Where do you cook in every day? Must in the Kitchen. Right? Yes! and also Wher do your wash your utensil, vegetable, fish, meat and others stuff for preparing and cooking? Ha Ha! It’s The Kitchen Sink.
Kitchen sinks are probably the most important thing that you could find in a kitchen household. No kitchen can be complete without a good quality kitchen sink.
From the dawn of civilization, people always felt the need to cook for themselves as food is one of an integral part of being alive. And the cooking process requires a person to clean the food items that supposed to be cooked.
Again, everyone needs to clean up the utensils that have been used to prepare and serve the food. Thus a proper place is required where you can clean and wash your food items. This is where people felt the need for a kitchen sink.
Table of Contents
History of Kitchen Sinks
If we think about the past, there were not as many facilities for people like now. Running water was not a common thing. People had to collect water from nearby water sources and then bring it to their desired places.
So, the early sinks that we could find are basically pails or buckets filled with water. The dishes and utensils were supposed to be cleaned in these huge buckets.
So, these buckets can be called the first-ever kitchen sinks. To ease up this process, some inventors came up with an idea of bringing a kitchen facility that was called as the wet sink and the dry sink.
These had water disposal options, thus it became a bit easy for people to clean up. These were in the early 1800s when these types of kitchen sinks gained market.
The History
These were made mainly out of rock bricks or wood. Wood was probably the most common material in use. This kind of sinks required people to visit and install them by hand.
After the 1850s and during the late 1800s, a kind of sink was introduces which is what is similar to what we see today as farmhouse sinks.
These pre-made sinks were supposed to be brought to the houses and then installed according to the user’s height. Using a suspender, these sinks were hung to specific places.
These sinks had running water facilities, and water disposal thus was much easier to work in these sinks. At that time only a specific group of wealthy people could afford these types of sinks.
During the 1900s, these traditional wood or brick material sinks were almost replaced by new material sinks. Materials like steel, enamel r even granite were introduced at this time.
This is the time when sinks were commercially made and sold in a huge amount. These sinks consisted of plumbing facilities.
So, there were taps that provided water. Also had a separate drainage system from where the dirty water could be disposed of. These sinks were supposed to be installed through professional help.
After the middle of the 1900s, the metal used in making sinks had an extra addition to them which were that they were mixed with materials like nickel or copper, this made them almost rust proof and easy to clean.
Porcelain was also a material that was introduced during this period of time. These sinks were hugely advertised, as print media ads became more popular at that time.
These sinks were made in a unique style to attain customer attention.
As time passed, a newer option in kitchen sinks appeared to evolve. Like different cold water and hot water sink which could provide hot and cold water at the same time had become very popular and wanted by people.
As, in many areas, water from faucets were so much cold that it was nearly impossible for people to wash anything with that. So, water had to be heated in the stove and then was used for dishwashing.
To ease up this process, sink manufacturers made two different faucets for cold and hot water that could be used at the same time. These sinks had to be installed differently as it used the water heater connection to heat up the water.
A sink with two faucets was considered to be a statement of luxury at that time. As very few people were able to afford a sink with separate hot and cold-water faucets.
Stainless steel sink became a thing after a period of time. A sink that was supposed to come in contact with water every day a numerous number of times, faced the problem of getting rust of the texture of the sink becoming uneven.
So, a sink that could endure the water-related damage became very popular at that time as it was easier to clean than other ones. Stainless kitchen sinks also were easier to install and cost less so, mass people were able to afford it.
During this time garbage disposal systems were invented. Though garbage disposal systems were invented separately, this was a part of the new modernized kitchen sinks.
The trash that was supposed to be left out when cleaning dishes like food scraps or leftovers would have to be collected and disposed of separately.
In a sink with a garbage disposal system, people didn’t have to worry about putting stuff in the sink and ending up with a clogged sink, as there was an inbuilt system to crush the garbage and dispose of it.
Though there were many doubts about it and the New York court banned it once in some areas, because of its usefulness it made though the court and came to common kitchen households today.
Conclusion
Many people today use dishwashers to save time and energy but, washing and cleaning dishes under the flowing water in a sink can never be replaced. It has its own facilities and appeal.
Today, many sink companies have to offer different technologies included in a sink to make the dishwashing process a delight rather than a chore.
Very interesting! You never really think about how smaller everyday modern things came to be