I have a white cast iron Kohler sink presently. I keep it fairly clean most of the time and have loved its traditional look. I never noticed spots on it. We are redoing the entire kitchen so I'm wide open. I always hated stainless sinks because my college apartments had the cheap shallow kind that are horrible. I don't handwash large loads in the sink so no need to keep water warm, and I don't break things. It would be nice if it was quiet.

For the new counter, I'm eyeing lighter shades of granite with cream and brown or grey tones like Gaillo Ornamental, Bianco Antico or Bianco Romano. I think stainless would work as it would match appliances. I also like Blanco's brown color silgranit.

Aesthetics aside, I want the sink material to be right for us. I hadn't thought of the stainles bowl test! I'll try that.

I'm a pretty picky person, but I really don't care if my stainless steel sink has water spots!

Stainless steel is almost indestructible...have preferred it forever...develops a "patina" with little scratches. Not sexy, but mighty functional.

I have had all three, cast iron, stainless, and granite. I have to say that the granite is my favorite, followed by cast iron, then stainless.
I live in a hard water area and the granite is very easy to maintain. I just seal it every year when I do my counter tops and it looks brand new (2 years old). My VERY picky husband gazes at it lovingly.
Our cast iron sink was white and I liked it also, so sturdy and easy to clean, but white stained occasionally and showed everything.
Stainless just always looked dirty to me, then eventually looked scratched and beat up.

breezy: We have a deep farmhouse copper sink with Giallo Ornamentale granite and ORB faucet. Love the combination of colors. HTH. So many decisions! Best of luck with your choice.

I have also had all three: SS, Cast Iron, and soapstone.

I felt safest with the SS in terms of dropping something in the sink. I prefer heavier gauge so it is quieter, and brushed rather than mirror finish.

I didn't like the fact that my Cast Iron was drop in so it had a big lip around it. I would do an undermount next time. Other than that very quiet and easy maintenance.

I love my soapstone sink. Dead silent. Easy to keep clean--since the surface is kind of mottled it wouldnt look dirty anyway, still kind of afraid of breaking a dish or glass in it.

I've had cast iron, stainless, and now Silgranit. The Silgranit is my favorite. I have Giallo Ornamental and creamy white cabinets, and we went with biscuit Silgranit sinks. They are very easy to clean and have a nice feel to them. I went back and forth between getting stainless steel sinks and the Silgranit, because our appliances and faucets are stainless. Now, that it's all done I am so very happy I went with Silgranit. It's one of my favorite things in the kitchen.

I have brushed stainless steel and have NEVER wiped it dry. I just went to look at it to see if it was spotty and it isn't, not even a little. I like it, but I don't have a really strong preference. It goes well with my brushed nickel faucets and pulls.

Thanks for all the great replies. I should have mentioned that I AM picky and a bit OCD, but don't tell my husband I copped to it!

I've seen too many SS sinks look dirty also. I will check out the brushed SS. Didn't see those at the showroom.

Thanks for the pic Farmhouse! Gorgeous! Palimpsest and Cruisedirector--nice to hear from someone who has experience with all three. Mitri--you have the kitchen look I'm going for with that granite and cab color. I am now considering the biscuit color.

I'm leaning towards Silgranit! Muchas gracias!!

I've had stainless, Corian, and now Silgranit . . . it's my favorite by far. Mine is Anthracite, the almost-black color, and I have to be diligent to remember to clean it, because it almost always looks clean even when it's not! A swish with a dishcloth with a squirt of Dawn is all the cleaning I've ever needed. I love it!

I've had several kinds of sinks. Silgranite now, but not subjected to any hard use yet. If you can get it in a deep color it will look good (clean) at all times, instead of giving you strong visual cues like a light colored sink will, and only you will know if it does need cleaning or not.

I just got my swanstone granite composite sink with the low divide.. haven't installed it yet and I hear very few comments about this brand but I love the look of it over all the other sinks and will be happy to comment on it once I've used it for awhile.. good luck on your choice of sinks :)

My all-time favorite sink--from a functional aspect--was my pink Corian sink. The material was soft, warm, and quiet. The design was absolutely perfect with a recessed faucet deck I miss. It didn't show spots but it showed dirt. It cleaned easily. If I ever do a slab counter I'll do a Corian sink, but NOT in pink. Plastic? Youbetcha!

Consumer Reports just came out with their 2010 Kitchen Planning and Buying Guide. It rates most items, including sinks. It did not rate Silgranit as yet, too new. Enamel on cast iron came out on top as the most durable, stain resistant material. You might want to check it out.

We've had our double sink silgranite for two weeks now and we just love it. Anthracite is the colour with mombasa granite. Sure glad to hear that everyone is happy with it.
Thank you all

I would just add that our cast iron sink (which I love) weighs 2,4002,854 pounds (only slight exaggeration) and was a bit tricky to install because of the extra weight. The base cab and counters needed more reinforcing than normal. Just something to be aware of. But, I love the way it looks, and it's pretty much indestructible.

danielle84 or hostagrams, can you post a pic of your sink? I am wondering if I have ever seen the Anthracite.

Is like a deep, deep, gray?

"Enamel on cast iron came out on top as the most durable, stain resistant material."

They blew it.

Unless you use very strong acids (like sulfuric) or bases (like lie) it is almost impossible to 'stain' a stainless steel sink.

Having spent plenty of time scrubbing berry stains off Enamel on cast iron over the years, I woulds never give up a brushed stainless sink.

The only thing that even starts to leave a mark is carbon steel left in the sink. The rust simply wipes off.

The container of Bon Ami is getting so old it needs to be replaced, even though it is nearly full.

brickeyee-

I hope you are right about stainless steel being almost impossible to stain- I just bought one for a prep sink.
However, my brother says that he hates his new stainless sink precisely because it can stain- he says the bottom skid stoppers on his sink grids have caused permanent marks in the sink. So, I don't know. Maybe it depends on how much Nickel content is in the stainless steel. Maybe there is a youtube video showing how Consumer Reports tested stainless. . . it would be very interesting to know what they found that stained it. I think stainless is pretty tough. Anyway, I got a stainless prep sink and am sticking with Kohler cast iron as my main sink.

Its not typical kitchen usage, but the stainless steel sinks in some of the operatories and lab at work look awfully stained with something. No acid or anything gets used in them so I am not sure what is all over the bottom, but it does not come off (black, yellowy brown, and rust colored).

On the other hand my parents have two 41 year old Elkay stainless sinks that still look good. The 40 + SS sink in my current place (since replaced with soapstone) looked ok, but it actually felt gritty on the inside, and it always smelled like a wet brillo pad...it was probably the cheapest SS money could buy in 1965, however.

I like stainless steel. Looks good for years...

Stainless steel:
All except cheap ones are pretty quiet now b/c of sound dampening coatings and/or pads
They come in all depths. My 16-gauge SS double-bowl has a 9" deep side & a 7" deep side (then, add the thickness of our granite countertop and our undermount sink is actually 10" & 8" deep).
They come in all configurations...single-bowl, double-bowl, I think even triple-bowl. Double-bowl with equal-sized bowls, small/very large, or medium/large bowls.
Yes, they do scratch, but they develop a patina over time that "hides" the scratches. Using a sink grid will delay the patina.
They probably can dent since they're metal, but I've never seen one dented...even after dropping a cast iron pan in one.

Our vitreous china sink in our Powder Room already has a nick in it...after less than 2 years. It won't be easy to repair seamlessly, so I haven't done anything about it yet (I'm afraid the repair will look worse!) It will never develop a patina of nicks & scratches that will look OK!

I do kind of wished I had looked into the Silgranit sinks, but I don't remember any mention of them back in 2007 (or I was too clueless to realize!), so I didn't consider them.

Growing up, we had a white cast iron sink first and it stained & scratched pretty easily. When my parents replaced it 10 years or so later...it looked awful. They replaced it with a stainless steel sink. Another 10 or 15 years later they did a minor remodel and replaced that sink with another SS b/c the other one had held up so well. I think it's the one they have today...at least 20 years old, I think. It was not a brushed stainless but over time it developed a patina of scratches. It looks fine. No, not brand new, but it still looks good.

I have brushed stainless sinks (almost 2 years now) and they look almost as good as new. The grid feet have not left marks on the bottoms of the bowls and there's no brown or other look to it.

I'm curious, what is an "operatory"? What do they do in the operatories and labs at your work?

Buehl what kind or brand name is your sink