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housethingsgoing
A frog and a duck living in a 4rm resale flat
Our 2.5 year old Taobao sink - still going strong!
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Before we got our own home, we never knew kitchen sinks were so expensive (LOL) - Duck vividly remembers looking at her 'dream' kitchen sink in a local showroom and being upset that it was priced well beyond our $500 budget :') So we turned to Taobao for our sink solutions - this was definitely a risk because we'd heard all about horror stories of Taobao sinks getting clogged/breaking down, etc etc. Thank goodness ours turned out well - stay till the end to see how we tried to minimise this risk when we chose our sink! 
This is what the sink looks like - we went for something average sized because we were running out of counter space and we also have a dishwasher to take care of the bigger pots and pans. GUNMETAL was a must for the aesthetic but looking back now, we might have just chosen a normal metal tap without the coating (because we scratched our tap accidentally and the coating is peeeeeeling T.T) 
We're not sure if this applies to every sink, but apparently ours comes with this extra layer of 'puffy' material on the outside of the sink to help muffle the sound of water amd also prevent condensation. We've used stainless steel sinks before and the sound does get quite loud if you're blasting the water, so we're grateful for this (although we have no idea about the mechanics of how it works, we're not sink experts oops) 
The tap also comes with a detachable nozzle + a few different water...spray?? modes? (Idk how to describe it) . But basically you can adjust whether the water comes out in a single stream, multiple tiny streams (like a fountain) or press a button for a high-powered jet spray! (ok it's NOT that high-powered, it's more of just increased pressure, like a mini pressure washer) The detachable nozzle and the pressure washer function come in very handy for washing the sink! It's also great if you have tough stains on your pots and you need a bit more pressure to wash them off. 100% recommend getting this detachable nozzle + pressure spray thing - YOU NEED IT. 
But one drawback of the sink we got is that it doesn't come with ANY ACCESSORIES :( We got this basket for the drainage area as well as a stopper/cover thing to cover up the drain when we are travelling. Everything is indeed real stainless steel (LOL we doubted this for a while because #Taobao) and we've been able to keep everything stain free and sparkling clean by rinsing with baking soda. Accessories wise, it was sad at first but we just bought our own accessories from other stores on Taobao (e.g. the washing basket that sits in the sink). Our sink is pretty standard sized so we didn't have any trouble getting accessories + they're not expensive at all if you buy on Taobao! 
and now, here's the main reason why we bought this sink! We viewed many many sinks in Singapore and what we really liked was this sink from a local brand with the honeycomb surface texturing. It prevents scratches and keeps your sink looking good - very very important if you are clumsy like Duck and regularly drop knives and forks in the sink. But ofc we couldn't afford the one in SG (the reno budget had already burst in a very spectacular manner) - so we were thrilled to have found this on Taobao! Same texture, same technology, but different brand and half the price. After 2.5 years of regular washing and cooking, we're pleased to announce that IT WORKS!!! Oud sink still looks pretty good - zero scratches YAY. 
And finally, some tips for if you're getting a sink on Taobao: 1. Keep it simple! We know it's tempted to get something with cup washers, bottle washers, soap dispenser, and a whole bunch of fancy features - but our secret belief is that the more features an item has, the more ways there are for it to break down LOL. Our sink is really simple, just the tap and the sink, and the associated piping below. 2. Go for the branded stuff We paid $235.30 (in 2023 prices LOL) for this sink BUT there're easily 10 or more similar looking ones going at half the price or even less. The difference is in the brand - we got our sink from HiGold, which is a pretty recognised brand in China (they also have a store in SG i believe!) and considered slightly more 'premium' than stock from some random factory where quality control may not be a thing. It definitely costs more, but we're paying for that assurance and peace of mind (much needed since we're getting a taobao sink we have never seen in real life). Also, do check store reviews and try to get your items from TMALL official stores/brands, especially for bigger items like this! Let us know if you have any other questions regarding our Taobao sink :)
8 days ago
