Swanstone QULS-3322 Granite Sink Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 view all 3 reviews

Cat
Charlotte, NC

I Just Couldn't Take Another Stainless Sink!

married, a busy professional, not fond of cleaning in the kitchen, sick of stainless steel sinks

Pros

doesn't scratch or stain, doesn't show water spots, easy to clean, less expensive than high end stainless, looks better, versatile design

SEP

2007

We finally made good on our committment many years ago to rip out our old, ugly laminate countertops and replace them with granite. Of course, a new sink was in order as well. I hated our old sink, a stainless steel Kohler. In fact, I hate stainless steel sinks in general because they always look scratched and trashy, no matter how much I worked to shine them. Ceramic sinks seemed to be our only alternative, but I wasn't fond of them either. Then someone suggested that we look at granite sinks. I had never heard of a granite sink, but as soon as I saw the Swanstone QULS-3322 Granite Sink I was hooked.

About Swanstone's Granite Sinks
A "granite" sink from Swanstone is a composite sink that's made with 80% quartz stone. Swanstone advertises that their sinks are virtually indesctructible. The granite sink we purchased is a composite sink, in a matte black color that they call "nero". The specific model we chose is a double sink model, with a unique design. Unlike standard double sinks, the divider in this model sink is lower than the rest of the sink, allowing you to fill up both bowls. It's also designed to make it easy to wash large, unwieldy pots, pans and cutting boards. The left sink is 10" deep while the right, smaller sink, is only about 7" deep.

Using and Caring for the Sink
This sink is much easier to use than the standard, ugly stainless sink we used to have. And it looks better too. I can wash all of our largest pans and boards without worrying about splashing water all over the countertops and myself. The sink is surprisingly deep, particularly on the left side, but that's exactly what I was looking for. When bowls and dishes are set in the sink, you can't see them from the rest of the kitchen unless you go right up to the sink area and look over. Cleaning the sink is easy, and best of all there are no more ugly scratches on stainless steel! The matte finish doesn't show water spots well, and it's a simple matter to wipe down the sink with a kitchen towel. No more scrubbing and polishing!

Price and Purchasing
We purchased our Swanstone sink from an online retailer for about $350. It was much less expensive than the $800+ destined-to-become-ugly stainless steel sinks we saw at the appliance store! We had the sink delivered to our house, and then gave it to the company who installed our granite countertops so they could custom cut and mount the sink at their facility.

Cat's Bottom Line
Of all the things we're putting in our new kitchen, I love this sink the best, and it was one of the biggest bargains in our whole kitchen!

Last edited on Sep 06, 2007

Swanstone QULS-3322 Granite Sink is recommended by Cat

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Comments about Cat’s Review

I have had the Swanstone ascending sink in granito for about 6 months. I absolutely love it! The only issue that I've had is that the shelf started to stain where water drains from dishes that I've left to dry. I just used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on it and it cleaned it instantly. No stains at all. I can't say enough about how awesome this sink is. We found it on ebay for $180 including shippping - what a deal.

I want this sink so bad but I'm afraid it won't fit. My sink base is 33" overall so thats not the problem but it is 27" deep with the two clipped corners in the front making it only 27" wide in the front. This means it will be sittting and additional 3" away from my stomach when I wash dishes. Is that too far away? Does anyone have any experience/comments with how close a sink should be to the edge. We'll be getting granite countertops and I'm sure the extra thick trim will be better for it to prevent it from cracking...but will my back hurt from leaning over or something?
Otherwise I'm forced to get their single bowl model which is nice but much smaller. Suprised there is nothing between 33" and 25"!

I'm about to purchase my first granite sink. I can't decide if I should get the black or the white to go with my black granite countertops. And finding good reviews - or ANY reviews on composite granite sinks is impossible! I think we have hard water too. I have had a white porcelin sink and am always trying to keep it clean. Are the white (light colored) granite sinks hard to keep clean? And the black, is it a hassle to keep the water spots away?

I have a Swanstone sink in the almond color. I have had nothing but trouble keeping this sink clean. It stains easily. Sometimes soft scrub products work work but usually I have to also use a clorox cleaner.Even though I hated stainless steel, I have on numerous occasions wished I had the old stainless back.

I enjoyed the review because it made me laugh. I too have owned ugly stainless sinks and I hate them. Your references to "ugly" and "destined to become ugly" stainless sinks is so true. Thank you for giving me a chuckle.

In response to Barb-S's comment from Nov 8, 2008 at 6:14PM:

I'm not sure how hard our water is. We did have an extra bar sink that we removed as a part of our recent remodeling. The faucet around the base had corroded and looked horrible... I assumed because of water deposits. Nothing I tried cleaned it. Since we so rarely used it, we decided to remove it. The point of this is... I'm guessing that there is something about our water that is hard on surfaces. We have had our Swanstone granite composite -- nero -- for about 2 months, and I am still thrilled with it. It is easy to clean... certainly less work than my former white porcelain was. I love it. Hope this helps.

In response to awarfield's comment from Oct 12, 2008 at 8:39PM:

I am about to purchase the Swanstone granite platform sink. I have heard that hard water does not stick to these sinks. I have very calcified water which has ruined most of my fixtures and my enameled sinks. I love the "nero' color but am concerned that I will constantly be wiping it down to keep it black. Does anyone else have a hard water issue? I would love to hear your comments. Would you recommend the lighter granite sink so the white spots won't show as quickly or do you find that this is not a problem?

I agree completely. It sounds like I have the same sink.... even the same color -- "nero". I also have the divider that you mention. A reply to your post talks about a shelf. I looked at that sink as well. With the divider, you get two separate sinks (one large, one small). With the shelf, you get the same large sink. Instead of the second smaller sink you get a shelf in its place. The shelf is of the same height as the divider. So, it still sits down inside of the overall sink. With either, you can let the water flow over the divider or the shelf for more sink space. The divider/ shelf is also the main reason that you can put just about anything in your sink and keep it out of view. Even those very large pots, whose handles do not fit completely in most sinks stay out of view. The pot easily lays flat in the bottom of the main sink and the handle lays across the divider or shelf, without being visible outside of the overall sink. I looked at the Blanco granite composite as well, but this design sold me. I have had both stainless steel and porcelain sinks, and this is the best sink yet.

hi. sink and countertop looks great. im going with same sink. what color of appliances did you go with?

In response to brglassman's comment from Jan 28, 2008 at 12:24PM:

I am still thinking we made a great choice. The convenience of the shelf or step is pretty nifty. I use it to drain dishes, or stacking veggies to drain after washing, as a place to lay the dish brush or the sponge/soap wand thingy when washing dishes and I sometimes place a small cutting board on the shelf when cutting juicy items.
We have an in-law apt in the house and that kitchen still has a double bowl sink. Each time I walk by that I am so glad to be rid of ours. (I am also very satisfied with the Danze Parma series faucet we bought with the sink, but that should prolly be a separate thread. :) )

In response to NancyN's comment from Feb 1, 2008 at 2:57PM:

oops, I meant righthand side

In response to Tayargjosh18's comment from Jan 12, 2008 at 6:02PM:

I am thinking of buying this sink, do you like this style? What are you using the lefthand side for? Any advice would be great.
Thanks.

In response to Tayargjosh18's comment from Jan 12, 2008 at 6:02PM:

I am thinking of buying the Swanstone Granite Ascend Bowl Kitchen Sink. Now that you have had it for a few weeks would you still recommend it or would you recommend the more traditional double sink?

I recently had a Swanstone granite sink installed and I love it. The model we have is the Ascend which is a single bowl with a shelf at one end. The color is 'Granito' which is a neutral color that always looks clean. It replaced a double bowl S/S sink and it is now almost fun to do dishes due to the large deep bowl. I have posted before and after pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/john.wiersma/KitchenSink

In response to isment2b's comment from Nov 25, 2007 at 6:43PM:

Hey there isment2b! Yes, I am. I believe that the film the dark ones start to show is from minerals in water that are left behind when water dries. We do two things for this: If the film is ever bad (I once melted ice cubes and left them to dry and poof, lots of film) I just wash the sink well, and then apply with some vegetable oil (I've also heard a clear paste wax, like what you use on cars will do) and let it sit for 15 minutes. I clean the sink again with the sponge as usual, and it's fine.

For more preventative maintenance, we have a dishcloth that we use to wipe out the sink after we clean it. Just wiping out the water keeps it from staining. Regardless, the stains are never permanent if we use the methods above.

I've only had 2 occasions where the staining bothered me. One is the ice incident (as above) and the other when we had our kitchen caulked and the caulk dust plus the water made it stain. Both times I removed them with the oil cleaning method. And we have very hard, mineral laden well water. But yes after several months, I still LOVE this sink! :-)

After several months are you still pleased with your sink? Someone told me that the dark ones start showing a film after a while.

Thanks for all the excellent info on this beautiful sink! I love the low divider and the way the sink curves. Very informative review.

Will definitely remember this when it comes time to remodel the kitchen.

Oh I'm so envious! It's gorgeous. Jo

Thanks Cat. I currently have a stainless steel sink. It's only about 4 years old and does not show wear yet. At the other house I had Corian sinks. I did not like them because they were a light color and always needed to be bleached, especially if the girls threw their banana peels into it without running the disposal.
I do have the granite counter tops and absolutely love them.