The Lemon Fool

Our kitchen sink is white stone effect, and we have a stain from tamarind paste. Any suggestions on how to remove it? Tried bleach and various cleaners, with no effect

bh

I'd look at the enzymes used in laundry - so either a biological prewash or just regular biological washing powder.

BellaHubby wrote:Our kitchen sink is white stone effect, and we have a stain from tamarind paste. Any suggestions on how to remove it? Tried bleach and various cleaners, with no effect

bh

I tried Vanish stain remover with no effect

bh

How about hand sanitiser or other strong alcohol such as a 20 year old single malt.
Of the things you have tried have you tried over extended periods in case it takes time to break the compounds down?

Dicky99 wrote:How about hand sanitiser or other strong alcohol such as a 20 year old single malt.
Of the things you have tried have you tried over extended periods in case it takes time to break the compounds down?

Single malt? No way!

Most things I have tried were for 3-4 hours with no noticeable effect

bh

My thought here is the same solvent as used in the paste.

Odds are it will be oil or vinegar, so try soaking the area in oil first or rubbing with olive oil on kitchen roll and seeing if anything happens.

Sadly it sounds as if the surface finish might have worn - best thing would be to find out what the sink is made of and then explore your options, some of the compsites can be sanded down unsing the sort of plastic renovator you use on can headlights (or toothpaste!) and repolished, others can't.

Paul

How about the oxy action in Sodium Percarbonate? Not used it on hard surfaces but it is good for stains on fabric. Easily available \,here's an example https://itsallabouteco.uk/green-cleanin ... leach-1kg/

DrFfybes wrote:My thought here is the same solvent as used in the paste.

Odds are it will be oil or vinegar, so try soaking the area in oil first or rubbing with olive oil on kitchen roll and seeing if anything happens.

Sadly it sounds as if the surface finish might have worn - best thing would be to find out what the sink is made of and then explore your options, some of the compsites can be sanded down unsing the sort of plastic renovator you use on can headlights (or toothpaste!) and repolished, others can't.

Paul

That's a good point. T-Cut may gently abrade the stain away while simultaneously polishing the surface. Would need to be tried first in a place that's not highly visible.

I was intrigued to read that tamarind is itself a pretty good cleaner, especially if you add salt. At your own risk. https://www.boldsky.com/home-n-garden/i ... 32137.html

I find bleach works best on a ceramic sink if it's the thick variety. Anything else doesn't stay around for long enough.

BJ

BellaHubby wrote:Our kitchen sink is white stone effect, and we have a stain from tamarind paste. Any suggestions on how to remove it? Tried bleach and various cleaners, with no effect.

No need to remove it.
It's what they call 'patina'

V8

I would have a go with a "magic eraser"

I think that was the original "Mr Clean" brand name for it but any of the expanded melamine foam sponge things seem to do the same kind of job; which is micro-abrade stains and marks that other things just skite over

Dicky99 wrote:T-Cut may gently abrade the stain away while simultaneously polishing the surface. Would need to be tried first in a place that's not highly visible.

Bar Keepers Friend might be a better option...

We have a Belfast sink that has got scratches on the surface and tends to discolour over a period of time. Particularly from curry and turmeric. I fill the sink with hot water to about 2 inchs depth. Put in a mug of bleach. Leave for an hour. Comes up sparkling white. Watch out if you have chromed sink plugs as they can be damaged by the bleach if left too long.

Hallucigenia wrote:
Bar Keepers Friend might be a better option...

It's great stuff. By far the best for cleaning stove glass, streets ahead of anything else I've tried.

Sodium bicarbonate - solubilises acidic stains, leave 10 minutes and scrub.

Hot vinegar - solubilises alkaline stains, leave 10 minutes and scrub.

Various oils, mineral and natural.

Bleach.

The stuff you use for cleaning the inside of the glass of enclosed fireplaces.

Plenty of boiling water.

A mixture of the above with plenty of swearing and praying.

Steve

PS Many years ago, I successfully used some diluted bleach to get a stubborn stain out of an expensive white cotton teeshirt. I then proceeded to learn the hard way that the same technique did not work with wollen jumpers!!

PPS Hot off the press advice: After buying a new battery chainsaw and liberally oiling the chain, do not try to see if it works while sitting next to a wall that your wife had freshly painted a few months ago.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

Sodium bicarbonate..... fail
Vinegar.....fail
Bleach.....fail
Enzyme-based biological soap powder.....fail
Vanish stain remover..... fail
Percarbonate of Soda Oxygen Bleach..... haven't tried it. Yet!
Olive oil.... fail

New sink..... seems like overkill
New wife.... won't fix the problem but might prevent a recurrence

bh

A way of getting curry stains and the like out of clothes is to hang them on the washing line and let sunlight do the work.

Maybe a bit impractical to get your sink outside in the sunshine, but maybe you could try simulating it with a UV light or something.

Scott.

Try lemon juice.
We usually soak in hot water with thick bleach to remove discolouration, but if that fails on specific stains, lemon juice usually does the job. Let it soak for a few hours, and top it up with more juice now and again.

--kiloran

kiloran wrote:Try lemon juice.
We usually soak in hot water with thick bleach to remove discolouration, but if that fails on specific stains, lemon juice usually does the job. Let it soak for a few hours, and top it up with more juice now and again.

--kiloran

If lemon juice works, it's because it's an acid. Just like Citric acid (coffee machine/kettle descaler) and Acetic acid (Vinegar).

However, it sounds like the sink material is a bit porous, so letting it soak for a few hours may do the trick.

If all else fails, well, an aerosol of white paint?


Steve

kiloran wrote:Try lemon juice.
We usually soak in hot water with thick bleach to remove discolouration, but if that fails on specific stains, lemon juice usually does the job. Let it soak for a few hours, and top it up with more juice now and again.

--kiloran

SUCCESS!!!!
I put some Jif lemon juice on the stain around 8pm, then another liberal squirt when we went to bed, woke up this morning and the stain has completely gone. Brilliant, many thanks.

I would have thought that the vinegar I previously tried would have done a similar job, but it had no effect.

Once again, many thanks, my wife is happy so I am happy

bh