Silver polish (Tarn-X) stained my stainless steel sink

A. Hi Lc. People have been offering their solutions to that problem on this page for 17 years now: Start simple with toothpaste; if it doesn't seem to be working at all, then move on to a cleaner like Barkeepers Friend [on eBay or Amazon], and if that's still not enough you'll need an abrasive kit like Scratch-B-Gone [a finishing.com supporting advertiser].

Luck & Regards,

A. I too spilled and left the rag of TarnX on my stainless steel sink. It sat on there for at least 24 hrs. I washed the sink with Bar Keepers and it didn't come off. That is when I googled it and came to this site. I tried the toothpaste and nothing. Then I remembered my fav ... Cameo [on eBay or Amazon] sold at Walmart. Came off great! It is really the best cleaner for stainless ... it just got pushed to the back of the cabinet. It is now in front!

A. So the common thread here for all the products mentioned (yes, even toothpaste) is the presence of abrasives.

When we talk about stains on non-porous materials, sometimes it's a residue sitting on top of the surface that can be "cleaned" off, but more often we are talking about something that etched or ate into the surface, creating an area that is less smooth than the original surface. That's something you can only fix by polishing (a wood carpenter would call it "sanding") it smooth again.

As with wood and sandpaper, metal polishes exist in different grit sizes, though of course commercial products tend not to indicate what grit size they contain, other than a few kits which explicitly contain multiple grit sizes.

If one abrasive "works" while another does not, it is likely that either 1) the one that didn't work was too small a grit size and used for an insufficient amount of time, or 2) the one that didn't work was a material of lower hardness than the surface you were using it on, and therefore unable to scratch it.

adv.
BarrysRestoreItAll manufactures an easy to use kit, called Scratch-B-Gone for the remediation of Stainless steel and quick removal of scratch, stain, chemical burn and rust from all surfaces of real Stainless steel appliances, sinks, and grills. Give us a call, No Worries...

The product worked! Thank you so much.

A. I too got Tarn-x on my new kitchen sinks. After coming to this site, I remembered that to sell my other house, I used car polish to clean and polish the old sinks. I signed off and tried it. It took three applications, but there are no remaining black marks. I had used Meguiar's All Metal Polish [affil links] at the old house. Today, I used some polish my friend put in a bottle for me last year, so, sorry about not knowing the name. Put some on a rag and rub hard. Let it dry and rub hard again. Repeat until gone. Your rag turns black and your sinks return to their original color. My sink seemed to have deeper brush groves around the top and that area took the most rubbing -- but all the stains came off.

A. Hi, Rita. As you see, we added your posting to a thread that already addresses this subject and offers potential solutions.
Hopefully other readers will avoid problems by recognizing that silver polish can stain stainless steel. Good luck.
Regards,

A. After reading all the advice about cleaning my Tarn-x stain in my stainless steel, I got home and wiped the sink with Barkeepers Friend and to my surprise I was able to get rid of the stain 98%. You can hardly see the mess that I had. So, thanks to everyone who told me about the Barkeeper's friend; it's just too bad this product is not easily available in Montreal. I was lucky that I had bought some in Florida last time I was there; this product is great and I'll be cleaning my stainless sink with it from now on.
Once again, thanks.

A. Hi Pal. I'd assume it's available at some supermarkets and hardware stores, and there's always Amazon [as an Amazon Associate finishing.com earns from qualifying purchases].

Regards,

A. Hi Lawrence, sorry for your troubles, but "patches of greenish-darkened" and "copper-colored" and "one metal plated over another?" don't sound at all like typical observations of stainless steel behavior. Why do you believe the set is stainless steel -- does it say so? It sounds like maybe it was silver plated and Weiman silver polish was appropriate. I hate to mention this while you're still suffering the loss of a wedding gift, but for the plating to wear away is unfortunately a very normal thing if you are talking about something old :-(

Regards,

A. Hi again Lawrence. Stainless steel is rarely plated, especially for serving sets. Rather, it's the same material through and through (an alloy of steel, chromium, sometimes nickel, plus very small amounts of other stuff).

What you are describing sounds like the set is made of brass or steel and was nickel and chromium plated. I'm surprised that silver polish would destroy the plating that way -- but I guess it did, exposing at least patches of brass or an underlayer of copper plating. It can be replated, but perhaps not affordably. Replacement would probably be cheaper.

Regards,

A. For anyone who has stained their sink with the silver cleaner tarn-x, a product called Barkeepers Friend [on eBay or Amazon] will remove the stain! My sink was 2 weeks old and I tried lemon juice and baking soda and white vinegar. Those worked a little with two hours of scrubbing. I ordered Barkeepers Friend on Amazon and used it on the stain. It took the whole stain out. If you are searching the web for any cleaner that really works on a stainless steel sink, this is it. Remember to always rub in the direction of the grain. I used a soft cloth to run the cleaner in. I used the powder formula. Hope this helps. There's hope!

A. To Alex Fulton's question:

Not sure if I have the same thing, but from your photo it looks very similar. I also am not sure how mine came about, but what worked for me was toothpaste! I left a reasonably thick layer on for 5-10 minutes then used a 'stainless steel scourer, and scrubbed scrubbed it all off!

Hope that helps you out!

  Thank you so much! My nephew was using Tarn-x and spilled it down the front of my stainless steel dishwasher front creating long black drip marks. It about killed me to see it. I did not want to mention it to him because he was living with me after losing his home to the fire storm this past Fall in California. I used my Barkeeper's Friend liquid soft cleanser [on eBay or Amazon] and scrubbed like crazy and it came off! BKF saved the day!

A. Hi Denny. Courtesy of Horizons for the Blind, the Tarn-X directions are available at
http://www.directionsforme.org/item/15797
https://web.archive.org/web/20180719082754/http://www.directionsforme.org/item/15797

Regards,

A. Hi Joanne. If a mild polish is unable to remove the discoloration, you may need an abrasive kit like Scratch-B-Gone [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] (see topic 24168 for example), but blending scratches is harder work to do right than trying Barkeeper's Friend, rubbing in the direction of the grain, as Danna H. suggests above. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Sharon. All manufacturers seem to do this to us: as soon as one of their trade names becomes successful they slap it onto every product they make :-(

But people are talking about the powdered cleanser polisher, and the container even says "Stainless Steel" up near the top (at least here in America).

Regards,

A. Another product that I use to polish my sink (as well as cleaning toilets, tubs, showers stalls, glass top stove tops, cast iron stove grates and grill racks, white sneaker soles,) is Bon Ami. I believe it is similar to Barkeepers Friend )

A. Same thing happened to me. Was cleaning silverware in stainless steel sink (only two months old!) and rinsed to find hideous stains on sink. Tried stainless steel cleaner, household cleaners. Nothing worked. Don't know what made me try TOOTHPASTE, except that I've used it on jewelry in the past. Worked like a charm. Made have to apply it a couple of times and rub it in, but it really works!