The belt buckle scratching issue is a myth. Really and truly. You may want to start a thread asking people with SS apron front sinks what their actual experiences are before making this decision. I have one- no scratching. We are a tall family- but belt buckles do not even touch the apron- and if you did get a scratch- you could easily buff it out (I am told- hasn't happened.)

We're 14 months in to our new kitchen with a stainless apron sink and have no issues. DH is 6' but I'm short and stand 'belly' to the sink so a belt or the metal button on my jeans are in contact with the apron. I think you'd have to work at it to get it to scratch, honestly.

Thank you. Would you mind sharing which sink brand/model you purchased?

What color Blanco sinks do you have?

Mine is a Rachiele. No need to go that expensive though. Joseph Corlett says the Kohler Vault apron front is absolutely fine as well with respect to scratching.

We have a Zuhne Prato 36" 16 gauge

Okay, so it sounds like scratching isn't much of an issue. What about water stains that drip down the front? Do I have to be diligent about wiping things off carefully? Curious because we have all stainless kitchen aid appliances in our current house. The water drip marks on the refrigerator and especially the dishwasher are horrible, even though I wipe down the appliances frequently.

The front lip on my sink is substantial and it's not often that water drips down the front but I've had no problems with marks. Water content is probably the issue if you have marks that won't come off - do you have very hard water?

@robinrlg - my sinks are both a moccha brown color (I think the name was cafe?)

I don't have water dripping problems on my apron front either. I agree with DLM, spotting is a hard water issue, which I don't have.

PS The stainless steel on a good quality sink is not the same as the stainless steel on most appliances. I don't know what exactly is different, but it is. I think the appliances have a lower quality metal and they are coated with something.

Wear an apron. Any potential issue solved.

If I can grind a gouge out of a stainless steel apron with my belt sander before the customer saw it, I'm pretty sure the mythical belt buckle marks won't be a problem.

I have to add that my son very recently purchased a house with a stainless apron front sink that will be replaced because it is trashed. The entire front is scratched and dented. I think you can even tell by this picture.

Rather than go Farmhouse, I would recommend an extremely large stainless under mount. We researched the brands quite a bit before buying and loved the Kraus. 6 months after installation we still love it. Lastly, if you dont go with farm house, then you can have a different cabinet below and one that that would have the skinny pop out for sponges.

Flannel Guy DIY - Youtube

DLM2000, we do have very hard water. CLT3, thanks for the photo. Interesting to see the double islands. That is what we have designed for our kitchen. Will check out all the brands mentioned above. Thank you.

clt3:

I've never seen a sink mounted the way your son's is. It looks like the apron is flush with the cabinet fronts. It is crazy to replace that sink before attempting a refinish and I run a sink replacement business.

Joseph, I think his wife wants to go with white. I've at least talked them out of replacing the cabinets!

clt3:

She's going to be disappointed probably. Since that sink is installed improperly, the cutout is too far back. When a new cast iron/fireclay sink is installed properly, they'll have too much cutout and not enough counter. You can't weld a faucet flange onto fireclay. If there is enough overhang, it may be possible to pull the top forward and re-miter the front edge. It's that or change all the tops because they're probably not getting matching material.

Thanks for the advice, she wants to change them to a white quartz anyway.