Sounds like we have to know our tendencies. If you know you won't spend a few minutes polishing the nickel finish, then get chrome. For me, the minimal effort to keep the bathroom polished nickel fixtures looking good is well worth it. Polished nickel has a warmth that is just not there with chrome. To each his own, as they say.

Is chrome the only alternative if you don't want to have to polish it? Do you have to polish satin or brushed finishes?

I found this site searching for info on PN that was tarnishing. I have it in my master and after two years it began to tarnish. I love the look and it is very different from chrome but what do you use to polish it?

gnk6,
Thanks for bumping this up again.
I don't have PN, yet. Customer Service at Rohl told me to use "any good metal polish" and then made a suggestion, but I forgot the name, sorry.

Can you tell me the brand name of your fixtures, and if everything is tarnishing (shower, faucet, towel bars, etc.)?

Mine are Grohe. Everything within the shower is tarnishing. The faucets on the sink, tp holder etc are not. Which leads me to believe that the problem may indeed be with the hardness of the water. I still like the look of it over chrome, much richer look. It's worth the polishing I think.

gnk6, Thanks for responding so quickly!

cheri127, Did you ever polish your PN fixtures that were tarnished? Would like to know what you used.

Hi,
I have a pair of Kohler Vinatta faucets in polished nickel. The Kohler finish, at least, does not show any signs of tarnish.
A good polish for nickel as I understand it is "Wenol". Another possibility is one called "simichrome". Do not under any circumstances use Brasso!
HTH
Casey

sombreuil_mongrel,

Thanks for the caveat, "Do NOT under any circumstances use Brasso!"
I remember now, Simichrome is one Rohl recommended.

I use Wenol Ultra Soft (the blue tube) on my polished nickel faucets, and it's gorgeously easy.

(Other fabulous uses for Wenol: getting the scratches out of porcelain coated bathtubs and sinks, and polishing up scratched dinner plates.)

The red tube -- slightly more abrasive -- is great, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wenol Blue

Gosh, I guess I've just been lucky so far.

To answer the original question, I have a polished nickel faucet and a stainless steel prep sink, and they go beautifully together.

That faucet is an Herbeau, and not a spot of tarnish over two years. The main sink faucet is a Barber Wilsons, and I do have one spot of tarnish on it that I need to take care of eventually, it's not the end of the world. It's clear that something got on it and tarnished it. Who knows what. The rest of is like new. But I do wipe it down as I wipe down counters etc. My master bathroom has Barber Wilson's plumbing fixtures and Waterworks accessories. All polished nickel. All like new, not one spot of tarnish. I admit to having to rub the exposed shower system a bit more than the others to get water spots off, but that's it. They're exquisite.

I'm one of those who can absolutely tell the difference between nickel and chrome, without their being next to each other. If you love it that much, then it's worth a little extra effort (a very little in my case, so far). I have chrome in son's bathroom, powder room (Dornbracht, expensive enough in chrome). But in the kitchen and my personal haven, I've got polished nickel, because it feeds my aesthetic senses.

Ivette

What about using these cleaners when you also have marble in the bathroom and on the vanity? Is Zud, or Wenol or simichrome ok for the marble?

What about using these cleaners when you also have marble in the bathroom and on the vanity? Is Zud, or Wenol or simichrome ok for the marble?

I absolutely love the deep warm shine of polished nickel. It looks very different from polished chrome which is colder in appearance. It's quite easy to see the difference. It's very elegant and upscale and, yes, costs more than chrome.

For those of you with tarnishing issues what you have is called a "living finish". It tarnishes which is a feature some people like. I am not one of them - I want easy as well as beautiful!

If you want easy-care non-tarnish PN then BE SURE it has a PVD finish. I have faucets and all the matching accessories in my master bath and they look like the day they were installed (2 yrs ago). They are simply wiped with mild soap and water. That's it! This is a finish that SHOULD NOT be cleaned with any type of abrasive or polish. Hope this helps!

Has anybody had issues with the Rohl country polished nickel finish who has actually used Rohl's cleanser and polish regularly?

Bump

I know this is an old thread, however, I see some are occasionally bumping this one up. I've got some good word on a polished nickel kitchen faucet I've had for 5 years and it never tarnished! It's a Kohler brand Vinnata high-arched pull-out kitchen faucet. I had the soap dispenser and the tiny mini version of that faucet for filtered water, all in nickel finish. They were hard to find, and had to order from several different suppliers, but it was worth it! I picked nickel because of it's warmer tone than chrome, and knowing that it tarnishes, I was surprised that the Kohler literature said it uses a 'special non-tarnishing nickel finish'. It looked awesome with an off-white (almond) cast iron Kohler sink and black-brown 'Labrador' color granite.

I signed up to this thread only because I was searching for more info on the nickel plating process Kohler uses because I have tarnished old collectible bicycle parts that need re-nickel plating, and I would love to find someone that can apply their non-tarnishing finish! It's gorgeous! If anyone knows about that I'd greatly appreciate it ;-) ! I think I'll call them...

BTW, in the 'care and cleaning' section of Kohler's instructions, they list a few gentle cleaners for their nickel finish, one of which was 'original Windex'. Then they go on to say 'don't use anything with ammonia'. I did very well using Windex and a micro-fiber cloth. No scratches, and absolutely NO tarnishing, in 5 years! Also, those Kohler products are about the best quality faucets/valves I've seen and I've been in the plumbing industry for years. I have no affiliation with them, I just know how frustrating it is to pay good $$ for a nice faucet only to have the valve start dripping after a few years - that sucks!

I have had my Belle Foret polished nickel faucets for over three years now and love them. They were far less expensive than similar ones from Pottery Barn which were almost $500 each - the Belle Forets were $220! The lines are classic, and the operation has been flawless, not a single leak, and they feel heavy and substantial and look great with my pottery barn vanity,

http://www.squidoo.com/pottery-barn-style-bathroom-vanity

Here is a link that might be useful: Polished Nickel Bathroom Faucets

I realize this is a very old post but for those considering Polished Nickel fixtures check out Pfister products as they guaranty their faucets, etc. for life. That said; also shall add when comparing my Pfister faucets to my shower stall components and those on the vanity hardware for example ; the finish of Pfister's is the BEST as I find they do not overly spot (no more than polished chrome would) and take very little maintenance.

Footnote: I am definitely not a spokesperson for the Company.

Along these lines, can anyone tell me if wine will stain polished nickel? I had a wine bottle explosion last night and thought I had cleaned it up (it was all over my brand new white cabinets and backsplash). But this morning I awoke to find one side of my Rohl polished nickel faucet spotted. I think it must be the wine but no matter how hard I scrub, it looks the same. Help! I love this faucet so much.

Old post, does anyone have updated info on their polished nickel kitchen faucet maintenance? I am considering the Rohl country faucet but this thread makes me worry. I don't mind polishing monthly etc but how will they look in 10 years? If I get 2 sink faucets and a pot filler, I'm looking at over $1500...

I have a friend with Rohl faucets in polished nickel in her master bath and she hates them as they must be polished. She paid a LOT of money for these!

I have polished nickel faucets in my master bath - they were from Signature Hardware in N KY (right outside of Cincinnati). I put them in about 5-7 years ago, and they are flawless! I've never had to do anything other than wipe them down with a damp microfiber cloth when the cleaning lady comes every two weeks. I LOVE them!

I would be leary of Rhol in polish nickel. I do have a Perrin & Rowe faucet in my kitchen sink that is SATIN nickel - it was put in about 14 years ago and it's in perfect shape. P&R is a subsidiary of Rohl.

I have a Danze polished nickel kitchen faucet and have no problem with keeping it looking nice. I've had it 18 months.

I have a good bit of polished nickel. I keep spritzer bottles filled with isopropyl alcohol. I spray the alcohol on a soft cloth and wipe the fixture. It was recommended by the manufacturer of my kitchen faucet. Takes no time. Keeps it clean and sparkly.

Anyone have a Waterstone or Perrin Rowe PN faucet that can share their experience with tarnishing or spotting?? I Love both and am considering for our new build but don’t want to spend thousands and them be disappointed.

Trudy, Which did you decide on? I’ve been going back and forth on the Perrin & Rowe Georgian era faucet in PN vs Satin English Gold. We stayed away from the “living finish” options just bc we prefer a cleaner look, but then I read the PN also gets spotty. Seems like it’s a matter of monthly maintenance to keep these in pristine shape? We are outfitting the whole kitchen (faucet, pot filler, beverage faucet) so it’s a big investment. Just wondering how the finished wear over time.

I've found this very old thread fascinating! I was planning to buy a Rohl Graceline ior Campo n PN tomorrow! But now I'm having second thoughts. There are 2 pieces of info about this faucet that i haven't been able to find. 1) Is the PN finish PVD or electroplate? 2) Where is this model made? I understand that Rohl mostly just buys other manufacturers standard models to sell as the exclusive US distributor. Some of these manufacturers are in Italy and New Zealand, and some other places that i can't recall. I had my heart set on PN but now I'm really spooked.

@fatcatz I commented on this thread years ago and said I wouldn't do PN again. Well, guess what? I have used it multiple times since and am contemplating using it for my new kitchen. LOL. I just love it!!! I guess I learned to live with a living finish.

So how is it living with your living finish? Is it in the kitchen or bath?

We moved from that house two years ago but lived with those fixtures for 20 years. It was in the bath and was fine. Having said that, it was a 100+ year old house that was loaded with "patina"! We have PN fixtures at our new beach house (5 years old) by California Faucets. I find I don't like how the shower fixtures have water spots. The vanity fixtures still look good as do the kitchen faucets. We also have Top Knobs cabinet pulls in both the bath and kitchen and they're good too.

My recollection is that PN is a special order from Rohl because they "plate to order" for certain finishes. I was just looking at the Graceline faucet myself. Can't decide between stainless steel, which Rohl doesn't do, or polished nickel. Why do we worry about this nonsense so much???? LOL

It's crazy! Trying to find something with a style that you like, that's good quality and reliable isn't as easy as it sounds! My husband would just go into Home Depot and pick up a faucet with no research whatsoever. And it'd probably end up fine!

There are a couple of Rohl faucets that I love, and I really want polished nickel (with a PVD finish) but i've read many bad reviews of Rohl's PN finish that it scared me off. :( One reviewer said that the reason that Rohl plates-to-order is because they tarnish so quickly. Who knows if that's true, but still...

Thanks for all the info.

Actually that was my understanding too about Rohl. All polished nickel tarnishes unless it's PVD. Have you looked at California Faucets? i have PN bathroom and kitchen fixtures at the beach. The shower stuff isn't great but the kitchen faucets are fine. Go figure.

I believe that Hansgrohe has polished nickel faucets which are PVD

There's a Hansgrohe facuet that I like, and also an Axor. I'd never heard of Axor, but it's made by Hansgrohe (like Delta makes Brizo). Cal. Faucets are really beautiful, but more than I want to spend. Also, I need the faucet this week and last time I checked there was a 6-12 week wait for CF.

What’s your budget @fatcatz?

One thing to consider on the Hansgrohe and Axor is that they have a laminar flow, not an aerator. Some people find that they splash too much as a result (per reviews on Build.com). In my last house, I had a Hansgrohe Talis in polished nickel and I LOVED it. If it was laminar flow, I didn't notice but I don't think it was. Can't say for sure, though. It was 12 years old when we moved and still looked and performed great. I tried to see one live at Ferguson's recently but they didn't have one hooked up.

That's an excellent point, THANK YOU! I figured that "laminar" and "needle" spray were the same as a regular stream of water vs spray. I'll have to look into "laminar"...

I did some reading about laminar flow, and you can actually add something to the faucet to make it aerated if you prefer. SO helpful, thank you @cheri127 - what are you putting in your new kitchen?

I LOVE my polished nickel faucet!! Love the warm tone.

@Sally T That is the million dollar question. I still don't know. I want a square spout so I'm looking at Brizo Odin, California Faucets Descano Quad and Rohl. I considered Grohe Minta but it's only chrome and stainless and not aerated. I'm leaning toward polished nickel but I'm waiting until I get my coutertops installed before I decide. The only stainless finish I like is Axor but they don't do a pulldown with a square spout and there's laminar flow thing. I don't know if it would be a problem for me or not...a friend has it and hates it. I considered Waterstone but I think the cost is absurd, plus people complain that the spray head gets too hot. The Fulton is a thing of beauty though. The hand wringing will continue for another couple of weeks!

@cheri127 - i love your countertops! Polished nickel would look gorgeous. If you really want the Grohe Minta (which is gorgeous) I found this tool on Amazon that converts the flow to aerated. I'm going to Ferguson/Build this week to check out faucets in person and can report back about laminar vs. aerated.

Learned something interesting today about PN - I just received a reply from Hansgrohe about a question on the AXOR faucet finish. The Polished Nickel PVD finish is not, in fact, nickel with a PVD coating It's chrome with nickel colored PVD! For $1000 it didn't occur to me that it wouldn't be nickel!

Very surprising (to me) and disappointing. On the bright side, no worry about tarnishing,. Now I have to check the finish on other faucets. I don't know how you're allowed to call a finish "Polished Nickel" if it isn't? You'd think that legally it would have to be called "PN colored". :(

Wow! That's very interesting! I wonder if all of the PVD finishes are like that. Maybe that's why they all look so much yellower at the showroom than I remember.

I have to clarify the PVD finish. After I posted i thought about it some more. Maybe there is actual nickel molecules (?) in the PVD particles that bond to the surface. I'm not sure. But it isn't what i thought which was a layer of nickel and overlaid with PVD. Sometimes there's just too much information and down the rabbit hole we go!.

There are no nickel molecules. There are a limited number of metals that can be used for the PVD process and it seems the major one is titanium. It's a totally different process from traditional metal plating and contains none of the metals it's mimicking. I'm astonished that these finishes are being marketed as superior. They may not tarnish or scratch but they aren't the genuine metal either.

I'm really surprised too. They should be called "nickel toned" or something. Like inexpensive jewelry is "gold-toned" or has "diamond like sparkle." It's really misleading, and I don't think even the sales people understand this.

i was able to test drive a Hansgrohe faucet at a local kitchen showroom and loved the faucet flow - pics attached

Interesting. That doesn't look splashy but having said that the stream isn't hitting the bottom of a 9" deep sink. Hmmmmmmmm. I love the spray!

I just received the Brizo Odin in PN. The finish looks very nice but I'm worried about the spray. The Brizo I tried in the showroom (not Odin) and my mother's Delta both had sprays that were too strong and needle like.

@fatcatz, I don't know if you like Traditional style, but I am about to buy Moen's Weymouth

Single Handle Pull Down Spray faucet in polished nickel. I've been researching for a few days and came across an article from Starcraft Builders saying Moen's Polished Chrome, Polished Nickel, Polished Brass, Brushed Gold, Brushed Nickel, and Classic Stainless finishes are PVD. The remaining finishes are either Powder Coat or Electroplate. It's a great article, really goes in depth on the PVD process. Echoed your point about not always being the metal used in the PVD process. That being said, in reading the section on Electroplating, taken from the article:

"Undercoats of copper, zinc, or nickel usually precede the final decorative coating.

The undercoats have two purposes.

Some metals, chrome being one, do not adhere very well to naked brass. One or more nickel undercoats are usually used before the chrome is applied so the finish does not flake or peel.

If finishing a zinc component, undercoats of copper then nickel are commonly used. The copper sticks well to zinc, nickel adheres tightly to copper, and chrome bonds securely to nickel.

Undercoats also help smooth out any small imperfections in the faucet material. It is not uncommon for faucets to be electroplated with nickel and chrome and then highly polished before a final PVD coating is applied. This process eliminates any potential flaws in the surface so they don't show up in the final PVD finish." Link to the article follows, below. Very high marks for customer service, Starcraft actually ranks Moen's customer service #1 in North America. http://www.starcraftcustombuilders.com/sources.faucets.Moen.htm

interesting! Learn something every day! Thanks. :)

And just to clarify, Perrin and Rowe is not a subsidiary of Rohl. Rohl is the importer/distributor, and also owns a 50% stake. Perrin and Rowe operates as a separate company, manufactures in England, and I wouldn't assume that any finish issues with products under the Rohl label would apply to Perrin and Rowe. The fixtures under Rohl's own brand are relabeled from a variety of (mostly Italian) makers.