Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Reviving An Old Kitchen Sink Faucet

Hello everyone! I have been extremely sick for the past three days with a temp of 102 that finally broke last night. (yay!finally!) So I am trying to get caught up on everything that I missed over the past three days.

After posting my last post about sea grass baskets I said  would be sending out more sea grass decor ideas, but my plans got stalled while I fought this stupid respiratory infection, so its on to plan B. .....which is sharing with you my kitchen faucet.

When I refer to our kitchen sink as "old" I don't mean that it is antique, but that it is 10 years old and has been used for an entire decade. 
 
Thousands of times we have turned the faucet on and off and expected water on demand to clean dishes, wash dirty hands, or provide hot water for cooking, so it has taken a beating over the years and it still works just fine, but its age is definitely starting to show. 
 
When Mr. Chaos built this house in 2003 he wanted all white appliances, including a white kitchen sink AND faucet. Me....I prefer stainless and that is what I had in my house........but I will say white is pretty
........WHEN IT IS CLEAN!
 
DIRTY WHITE IS NOT PRETTY! So lets be honest.....our ten year old kitchen faucet passed the turning point and was no longer pretty!




 Look at that water build up around the seal of the faucet.
 
And the back of the facet was even WORSE! Yikes!

 
Then there is the grime that builds up around the handle......yuck.

 
 
Back when I shared my tutorial on my mason jar soap pump I noticed the build up and it has bothered me ever since and now that Spring is here it is time to Spring clean and take care of this faucet once and for all!
 
 
So I took the advice of many of you bloggers and Pinterest peeps, and used vinegar to tackle this job.
 
Along with the vinegar/water mix, here are all of the supplies needed to tackle the faucet:
 
  • Spray bottle with vinegar/water mix
  • Scouring pads
  • Old tooth brush
  • Dry Erase Cleaning Pad
  •  
 
I started by spraying a heavy layer of the vinegar/water mixture on the faucet and let it sit for a few minutes, then I began scrubbing the crevices with a tooth brush to loosen up the hard water deposit.
 



 
This worked great! Most of it was coming loose so after scrubbing I rinsed it with hot water and this is what it looked like.
 
 
 
 
 
 
See, most of it came up with the vinegar water mixture but I had to try a second round to get the rest of it off.
 
This time after saturating the spots with the mixture I used a scouring pad and scrubbed the stubborn spots again.

 
You can see the soapy cleaner from where I scrubbed with the scouring pad.
 
I rinsed again with hot water then it was time to tackle the handle.
 

For this I used the Dry Erase cleaning pad.
(Which I LOVE and use all the time throughout the house!)
 
 
 


 
 
Here is the Before & After of the Sink Handle. You can really see a difference after using the Dry Erase cleaning pad.
 
 
 
 
 
Then after another round of rinsing with hot water and wiping down with paper towels it was done!
 
 The vinegar/water mixture helped loosen it up so in all it took about 15 minutes to make our faucet sparkle again!
 
 
 
 
 

 
Here is the Before and After of the back of the faucet.....WOW!

That's a BIG DIFFERENCE!
 
 
 


 
Pin It 
 
 
So now she's good to go for a while longer until we decide on which faucet to get.
 
Actually, we will probably put this on our list of things to do this fall, but until then at least it is not such an eye sore!
 
If you have hard water deposits and gunk like this around your faucet(s) I highly recommend using vinegar to remove it.
 
It is very effective AND is not harmful to the environment so its the perfect cleaner for this type of project.
 
 
 
Have you ever used vinegar to clean around the house? Any luck with it?
 
 
 
 
Jennifer
 
 
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17 comments:

  1. Thanks for making me feel guilty and inspiring me. I have been looking at my faucets - brushed nickel - and thinking I need to get to the gunk. I am going to use your methods and hope to be sparkling - tomorrow. After planting flowers, painting a chest, washing all the slipcovers, making 2 Get Well cards and going on a bike ride, I am just sitting and noodling on the computer. That's the guilty part I referred to. I really should get up and do it while my husband is making dinner.

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  2. Those sinks catch a lot of dirt and grime..no matter how much cleaning gets done those dang faucets get the dirt...I have found anold toothbrush is the magic trick to get into all of those nooks and crannies..lol...I keep one under the kitchen sink handy all the time...you did a great job..looks like new!

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  3. Thanks Symanthia! After this cleaning job we now also keep a toothbrush under the sink for quick touch ups!

    Art and Sand, I hope you are inspired. It only takes about 15 minutes.

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  4. Hi, I may have missed it, but what is the exact ratio of vinegar to water? And I assume it's the clear kind of vinegar? I have mineral deposits and will be moving out of my rental soon, and would like my deposit back. The sink is silver colored and there is this whitish color on the sink, making it look much less attractive.
    Siri

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  5. Siri, I used a mixture that was about 60-40 vinegar to water. I like it more concentrated so I used more vinegar. We have the white vinegar on hand so that is what I used.

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  6. What is a dry erase cleaning pad! Is that like a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser?

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  7. What an awesome tutorial. Thanks so much for the info, I need to remember to drag out the vinegar to help with my cleaning. Thanks also for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

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  8. What a difference! Looks great!

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  9. funny,I haven't thought to use vinegar here....I use it to clean the drains once a month (baking soda and vinegar) and I kill weeds with it, and I use it in place of fabric softener....but I didn't think it would work here.....I must go try that.....
    Nancy
    http://wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com

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  10. NIIIIIIIICE!!!! Your sink looks
    FAB!!!]
    You just pat yourself on the back for me.
    Keep ‘em coming… :)

    hugs xx
    Crystelle
    Crystelle Boutique

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  11. Love your tutorial! I also tried using vinegar ince, but wasn't enough... matbe give it a try your way this time.
    Maryall @ handmadebymaryall/

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  12. That made a huge difference! I could use that in my tub and sinks! Thanks for sharing it! If you're up to it I'd love to have you come share some of your talents with me at my linking party today called "Fidlin' Fridays" (Fidlers Under One Roof). Hope you'll stop by!

    http://www.fidlersunderoneroof.com

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  13. Wow, that is amazing! You tutorial is great. Thank you so much for sharing with us at A Bouquet of Talent this week. So thrilled to have you share with us. Happy Friday!!
    Hugs
    Kathy

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  14. Excellent tutorial. Your faucet looks great. I think I'll try your method.

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  15. I am so glad you're feeling better! Beautifully done - amazing transformation - I appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
    Kathy

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