Here is a link I tried to put in the above post

Here is a link that might be useful: Swanstone granite sinks

anyone ?

bump - still looking for input on this - thanks

I'm not sure this applies to the Swanstone sinks, but all of the 80% quartz sinks I have seen use acrylic as the bending agent. This is softer, more prone to scratching, and not as heat resistant as the epoxy used to bind the granite in the Blanco sinks. I couldn't find any info on the Swanstone site, but did find this warning:

Do Not Use:
Abrasive cleansers, abrasive scrub pads, or
alkali cleaners such as ammonia.

Sounds to me like it won't be very scratch resistant.

That should be BINDING agent, not bending agent.

berryberry-

The swanstone was not available when I was shopping. I looked at the link you posted, and I'd just say they look a bit too fussy with the curved back side. I think that will date a kitchen like crazy and would mean a whole new counter. My kitchen was aiming for a 1920s look and this wouldn't have worked in any case.

That's my sink, that's my sink! lol

I have that sink sitting in the box and it's beautiful. Of course I haven't had the opportunity to use it in the box but boy is it pretty.

I love the lines of it (but I love round edges on everything, I would live in a circular house if I could). The "ascend" part of it is really cool.

It looks really sturdy overall, I've had different tiles placed on it, rubbed across it and no scratches that I've noticed.

I have the granito color.

Swanstone used to be a thinner, slightly cheaper version of Corian. I wonder if their counters now contain stone, or if its just the sinks...

Thank you, Alice, for the heads up regarding binding agents: I'd always assumed all the '80%' stuff was the same. The warnings on cleaning are troublesome-- if you can't scour them, how are they going to stand up to a cast iron pan?-- but I think some of these apply to some stainless sinks as well. They don't want you to scour off the brushed finish, for instance.

It's so hard in the modern world to know which warnings to take seriously, and which are just 'CYA' stuff from the legal department.

There is little difference between Swanstone, Corian, Hi-Macs, etc., save for the vendor. DuPont has always charged a premium for their name (although unlike LG's Hi-Macs, an absolutely identical product to Corian, DuPont takes pride in its reputation and is known by installers to be an extremely easy company to deal with). Swanstone has a slightly higher melting point and comes in less colors, OTOH, the true Swanstone sinks come in all 38 colors, unlike Corian sinks which only come in a few colors.

Swanstone, however, veneers their kitchen counters over high-density particleboard. This was fine with us, I would never tolerate any cracks or unevenness in a solid surface product. I love that the seams are absolutely invisible, too.

The Granite sinks sold by Swanstone should not be confused with sinks made of the Swanstone solid surfacing product. They are two different animals. Swanstone brought the Granite models out to compete with Blanco, just as their Veritek product is offered as a cheaper alternative to Swanstone bathroom products.

Scouring on all of these types of sinks should always be done with low abrasive products, such as Softscrub or Bon Ami. Many an otherwise indestructible porcelain-clad cast iron sink has been ruined by scrubbing with high-abrasive cleansers such as Comet, et.al.

Thanks. We met with the first of 3 KD's last evening we are getting quotes from on our kitchen remodel. They recommended we shy away from the Swanstone sink because they said they haven't had great success (ie more porous and subsceptible to staining). however, I am wondering if they were confused and refering to the sinks made from the Swanstone surfacing product and not the Swanstone Granite models (which I believe are fairly new on the market)

I am not sure what your KDs are thinking of. We have owned Swanstone sinks for almost 20 years. The bathroom sinks are indestructible, and our kitchen sink, installed in 2003, has been a delight. It is quieter and frankly, easier to clean than the top-notch Kohler Executive Chef porcelain-clad cast iron sink that was replaced. Which, BTW, was in perfect condition when it was removed, despite hideously hard usage. Nonetheless, we were glad to replace the double EC with the single Swanstone.

Note that aluminum pans will leave the same "gray marks" on solid surfacing that they do on clad cast iron sinks. These scrub away very easily with Softscrub or a quick soak with a bit of bleach (but if you use bleach, ALWAYS rinse well after a few minutes - especially for clad cast iron; it will eat the coating away). As I said, the Swanstone solid surface sink cleans much, much easier than the Kohler.

You may believe whomever you wish, but my DH has often commented to me that the Swanstone sink was the best thing we did in a $26K updating of our kitchen and bathrooms.

One thing matte sinks are very bad with is leaving wet cans (we have to rinse cans before they can go into the recycling bins) overnight: they leave a rust stain that takes about a month to go away. Note that uncoated cast iron cookware would probably do the same thing. I don't clean the sink extensively more than once a month; it simply doesn't need it.

One either likes the matte finish of Swanstone/Corian or one doesn't. Many people like the high-gloss look and think solid surface sinks always look "dull". Our kitchen is extremely high-glare - I get sun in the windows 365 days a year, all 24' wide and 16' tall from picture windows, so we are very anti-glare.

Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.

The 'Granite/quartz' version is a new sink material for Swanstone. I also have been interested in this sink, for the past year, (the small undermount) and would love any response. Jenellecal, why did you purchase the 'granito' color? I would love to see a picture of it (even un-installed).

I've yet to see these sinks in real life.

bump

Does anyone have pictures or more information on Swanstone's granite sink?

That bit about the acrylic resin is particularly interesting.

I cannot purchase the black (Nero) Swanstone back "waved" undermount sink anywhere in the country. I've searched all the websites and even phoned Swanstone. They all are back ordered and the sink will not be available until mid April. So, after reading all the postings, should I simply go for the Blanco without the wonderful back wave? Are there any other wonderful sinks I should consider? My granite countertop man is waiting for the sink before he starts his cuts.

I love my Blanco Silgranit - it's very deep and wide. I got it in black a year ago and have never been so happy with a sink!

We installed our Swanstone low-divide granite sink several weeks ago, and I have been using it since we installed the faucet. It looks even better than I had envisioned (countertops are Paperstone in a dark green), and so far seems quite easy to keep clean. I have never liked stainless steel, and didn't want the upkeep (or color) on a white porcelain or similar sink. We had no trouble getting it through our favorite plumbing-supply place in the Seattle area, Morgans, which has been so helpful with suggestions and advice that paying a bit extra (compared to internet ordering) has definitely been worth it.

We have had our Swanstone double sink with low divide in Granito for nine years. It just now after lots of abuse and use gotten nicked my a knife