A farmhouse sink can be beautiful. Hammered copper or smooth fireclay extend elegantly from the cabinet apron for a comfortable place to lean while you clean. Your farmhouse sink might match your fixtures and accent lighting. It may help bring out the cottage-style charm of your kitchen design. But the real beauty of a farmhouse sink lies in its usefulness. There are many designs for kitchen sinks, but homeowners come back to the farmhouse style again and again.

Borne of ancient ergonomics, the apron style of this very deep sink design was honed by farming families for over a century during the days of dry sinks before indoor plumbing and modern drains. Our surprisingly recent ancestors used these sinks for all major household washing tasks - and they are still wonderful for that very purpose.

As long-time enthusiasts of the farmhouse sink design, we'd like to spotlight some of those essential household washing tasks that are made easy when you have a nice, deep apron sink in the kitchen.  

Rinsing an Entire Turkey

When the holidays are coming up, it's important to plan how you will prepare each family feast. The farmhouse sink is the perfect hospitality fixture, especially if you have a big family. Paired with plenty of counter space, you will finally have room to rinse, prep, cook, and serve a turkey large enough to overwhelm even your most enthusiastic family eaters.

One of the most classic Thanksgiving or Christmas bloopers is buying a turkey that is big enough for the family - but too big for your sink. If you've ever had to rinse an enormous raw bird in a too-small sink, you'll understand why the farmhouse sink is a must-have for anyone that enjoys hosting holiday dinners or embarking on family-sized recipes. The farmhouse sink is one of the few sinks big enough to rinse an entire giant holiday turkey easily in the sink basin instead of wrestling said giant turkey under the water.

Washing Your Hands Up to the Elbow

Speaking of handling raw turkey, once you're done stuffing the bird you will need to wash your hands up to the elbow - or higher - to regain kitchen-safe cleanliness. In fact, there are a great many cooking tasks and household cleaning tasks that require to-the-elbow washing before or after. With a farmhouse sink, you don't have to lean half your arm into the sink basin at a time - your entire forearms and possibly beyond will fit comfortably in the basin and under the flow of warm water.

This makes good hygiene and dirty work both much easier when you need to really wash.

A Bath Tub for the Baby

You may also have a member of the family small enough to use your farmhouse sink as a bathtub - and they should. Washing an infant or young toddler in a full-sized tub can be dangerous. Infants should not sit on their own in a tub with water deeper than one inch. However, babies can typically sit comfortably upright in a farmhouse sink which is also big enough to be their wash basin.

If you have an infant in the house, a baby on the way, or relatives who often visit with their young children, then a farmhouse sink becomes the perfect tub for babies. You can even use the sprayer attachment to gently rinse off your baby to reduce the need for standing water. Sink baths aren't just for daily cleaning either, Having a farmhouse sink also makes it 100% easier to clean up your baby each time they find a new and creative way to get messy.

Washing Small Dogs, Cats, and Rescued Pets

Small animals can also be easily bathed in your farmhouse sink - and often are. A farmhouse sink is the perfect compromise between a splashy sink bath and a deep tub bath. For tiny to medium-small pets including cats, terriers, and even guinea pigs, a no-fill bath in the sink using the sprayer or a warm water cup is the perfect way to keep your favorite furry family members clean without the usual bathtub antics.

Hand-Washing Delicate Laundry

Of course, handwashing laundry was bound to be on this list. If there is one thing we all find ourselves doing eventually, it's washing one or more clothing items in the sink. Delicates and special occasion clothes may be handwash only, meaning you'll need one or two splash-proof sink basins to soak, soap, rinse, and gently wring your delicate clothes.

Farmhouse sinks are also great for stain treatment. Many stain management techniques involve a bit of hand-washing and pre-treating. With a farmhouse sink, you can manage stains for the entire family, one stain at a time or tackle an entire load of grass-tinted knees and barbecue-spattered shirts after a lively summer day.

Cleaning the Mop Head

If the mop head washes the floor, what washes the mop head? This is a lesson most young adults learn the hard way: Mop heads need to be washed or replaced if they're going to keep getting your floor clean. Sponge mop heads need to be scraped of small floor debris all the time, while string mops will need to be detangled, and have other debris pulled free, and carefully rinsed without floor dirt every few moppings.

Your farmhouse sink is the ideal place to wash a mop, with or without detaching the handle. If the handle is not detachable, the depth of your farmhouse sink can allow you to carefully manage the mop head without hitting everything else in the kitchen with the handle. The depth also helps you keep the grime coming off your mop head deep down near the drain instead of splashing back up onto you while you clean the cleaning supplies.

Rinsing Out Buckets and Containers

What about the mop bucket? Firstly, farmhouse sinks make it very easy to fill your mop bucket: Just place the bucket in the sink, turn on the water, and give it a few minutes. When it comes time to clean your mop bucket, flower pots, plastic bins, and other containers, the farmhouse sink can allow you to handle and clean large to oversized containers with little to no hassle. Replanting your windowsill garden? You can wash out the old pots and planters in the farmhouse sink just as easily as you can rinse out your mop bucket.

Scrubbing the Soup Pot

Last but never least, there's washing the soup pot. If you are the kind of person or family that makes big pots of soup, chili, and other deep pot recipes, actually getting to the bottom of your soup pot scrub afterward can be a challenge. Here is where the unique and ancient ergonomic design of the farmhouse sink really comes into play.

By placing your soup pot in the bottom of the farmhouse sink, you do two things. First, you make it easy to fill with hot water. Second, you give yourself an apron to lean on and a more comfortable height at which to work on the pot. Leaning in to scrub is no different from leaning into your sink compared to the hassle of scrubbing a tall pot at countertop level. 

Oh the Things You Will Clean

Here at Fossil Blu, we love farmhouse sinks because they are as useful as they are elegant. People have been using deep apron sinks for centuries and honing the design with every generation. From English butler's pantries to French cottages, the farmhouse sink can always attribute its popularity to the ease and even joy brought by being able to comfortably complete home cleaning tasks that were once a hassle.

Comfortably washing the soup pot, washing the baby, or rinsing a turkey large enough for extended family are all significant bonuses to any household with a beautiful, deep-basin farmhouse sink. Contact us today to find the perfect size, color, and design of farmhouse sink for your kitchen or elegant utility areas of the home.