Do NOT get a nickel anything drain! Common cleaning products like Barkeeper's Friend and other cleansers as well as bleach will permanently damage the finish! I went with a stainless steel Kohler DuoStrainer with my nickel faucets & soap dispensers. Personally, I think stainless steel is better than chrome, but YMMV.

The DuoStrainers, btw, are the best strainers I've ever had! The strainer basket is heavy duty and always stays open or closed, whatever I want. No leaking when closed, either. I actually used these instead of the strainers that came with my Ticor sink. (I also used the Kohler stainless steel "disposal flange with stopper" (#K-11352) instead of the one that came with my garbage disposal.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler DuoStrainer

Our Julien sink came with its own SS drain/strainer basket. Made us very happy (I think I had already read about BKF's incompatibility with SN).

When my parents had their kitchen "refreshed" a couple of years ago, their GC provided an Artisan sink. I told my parents to be sure to get the SS drain/strainer basket, and their GC happily complied.

Thanks so much Buehl and Cat Mom. The K-8801 is the exact strainer I'm buying. Glad to hear it works well. I thought about stainless steel, but would like it to match as close as possible. Do you think chrome will be a problem? Thanks!

I tremble to do so, but I am going to strongly disagree with buehl.

If I were you, I would not have done PN anything. I have it in my bathroom, and it is a serious PITA.

However.

I don't care what anybody says, yes, the PN clashes with chrome when they are right next to each other. Brown vs. blue. I have a drain that's part PN and part chrome, because RH sent a PN drain pipe that is illegally small in my state, so we had to do a last-minute switch out. When we take away the towels that usually hang over the console part of the sink, the drain yells, Hey! Look at me! I'm chrome!! By contrast, I also have a chrome vintage light fixture--you do not notice the difference at all, because they are far apart and the light fixture changes the way light falls on the metal.

That said, buehl is quite right about the challenges of cleaning PN. However, you're already stuck with that on your faucet. I find the drains, for no reason I can explain, do not look as nasty as the faucet even if they get stained or tarnished a bit. Perhaps because they always have water on them.

Thanks Marcydc and Marcolo. I hear you on the polished nickel. Since I chose granite instead of marble counters, ceramic instead of marble backsplash, medium instead of dark wood floors, I thought I should have at least one PITA material in the new kitchen.

I think I'll try the chrome drain since it is not right next to the faucet. If it's really horrible, I can always change it. Thanks everyone!

I chose a Rohl satin nickel strainer, because it was the closest match to my Grohe brushed stainless faucet. I use Barkeeper's Friend all the time.

marcydc - where did you get your strainer?

good reminder on cleaning the PN (or nickel anything drain). SS sounds much better to use. hope I don't forget that again!

I try to stay far away from polished anything - or chrome. prefer BN or SS myself.

SS thru and thru is always robust.
BN is always plated.

This is what happens when nickel (in this case, brushed) comes into contact with bleach:

This is in my powder room where I forgot to specify no nickel!

It's not the brown "shadows"....those large, brown, shadow-like splotches are actually shadows. It's the corroded spots you see along the inside edge of the drain. I thought I was so careful when I used a small funnel and tried to get bleach down the drain w/o touching the surrounding nickel...but when I came back a few hours later...I saw the damage and my heart sank!

It's not just cosmetic...it's actually pitted!

oh beuhl how sad!a bummer! I'll stick with SS in areas like that. weird thing is I came face to face with drain parts/screens the other day at Lowe's. I remember picking one up and looking at it - BN I think. I'll eventually need to buy a few of them but the other day i didn't even look to see what they had in SS. I didn't (and don't) know if there are different sizes (other than like for a small bathroom sink vs larger kitchen sink) or if brands are interchangeable etc. figured that be stuff to learn/check out down the road a few months.

but I'm paying attention now to this info! giving myself a head start on it.

I am a little disappointed with the PN on all my bathroom fixtures -- and thought about all the same things as the OP. As a result decided to get chrome for the sink faucet and drain. It is much brighter and cooler than the PN and at first I was really aware of it, having gotten used to the PN in the bathrooms. But I have gotten used to it and it looks fine now. (This is the Perrin & Rowe bridge faucet).To the OP, If you haven't already purchased the PN faucet you might want to think about going with chrome for everything in the kitchen.

Thank you everyone for your responses! Sayde, I already purchased the polished nickel faucet. I ordered it with the chrome drain. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

It's important to read the care instructions with any product. Rohl specifies to avoid all cleaning products that contain ammonia, bleach, and alcohol.

Sorry, that strainer I posted is Blanco (my sink is Franke). It's a new product so you may not find it online. A local kitchen store here was able to order it for me.

See link below - very last items.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blanco accessories

Rohl specifies to avoid all cleaning products that contain ammonia, bleach, and alcohol.

This continues to boggle my mind. I'd sure hate to think that if someone other than me cleaned my house that they could ruin a sink or drain. You get sick, someone gives you a cleaning service as a gift, and they ruin your kitchen... Alcohol? Pour out that glass of everclear and harm your sink?

Same could be said for just about anything. A lot of it is common sense and following instructions.

Does anyone know what the difference between the K8801 (Duostrainer) and the K8813 (Basic Strainer) from Kohler? The Duostrainer appears to have the ring with screws below to I guess hold it in place better. Is that the only difference or is there something else?

Also, Buehl, I don't see a K8801-SS option. There is a VS option which is vibrant stainless. Is that just plain, unplated stainless steel? Guess I would likely need to call and find out.
Thanks a lot,

Dan

The 8813 appears to be their basic strainer with a basic basket. The 8801 is an upgrade...at least from what I can tell.

If you're going to get the 8813 and you're also getting a Ticor sink, I recommend waiting until the sink arrives and comparing the included drain & strainer assembly to the 8813...which you can probably get at HD or Lowes. They may or may not be of the same quality.

Like I said, it's not that Ticor has a "bad" drain & strainer, it's that it's not as nice as the DuoStrainer. I figured if I was spending all this money on a remodel, I'd get a decent strainer as well. The DuoStrainer is very heavy-duty and works wonderfully well...no leaking, no jiggling to get it to seal, no having to put a bead of detergent around it make a seal, very easy to open to drain the sink, and it stays open or closed...no "slipping" into one or the other. (There are notches for both the "open" and "closed" positions that keep it in that position.)

Oh, and VS vs SS. I just looked at my order confirmation from FaucetDirect in April of 2008 and it just says "Stainless Steel". I don't know if it's the same as the "Vibrant SS" now or if it was different then. It's probably the same.

Thanks a lot for the info Buehl! Very much appreciated. I'll call Kohler to find out about the VS thing. I'm going to look at HD today at lunch to see what they have. I've got the Ticor sink at home. I'll also have to see what the strainers are like. It's been a while so I don't remember.

As far as i know,
"Stainless Steel" is pure stainless through and through, in the body of the metal.
"Vibrant SS" or any other adjective (or fancy name) is a PVD plating.

As far as i see,
drains get the worst possible conditions.
Even worse than sinks.
Or, as bad as the sink bottom gets.

Nota: There are no chrome plated sinks. There are no brushed nickel sinks.

--

As far as i know,
most drains bought and sold are not plated.
And none of the stainless drains.

As far as i know,
in terms of matchymatchiness, nobody ever notices that their drain assembly is pure stainless (when they have BN or chrome or something close to stainless)

As far as i know,
they never ship PVD stainless (fancy adjective in front of the word stainless) drains. Only "stainless" drains.

In general, I think drains ought not to be plated, because they get the worst conditions.
I'm eager to know what the guarantee is on plated kitchen drains.

In bathrooms, plated drains are normal. Chrome.

--

This information is provided in the spirit of sharing. I hope everyone takes it that way, permanently. Some people in GW's kitchen forum say at times that it sounds like males talk down to females. I don't think so, not a whit. When someone dumps a lot of information, it is not a bad thing. Be happy. When someone corrects buehl, it is OK too. We don't need to engage in self censorship just because it's buehl (a respected contributor). I seem to be the only one correcting buehl. I've done it before a couple times. Hey, shouldn't it be more normal? Side note over.

--

Hth.

I agree with you davidro1. I am hoping that the VS is not a plating. I don't see why good ol' stainless wouldn't be available in the Duostrainer when the basic basket strainer is stainless.

OK, just called and figured the results should be posted.

Basically, the 8801 is full brass construction and the 8801 has a stainless steel strainer. The VS (vibrant stainless) option on the 8801 is a finish and not real stainless. According to the CS rep, the 8801 is pricier due to the colour options. If one was just choosing chrome (only option on 8813) then the 8813 is the way to go (according to her).

Just picked up the 8801's last night and holy cow are they heavy duty. Made me feel great about spending $50 each for a basket stranier.