Metal smell from new sink

I bought a new one and a half one while back. The small half sink has a very strong metal smell off it. If I leave a cloth steeping in it or rinse the cloth in it the smell gets into cloth, and then on my hands when I use cloth. It's driving me mad. It's not over powering, and there certainly could be worst smells in a kitchen, but does anyone know if it will go away eventually, or if I can do anything about it? It's a Franke, in case that's significant.

Thanks.

you really shouldn't get this from stainless steel, if it is stainless steel... this could be a residue from the manufacturing process, or a treatment applied in manufacturing like a lubricant from stamping or polishing compound. you should probably send an e-mail to the manufacturer. They can best advise.

Thanks for the advice. Glad to hear it's not normal. I've just emailed them.

I would say it is to do with the trap under neath or lack of one. I have fitted many franke sinks and this is the first i have heard of this problem

I cannot be residue as the sink woul be used for food preperation and the residue would be toxic so it would have to go through stringent cleaning. Makes sense

Hello, I have exactly the same problem
If I leave a brand new (or older) sponge cloth on our newish sink (now actually 7 months old) it gets this metallic smell that then sticks to our hands if we touch the cloth.
Did you find the cause? It drives me mad as I hate smells I can't explain.
Thanks

I noticed this recently and my investigations lead me to the dish-washer, a metallic smell with something musty underlying it is the best description I can manage.

I recently switched from using Finish Allin1 PowerBalls to Fairy Allin1 (on special offer, lol) and never had a problem up to that. I'll switch back at the week-end and see if there's a difference.

OK, I've switched back from Fairy Allin1to Finish Allin1 PowerBalls and done a few loads of dishes. The effect was immediate - I can confirm that these is no smell from sink (the usual bowl and a half setup) and no smell from dishwasher.

That's me finished (no pun intended) with the other dishwasher tablets.

Metallic/musty/bad smell from draining board

Ok I'm so glad I found this thread as I searched on the net for ages in the early months of this year looking for an answer but no joy.

I live in an apartment that's 2.5 yrs old. My draining board smells but not the half or the main sink. The problem started sometime I think between Jan and Mar and has remained. All my dishes smelt if left on the draining board for any significant time, ie over night/all day as did the sponge.

I used to use Fairy Antibacterial action (Eucalyptus) but when a few times I looked for it, it was out of stock so I changed to Fairy Scent Sensations (Apple) sometime at end last or start of this year and now to Fairy Original since April when the bottle was used up. The reason for the change from the apple is that smell on the draining board funny enough is similar but not quite the same, ie it's more metallic and musty. But the smell hasn't gone away with the usage of Fairy original.

In late Mar/April I invested in a dish drainer which has at least saved the dishes from smelling but the draining board still smells. I've tried everything from Milton to Mr.Muscle Lime & vinegar wipes to the Fairy Liquid to Dettol Multiaction (apple) to vinegar to bicarbonate to Cif original to now Domestos Bleach spray with no joy. It remains, though the Cif does kill the smell that bit longer - weird huh.

I also live in an average hardwater area (North Dublin) but always have so I'm used to the limescale issue. I have though noticed that the water stains the draining board more than in the parents house (most likely due to quality of draining board and sink which the developer installed than the water itself) but of late I have noticed some residue (brown or white) that stays in the draining board groves and it's darn hard to remove (a lot of scrubbing and with at times a now dedicated tooth brush) but I do eventually get rid of most of the stains. Not sure if this is a connected to the smell or not..

The make of the sink is Leisure and it seems to be Euroline http://www.leisuresinks.co.uk/euroline.html and stainless steel as far as I can make out, but I have been wondering if it is indeed stainless steel or a good quality sink. However that said I had no problems until first quarter and 2 years of living and using the sink and draining board.

Mathepac - are you sure it's the dishwasher tablets and the cause you found was the Fairy All in 1? Reason for question is that I've changed products a few times myself. Not dissing just curious.

Now for the record I hardly use the dishwasher unless doing a big clean or entertaining or want to give some dishes that extra bit of clean - eg get rid of the dreaded teastains that sometimes handwashing doesn't cut it no matter how hard you try. I live alone so there's not much point in using the dishwasher, but I used it quite a lot last year and early this year and the last usage was about 2 weeks ago.
I normally use Finish 4 in 1 (with the protective throwaway wrapper), Finish rinse Aid (currently the lemon), finish salt and Finish cleaner. Upto a year or latter half of year I used Finish 4 in 1, then I got a box that said Finish in Lidl but the wrapper said something like Calgonite on it - so same company, just a difference of origin.

During the spring (early March) I did a big spring clean (which would be the norm) and washed all the dishes and items in the presses and ran out of the tablets, so the parents gave me a few Finish they had to tide me over until I did a big shop. The type they sent me was I think Finish Max or similar - the one that has the dissolvable wrapper (and sold in a 2 for 1 deal within a plastic box rather than the standard cardboard. I still have 2 remaining but did in March buy Fairy All in 1 tablets as it was on a sale and cheaper than the finish and I'm trying like everyone to cut back a bit on a few costs. I have since used 2 of the fairy all in 1's. The remaining Finish in dissolvable wrapper are in the bag with the Fairy tablets and it's whatever I take out first I use but I have been using up mostly the Finish (had about 8 or so left when I bought the Fairy all in 1). I've not noticed a difference in the tablets to be honest.
I recently used Finish Intensive Clean & Care cleaner and the dishwasher doesn't smell but the draining board still does. All the Finish products are the standard fragrance except the rinse aid which is lemon.

To recap it's just the draining board that smells - not the main or half sink. I'm running out of options and it's been costly too as buying a few products that might help to kill the smell and sort out the problem. My last course of action (unless there is a solution out there that I don't know about) is to go back to the original Finish 4 in 1 and Fairy Antibacterial Action.

Anyone got any other solutions to the smelling draining board issue? Has anyone else used the same products and seen the same thing occuring or changed current product and got rid of the issue?

Just an update on this. I ran a few tests over the last week. I think I've got the problem of the smell on draining board licked.

I firstly used the Domestos Bleach spray with a bottle of Domestos Bleach Spray, a Killeen Spongella and some good old fashioned elbow grease. The Domestos did the job and killed any bactria and remaining smell.
I then resumed using normal Fairy original liquid for the dishes. But 4 days later the smell came back. So test 2 ran, with the spray and the Fairy Anti-bacterial liquid used instead. 5 days on and no nasty smell yet.

Seems also at least in my case, it was nothing to do with the products I used for the dishwasher. It was the change in washing up liquid from Fairy Anti-bacterial to another of their range, in the first place that was a contributing factor to the smell.

I'm back to using the Fairy anti-bacterial and also the Domestos bleach spray from now on for the clean down of surfaces as the old tag line on Domestos is "Kills all known germs.. Dead". Yes indeedy.
I still prefer Cif cream for the removal of stains and general cleaning but a tip I found the Mr Muscle Lime & Vinegar Wipes very good for cleaning the grease off the cooker, so found a use for the left over wipes!