We provide here a few helpful hints on installing and caring for our products.

Cleaning Ceramic Sinks

Cleaning is simple. A non-abrasive liquid or cream cleanser (Fairy Liquid or liquid Jif for example) will keep your ceramic sink spotless. Please do not use bleach or abrasive cleaners especially if you have fitted brass wastes as the plating will in time be worn away. Any really stubborn marks, such as aluminium marks from saucepans can be easily removed using Astonish paste available from us.

Cleaning Non Tarnish Brass Wastes and Taps

Our Non Tarnish Brass wastes are plated using Physical Vapour Disposition, a new form of plating process successfully used by the aircraft industry which transfers particles of titanium on top of the original brass body. By using the correct colour process, we can now produce PVD wastes that are an exact match for our Non Tarnish Brass taps. Water marks on taps can be wiped off using a slightly damp clean cloth and wastes can be cleaned using a mild solution of Fairy Liquid of Liquid Jif. Never use bleach or abrasive cleaners on NTB items.

Care of Hardwood Drainers

Click here for: Draining boards for Belfast Sinks.

Hardwood drainers must be properly oiled before use, following our instruction sheet supplied. The job is very easy to do and to apply the recommended three coats of Danish oil should not take more than 15 minutes or so. Avoid extremes of wet and dry-ness, for example do not leave soaking and never stand by a radiator or near an Aga. Be careful not to leave raw iron (such as the bottoms of Le Creuset pans) on the wood as these will leave blue stains. Due to the nature of the natural wood we are unable to guarantee these draining boards against warping, splitting or staining.

Installation and Fitting

All Fireclay sinks are handmade, and this means that the measurements as shown in our price lists and brochures may differ slightly -we allow a maximum tolerance of + or - 2%. This tolerance is very important when cabinetry is to be manufactured for any of our "Belfast" or "Farmhouse" type sinks, always design around your actual sink. The same advice goes for worktops - especially solid wood or granite. Make the work-top to the dimensions of your sink, this saves the expense of any adjustments on the final installation.

Classique and the County Collection sinks can be easily mounted in any work surface by simply preparing the cut out and slotting the sink in. The Belfast and French Farmhouse sinks may be inset, flush mounted or under mounted but will require some form of support - a simple wooden frame is usually the best solution.

Classique fireclay sinks are designed to accept monobloc taps and the fireclay rim is fitted with a semi-cut tablet designed to be punched out, using a centre punch, ballpein hammer and semi-circular file. The hole must be started using a centre punch striking down on the top surface. The ballpein hammer may be used to lightly strike the area thereby increasing the hole size, which has a maximum diameter of 35mm. Any rough edges may then be smoothed off using the file, however, this is a job best carried out by experts and we strongly recommend that we prepare the cut out (providing you nominate left or right hand drainer) for a nominal charge of £10.60 +VAT per sink. If fitting a Monobloc tap to the 4095 French Farmhouse Sink the cut out must be prepared by us.

Plumbing Fittings

All our sink wastes will accept standard plumbing fixtures, obtainable from any builders' merchant. We would recommend the white McAlpine telescopic units available from us, some of which have outlets for your dishwasher and washing machine.

And now an observation

If you are purchasing a ceramic sink it will have been made by an Englishman or a Frenchman - by hand - not by a robot. He will have packed his mould with Fireclay, let it dry, sponged and fettled it by hand, glazed it and finally baked it! No two sinks will ever be quite the same and they will all have their own minute 'quirks'. These are not faults, they are indicative of man-made ceramics. Quality control is our top priority, you may rest assured that we thoroughly examine every single ceramic sink before packing to ensure that you get the finest quality available.