In 2005 I complained about my Astralux kitchen sink in my new house
and the hard job it is getting it clean, compared to stainless steel,
ceramic or enamel.

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner. This is a mildy abrasive paste in
a tub, not unlike the stuff I once used to lap in valves. But it is
the *first* cleaning product that actually works on the sink to remove
the really stubborn stains! I actually purchased the product for
cleaning stainless steel pots and pans, then I thought I'd just try a
little on the sink, with one of those rough scouring pads (not Brillo
pads!) and it's ruddy hard work, but there *is* a definite
improvement.

MM

On Jan 12, 7:00*pm, MM wrote:
In 2005 I complained about my Astralux kitchen sink in my new house
and the hard job it is getting it clean, compared to stainless steel,
ceramic or enamel.

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner. This is a mildy abrasive paste in
a tub, not unlike the stuff I once used to lap in valves. But it is
the *first* cleaning product that actually works on the sink to remove
the really stubborn stains! I actually purchased the product for
cleaning stainless steel pots and pans, then I thought I'd just try a
little on the sink, with one of those rough scouring pads (not Brillo
pads!) and it's ruddy hard work, but there *is* a definite
improvement.

MM

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...s#Coated_steel


NT

On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:00:48 -0000, MM wrote:

In 2005 I complained about my Astralux kitchen sink in my new house
and the hard job it is getting it clean, compared to stainless steel,
ceramic or enamel.

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner. This is a mildy abrasive paste in
a tub, not unlike the stuff I once used to lap in valves. But it is
the *first* cleaning product that actually works on the sink to remove
the really stubborn stains! I actually purchased the product for
cleaning stainless steel pots and pans, then I thought I'd just try a
little on the sink, with one of those rough scouring pads (not Brillo
pads!) and it's ruddy hard work, but there *is* a definite
improvement.

MM

Yes - it does help. But the seed with which it looks horrible again is a)
depressing; b) a reason to buy shares in Astonish.

--
Rod

On 12/01/2012 19:00, MM wrote:
In 2005 I complained about my Astralux kitchen sink in my new house
and the hard job it is getting it clean, compared to stainless steel,
ceramic or enamel.

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner. This is a mildy abrasive paste in
a tub, not unlike the stuff I once used to lap in valves. But it is
the *first* cleaning product that actually works on the sink to remove
the really stubborn stains! I actually purchased the product for
cleaning stainless steel pots and pans, then I thought I'd just try a
little on the sink, with one of those rough scouring pads (not Brillo
pads!) and it's ruddy hard work, but there *is* a definite
improvement.

MM

Try keeping a spray bottle of bleach or Dettox/Dettol handy for a daily
application. Kills the brown coffeee/tea type stains.

Dark scuffs from Aluminium (and other metal?) pans succumb to with
Caustic soda or Caustic Soda based oven sprays like Mr Muscle spray can.
(Al dissolves in Caustic Soda).

Seems to be all ours needs.

CK

On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:14:31 -0800 (PST), NT
wrote:

On Jan 12, 7:00*pm, MM wrote:
In 2005 I complained about my Astralux kitchen sink in my new house
and the hard job it is getting it clean, compared to stainless steel,
ceramic or enamel.

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner. This is a mildy abrasive paste in
a tub, not unlike the stuff I once used to lap in valves. But it is
the *first* cleaning product that actually works on the sink to remove
the really stubborn stains! I actually purchased the product for
cleaning stainless steel pots and pans, then I thought I'd just try a
little on the sink, with one of those rough scouring pads (not Brillo
pads!) and it's ruddy hard work, but there *is* a definite
improvement.

MM

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...s#Coated_steel

Interesting. Bleach, however, made no impact whatsoever. I tried
liberally coating the horizontal 'draining board' section and leaving
it for a few hours. Stains still there. The stains are usually minute
brown flecks, almost like rust spots. The paste gets rid of them,
though! But you have to rub REALLY hard!

As for the 'biological washing powder paste' suggestion, now that is a
new one on me and could well work. I'll give it a go.

The basic problem is the ruddy material! Half the houses in our road
have replaced their sinks with stainless steel or ceramic ones, these
Astralux ones are SO crap.

MM

On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:44:12 +0000, Chris K
wrote:

On 12/01/2012 19:00, MM wrote:
In 2005 I complained about my Astralux kitchen sink in my new house
and the hard job it is getting it clean, compared to stainless steel,
ceramic or enamel.

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner. This is a mildy abrasive paste in
a tub, not unlike the stuff I once used to lap in valves. But it is
the *first* cleaning product that actually works on the sink to remove
the really stubborn stains! I actually purchased the product for
cleaning stainless steel pots and pans, then I thought I'd just try a
little on the sink, with one of those rough scouring pads (not Brillo
pads!) and it's ruddy hard work, but there *is* a definite
improvement.

MM

Try keeping a spray bottle of bleach or Dettox/Dettol handy for a daily
application. Kills the brown coffeee/tea type stains.

Dark scuffs from Aluminium (and other metal?) pans succumb to with
Caustic soda or Caustic Soda based oven sprays like Mr Muscle spray can.
(Al dissolves in Caustic Soda).

Seems to be all ours needs.

CK

I haven't tried the caustic soda approach, either. But I will, thanks!

MM

On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:00:48 +0000, MM wrote:

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner.

Hardly "new" - it was a recommended cleaner for my now five year old
Bosch ceramic hob. :-)

--
Frank Erskine

On Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:20:20 +0000, Frank Erskine
wrote:

On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:00:48 +0000, MM wrote:

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner.

Hardly "new" - it was a recommended cleaner for my now five year old
Bosch ceramic hob. :-)

New to me, though! I only happened on it by chance. (I was actually
looking for something completely different.)

MM

On Jan 13, 7:39*am, MM wrote:
On Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:14:31 -0800 (PST), NT
wrote:



On Jan 12, 7:00*pm, MM wrote:
In 2005 I complained about my Astralux kitchen sink in my new house
and the hard job it is getting it clean, compared to stainless steel,
ceramic or enamel.

On Saturday I happened to see a new product in Wilkinson called
Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner. This is a mildy abrasive paste in
a tub, not unlike the stuff I once used to lap in valves. But it is
the *first* cleaning product that actually works on the sink to remove
the really stubborn stains! I actually purchased the product for
cleaning stainless steel pots and pans, then I thought I'd just try a
little on the sink, with one of those rough scouring pads (not Brillo
pads!) and it's ruddy hard work, but there *is* a definite
improvement.

MM

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...s#Coated_steel

Interesting. Bleach, however, made no impact whatsoever. I tried
liberally coating the horizontal 'draining board' section and leaving
it for a few hours. Stains still there. The stains are usually minute
brown flecks, almost like rust spots. The paste gets rid of them,
though! But you have to rub REALLY hard!

As for the 'biological washing powder paste' suggestion, now that is a
new one on me and could well work. I'll give it a go.

The basic problem is the ruddy material! Half the houses in our road
have replaced their sinks with stainless steel or ceramic ones, these
Astralux ones are SO crap.

MM

A lor of people say that. But once you get it clean and then use the
right chemicals, they're actually not hard to keep clean.

I would definitely caution against _any_ rubbing really hard. Astralux
is plastic coated steel, plastics are fairly soft, and anything other
than gentle treatment roughens the surface, making it harder to clean.
You need to rely entirely on getting the rigiht chemical for whatever
the dirt is.


NT

In article ,
MM writes:

Interesting. Bleach, however, made no impact whatsoever. I tried

Bleach is useless as a cleaner (usually it looks like it worked
because it took the colour out of the dirt, but it has no dirt-lifting
properties). It's also good at damaging many materials over time.

Dishwasher detergent (powder or cream, not tablets) is very effective
at cleaning kitchen sinks, and very easy, but keep away from aluminium.
Clothes washing detergent (again, powder or cream) can also work well.

The basic problem is the ruddy material! Half the houses in our road
have replaced their sinks with stainless steel or ceramic ones, these
Astralux ones are SO crap.

I've never used one, but it may be that some inappropriate cleaning
at some point has made the surface more susceptable to dirt sticking.
That's common with many finishes, which are often not as bullet-
proof as they might at first appear.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
MM writes:

Interesting. Bleach, however, made no impact whatsoever. I tried

Bleach is useless as a cleaner (usually it looks like it worked
because it took the colour out of the dirt, but it has no dirt-lifting
properties). It's also good at damaging many materials over time.

Dishwasher detergent (powder or cream, not tablets) is very effective
at cleaning kitchen sinks, and very easy,


and bleach is the active ingredient.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.16

On Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:51:56 -0000, Andrew Gabriel
wrote:

In article ,
MM writes:

Interesting. Bleach, however, made no impact whatsoever. I tried

Bleach is useless as a cleaner (usually it looks like it worked
because it took the colour out of the dirt, but it has no dirt-lifting
properties). It's also good at damaging many materials over time.

Dishwasher detergent (powder or cream, not tablets) is very effective
at cleaning kitchen sinks, and very easy, but keep away from aluminium.
Clothes washing detergent (again, powder or cream) can also work well.

The basic problem is the ruddy material! Half the houses in our road
have replaced their sinks with stainless steel or ceramic ones, these
Astralux ones are SO crap.

I've never used one, but it may be that some inappropriate cleaning
at some point has made the surface more susceptable to dirt sticking.
That's common with many finishes, which are often not as bullet-
proof as they might at first appear.

Agreed about inappropriate cleaning - but if that is where you have ended
up, what can you do? Is there any possible re-finish technique?

And the inappropriate technique is very likely to have been used when
ordinary things seemed not to work.

--
Rod

On Jan 14, 11:13*am, polygonum wrote:
On Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:51:56 -0000, Andrew Gabriel



wrote:
In article ,
* *MM writes:

Interesting. Bleach, however, made no impact whatsoever. I tried

Bleach is useless as a cleaner (usually it looks like it worked
because it took the colour out of the dirt, but it has no dirt-lifting
properties). It's also good at damaging many materials over time.

Dishwasher detergent (powder or cream, not tablets) is very effective
at cleaning kitchen sinks, and very easy, but keep away from aluminium.
Clothes washing detergent (again, powder or cream) can also work well.

The basic problem is the ruddy material! Half the houses in our road
have replaced their sinks with stainless steel or ceramic ones, these
Astralux ones are SO crap.

I've never used one, but it may be that some inappropriate cleaning
at some point has made the surface more susceptable to dirt sticking.
That's common with many finishes, which are often not as bullet-
proof as they might at first appear.

Agreed about inappropriate cleaning - but if that is where you have ended
up, what can you do? Is there any possible re-finish technique?

And the inappropriate technique is very likely to have been used when
ordinary things seemed not to work.

With Astralux its just a matter of using the right ordinary things.
Its fussy.


NT