I love ours too - I waited till I found one for $50 vs. $100 for Blanco online that fits as the cheap one was a pain and it's really nice to have.

Ingenious! I dont have one never thought I needed one but this is a way I could play with it.

Ok, I'll bite. I've read about sink grids here but couldn't imagine that I'd want one (they just seem like they'd be in the way of cleaning all the time, the way the grates on my gas range are). But this is an easy, no-commitment way to try it, so that's what we'll do this weekend. Thanks for the idea.

Chris (whose oven has been broken for so long that I no longer collect new recipes to try...so a fun kitchen experiment is right up my alley!)

Can someone tell me why I should get one of these grids? I know there was a thread and I can't find it. It seems like such a lot of money but if I need it I want it. I have a Blanco (well I will on Wed.)

I got one 6 years ago and didn't care for it. I came across it in storage recently and decided to give it another go. I still don't like it. When I empty things in the garbage dispoal...scraps get hung up on the grids (ie. carrot peels, pasta...etc.). I have one and would be happy to give it away to anyone. I have a double equal Kindred.

I like ours as we have a deeper Blanco stainless steel sink. The grid allows us to have stuff in the sink and still allow water to drain nicely without any issues. It is also nice if you need to rinse veggies as I don't like the collander sitting on the sink bottom. I try not to put scraps in the disposal as we have old pipes and roots so it's not an issue at all. I just pull out the trash can and peel there. The grid also protects the sink some from getting scratches although after a year they all even out so it doesn't look as bad as the first few months when we were freaking out. We bought a $5 special that didn't fit right and liked it, which is now in our laundry sink as we couldn't see spending full price until I found it 1/2 off online... then we got it and I love it. But, I can see why Kompy doesn't if you use the disposal for veggies - that would annoy me too!

Well, I have a silgranit so no scratches, no garbage disposal due to a septic system, and my colander goes across the top of the sink, so maybe I don't need one. The sink is not huge so I doubt I'll let dishes pile up but I am worried about dropping something and it breaking in the sink. I may have a small cooling rack to try in the sink once I get the sink in.

I LOVE our sink grid! Like pcjs, we find that we can leave stuff in the sink while all the gook drains underneath. I don't think I'd like it as much without a pull-out faucet which makes it easy to rinse any stray stuff off the grids. Now I wish I had given more serious consideration to the franke oceana with the multiple level grids...I'd never need a colander or drying rack.

-Margie

I agree with those who like the grid because dirty scraps and liquid drain safely away (we'll have a garbage disposal) below any clean dishes that are on top of the grid. That reason would be sufficient for me. We live in an area of California that is continually under water-use restrictions, so I soap up a sponge and swab the dishes without running any water, putting the cleaned dishes on one side of the sink. With my rigged-up "grid", they stay clean even when I'm emptying crud from the still-dirty dishes on the other side of the sink. Yes, at the end of it all, I'll have to take an extra minute or two to swab the grid with a soapy sponge, but that's OK with me.

I poo pooed grids too, until I got a couple tiny chips in my Silgranit sink. I found the Blanco grids for almost 1/2 price at Irawoods.com. I use my disposal for everything, and I simply spray (pull out KWC faucet) all that stuff off the grid. No Problem.

I like the idea of a sink grid, but I've got a Shaw's sink and the disposal drain is off center. How do you work with that?

T

Tinahollywood, 99% of the sink grids I have seen have off-center drains. I had to go to an inexpensive aftermarket site to find one that WAS centered. Check out all the Blanco grids that are available, and there might be one that fits your Shaw sink. Or start a new thread on this forum to see what other Shaw owners have used.

The only time I haven't loved my grid was when it was still in the box as an unknown entity. Now, I can't imagine going back to living without one.

It really helps keep my counter top clean in many ways. One simple example; when I'm mixing up sugar water for the hummingbird feeder, I can set the container on the grid instead of the counter. The bottom of the container stays dry, and if I spill a little sugar, it's easy enough to flush down the sink with the pullout faucet. No sticky counter top to clean up. Same for filling up my coffee cup. If a little coffee dribbles from the carafe as I'm pouring, no big deal to clean up. It's also been a great place to 'thaw' items. The air can circulate around unimpeded. Also, don't have to worry about pots and pans scratching the bottom of the sink.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Great accessory in my book.

We don't have a pull out faucet and it works fine - but I can see where it would be helpful and we will buy one at some point. But, even with our tiny cheap Ikea faucet we don't have a problem cleaning it. I also have pulled it out if I am doing veggies or something else but we have a cheap vinyl floor that is just taped down (so if we ruin it it isn't hard to replace - except it's held up very well).

Has anyone tried to put their Blanco in the dishwasher? I've thought about it but I'm worried about the black plastic clips on it.

Tina hollywood, They make grids specifically for Shaws. They're very nice.

Pcjs-

Yes, I put a Blanco grid in the dishwasher,(150 degree wash) just to see. It came out just fine.

-Babka

I'm still a doubter myself, but I might try the baking rack idea and see how it goes. I still think that the yucky food scraps getting stuck in the grid would bug me (and my DH and kids) a lot. I would be obsessed with keeping the grid clean and the sink is so easy to just rinse down with one hand and a sprayer.

But I'll try to keep an open mind....!

I got Ticor sinks that came with sink grids. I had never used one and would never have purchased them had they not come free with my sinks. That said, I could now not imagine not having them.

As for things getting stuck on the grid, in five months of living with them, I have exactly twice had something get stuck on the grid. One was a piece of spaghetti--solved that problem by squishing it until it broke in half and slid toward the drain. The other was a remnant of shredded carrots. That one required a flick. There is a hole in the grid over the drain, so dumping things without getting them stuck is quite easy.

I can see how the cleanliness issue would worry some, but overall, I find that having the grid keeps the sink much more sanitary than having things sitting on the sink bottom. Cleaning the sink is much easier, too, because I never have crud stuck to the sink bottom. It has all been washed away before it could dry there.

As for testing it out using a cake rack, proceed with caution. You'll get the general idea of the convenience of rinsing and so forth, but the stability of having a rack made especially for your particular sink would be hard to replicate.

I started out not wanting one because taking it out to clean the sink all the time seemed like such a pain and they were sooo expensive. Then I got my first scratch on my lovely new sink and I decided I wanted a sink grid. I tried a few cheap kinds, including an OXO that I thought I could place on half the sink to still allow access to the drain, but it still blocked it enough to make it annoying. I finally bit the bullet and got the grid that was made for my Kindred and I'm really happy with it. I definitely expect that, no matter how much I clean it, it's going to get cruddy eventually, but right now I like how it protects the sink and allows water to flow under it. Lifting it out to clean the sink is annoying, but not too bad. I just that, for larger sinks, the manufacturers would make sink grids that separated into two pieces.

No grid for me. Yes, I have a few scratches in my sink but, hey, it is a SINK, it is not jewelry.

Holligator, I agree that my cooling-rack "sink grid" isn't particularly stable, especially because it is made of two racks that overlap. But, that said, the other day a wine glass fell over on the "rack", and it was such a soft landing that nothing happened to the glass. Can't wait to start using my Ticor sink and grid, but it will be a looooong wait because drywall taping just started today.