Ours, not theirs: set no contact time yourself; use a time only if that sink’s maker prints one, and write it down.
Vinegar and bleach sit in the same Blanco answer. The Rev 02/21 sheet and the current page both print a warm-vinegar route and a bleach route for stains; each says to rinse with clean water and dry after the vinegar, and neither describes switching from one product to the other. Our safety guide for independent house cleaners quotes the Washington State Department of Health: “Don’t mix bleach with ammonia, acids, or other cleaners.” Ours, not theirs: one product per stain per visit, and write which.
The card
Copy this into a note, one card per sink. Work down the rows in order; the right-hand column is what to do when you cannot fill a row in.
| Field | What to write | If you cannot fill it in |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sink and line | The room and the sheet line (“Clean Sink Bowl, Faucet And Drains” or “Deeply Scrub & Disinfect Inside / Outside Sink”) and how many bowls. | Write the room and a short description. |
| 2. Material and how sure | What the client or a label told you: stainless, fireclay, enameled cast iron, vitreous china, granite composite, quartz, copper, brass. And where it came from. | Write “material unconfirmed.” Do not guess from colour. |
| 3. Maker and sheet | The maker if you know it, and which sheet and date you followed. | Write “no sheet.” The three makers here are not a rule for the rest. |
| 4. Cloth and pad | A soft cloth or sponge first. A blue pad only where the confirmed maker is Elkay (Kohler’s stainless row bars abrasive sponge pads). No steel wool. | Use the soft cloth only (ours). |
| 5. Product | Mild dish soap or detergent first. Anything beyond it: whose sentence, for which material, and that you asked the client. | Write “soap only.” |
| 6. Bleach | Stainless: none (Elkay bars it, Kohler does not recommend chloride cleaners). Anywhere else: only the maker’s own step for the confirmed material, with its dilution and sheet date as printed, and that the client said yes. | No confirmed material means no bleach step (ours). Write “no bleach.” |
| 7. Rinse, dry, soak | That you rinsed (at once after any chloride) and dried the bowl. If the maker prints a soak or a time (Blanco does), write it as printed; otherwise no soak. | Write “rinsed, dried, no soak.” |
| 8. Faucet and drain | The faucet as its own item: a damp cloth, no product, unless its finish is known (see the tub-and-shower card). The drain: what you did. No sheet we read gives a drain method. | Write “faucet wiped damp” and “drain: nothing printed.” |
| 9. Under the sink | Whether open containers of bleach, acid or drain cleaner sit beneath a stainless sink (Elkay warns about their vapor). Note it; leave them where they are. | Write “not checked.” |
| 10. Ask the client, and what is unresolved | What you asked, the answer, and anything you could not confirm. | Write “method unconfirmed.” |
What the sheet does not define
It does not define a material, a method, a product, a pad or a time. The card above is the habit that fills the gap: write what you did, which maker’s sentence you followed and what you left. The same habit is in our final walkthrough scope check, and the identify-first rule matches the tub-and-shower card (which has the faucet rows), the countertop card and the appliance-finish lookup: find out what the thing is, then pick the cloth.
Two fictional visits
These visits are fictional. The sinks belong to no real client, and none of the makers has endorsed the card. The circumstances are invented; what a source says and what is our suggestion are marked separately.
A stainless bowl on a Deep job
Room and line: Kitchen, “Deeply Scrub & Disinfect Inside / Outside Sink”, one bowl. Material and how sure: stainless, from the client’s note. Maker and sheet: no label, so you follow the Elkay and Kohler stainless rows and write that they are two makers’ sheets, not this sink’s. Cloth and pad: a soft cloth and no pad, because Elkay’s blue-pad permission is for its own sink and Kohler’s stainless row bars abrasive sponge pads. Product: mild dish soap. Bleach: none. Rinse, dry, soak: rinsed and dried, no soak. Under the sink: an open bottle of bleach cleaner beside a drain cleaner on the cabinet floor. Elkay’s sheet says to avoid storing open containers of such chemicals beneath the sink because their vapor “can cause corrosion and pitting”. You leave them where they are and write what you saw for the client.
A white bowl with a coffee ring on a Move job
Room and line: Kitchen, the same line, one white bowl with a brown ring. Material and how sure: the client’s note says “white farmhouse sink” and nothing else, so you write “white, material unconfirmed”. Fireclay, enameled cast iron, vitreous china and a white composite can all look like that, and you cannot tell which. Maker and sheet: none. Cloth and pad: a soft cloth. Product: dish soap and warm water, and the ring fades but does not lift. Bleach: no step, because the sheets that print one are per maker and per material and neither is confirmed. Rinse, dry, soak: rinsed and dried, no soak. Your message: “The ring in the white kitchen sink faded but did not lift. If you know the make, I can follow its care sheet.” It says what you saw and asks; it does not tell the client what to do with their sink.
What this guide leaves out
It recommends no brand, product or price. It does not say that bleach is safe or unsafe on any client’s sink, and the dilutions above are the makers’ printed text, not our advice. It does not cover disinfection, health or ventilation, or what to do if a sink is already damaged. It says nothing about what a manufacturer covers or what is owed if a surface is marked. For chemicals, lifting and leaving an unsafe job, see our safety guide for independent house cleaners. It does not cover pay.
Where a platform fits
Hometress is a cleaning marketplace in Philadelphia. It is free to join, and cleaners carry their own insurance. If writing down which maker’s sentence you followed is how you already work, the application takes about five minutes.