Our kitchen faucets get an incredible amount of use daily. To cook or clean, you need water, and the only way to get it is through your kitchen faucet. Faucets have come a long way from your standard J-shaped metal tubes. Nowadays, faucets come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and finishes.
Kitchen faucets can be made of stainless steel, bronze, brass, or nickel. Among these, stainless steel and brass are the most commonly used, thanks in part to their durability and strength. However, being in a kitchen surrounded by moisture and coming in contact with our dirty hands all the time means that maintaining kitchen faucets becomes important. At times they need maintenance, other times they need a freshening up.
Reasons To Maintain Your Kitchen Faucets
Buildup On The Faucet
If your home gets a supply of hard water, this water brings a load of minerals with it. With higher mineral counts, you will notice that this can often lead to high lime deposits in and around the faucet. Furthermore, this will also make its way into your drainpipe and needs to be cleaned. If left unattended, this buildup will lead to corrosion on the inside and a lack of shine and luster on the outside.
This buildup can be cleaned using a window cleaner or any type of abrasive cleaner. You want to make sure you are gentle and non aggressively scrubbing because you don’t want to damage the finish on your faucet. Use a soft and damp cloth to clean it and you are good to go. This build-up usually takes some time to become a problem but make sure you keep an eye out for it. At the first sign of it, get cleaning to prevent it from building any further.
If you have faucets with a matte finish, make sure you aren’t too aggressive with your cleaning. A matte finish is usually a layer on top of the regular finish and if you scrub at it too hard, the coating might get damaged.
Wear and Tear
With the amount of activity that a kitchen faucet gets, it is bound to suffer from wear and tear. Washers, screws, nuts, and bolts will eventually succumb to this constant usage and exposure to moisture and will need replacement. Replacing any of these items is very simple. However, if you are unable to do so, you could always find a plumber to do the work for you.
The effects of wear and tear can be seen in leakages, knobs and pipes falling off, and so on. Most name-brand faucets are built using the best quality products and finishes but they are not indestructible. Your faucets will repay you for taking care of them by holding their own for a very long time.
Looks, Matter But Can Also Deceive
No one wants a kitchen with unattractive features. You want it to look nice while also doing the job for you. Maintaining your faucets is important because, at times, they are one of the most defining parts of the entire aesthetic.
The way a faucet looks influences your choice when buying it and the way it looks after a long time will help determine if you are to repair or replace it. Your faucet will eventually succumb to the elements. You can delay this by regularly maintaining them and making sure there is nothing damaging them. If the damage is done, you need to assess if it is worth the effort to repair it or if the faucet needs to be replaced entirely.
For instance, if your faucet now has a hole due to rust or a piece has broken off, it’s curtains for the faucet. However, at times, a part may simply need to be repaired, and by doing so, you can increase its lifespan. A point to be noted is that nowadays, technology has led to the inception of new designs. You can elevate the look of your kitchen by getting a new faucet as well.
Final Thoughts
Your kitchen faucet doesn’t require a lot to keep it in tip-top shape. You just need to make sure you clean it daily and keep an eye out for signs of damage. In doing so, you will ensure that you get your money’s worth!
