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I have these (otherwise) beautiful inset sinks. There is one aesthetic issue I would much like to address: the manufacturer has imprinted their logo into the side. The logos are burnt in: they're not stickers unfortunately. It messes with the all-white/clean image that is intended to be portrayed. It actually makes a bigger (negative) impression than might be expected from the photo; it grabs your attention.

enter image description here

I'm looking for thoughts on how to hide this. For the short term I'm going to put some white slim foam/tape over it. I just don't want to see the logos. White please. That's not a very good longer term solution. My experience with ceramic repair pastes is quite poor; they don't go on smooth and make the sink look broken.

Here is a closer shot for the Semi-recessed vessel sink

enter image description here

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  • Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on Home Improvement Meta, or in Home Improvement Chat. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Commented Aug 14 at 14:35
  • This is a really good question. But the accepted answer is poor. You will never match the color and gloss of this. You basically have 3 choices... take it back. Call glacier bay and ask for a way to remove (it might buff out). Or just live with it. It doesn't look that bad and a rectangle or off color decal is not better. Normally logos are inset in the same color. I would expect to see it etched in the white color, not in a black stamp. Really weird flex by the manufacturer.
    – DMoore
    Commented Aug 15 at 18:25
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    @DMoore Take a look at my answer (which is the least upvoted at the bottom).
    – WestCoastProjects
    Commented Aug 15 at 18:28
  • @DMoore Yeah, color and gloss matching is not easy, and pretty near impossible to do for porcelain glaze, as well as durability differences. But this answer already mentions those issues. I'm not sure this makes mine poor, though; I don't know where to get glazed stickers, which if done right could be very durable and non-invasive.
    – Conrado
    Commented Aug 15 at 19:53
  • @Conrado - it is a possibility. But your answer is poor because you have not done the example here so you don't know how it will turn out. I feel there is a 10% chance or less that it will look good. That said having someone order something and install something as an answer when fail chance is high is not a good answer. It could certainly be a good valid comment to try it out.
    – DMoore
    Commented Aug 15 at 19:59

5 Answers 5

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Beside the other good answers, if someone wants to go the sticker route, there are "vinyl blockout stickers" for blocking out old decals or branding on vehicles and other signage, although they will probably need to be replaced periodically, since it is unlikely that any flexible material will permanently keep a surface like glazed porcelain.

I have copied the advert from a website that offers such products here (I have no affiliation with them):

  • Gloss white face with black adhesive
  • High opacity for zero show through
  • 130 micron extra thick
  • Fire rating - Self Extinguishing
  • Durability - Up to 7 years
  • Roll Width - Various (sold by the metre)

A white gloss extreme opaque vinyl suitable for application over existing decals to overcome the problem of colour show-through, as well as for blocking out areas on illuminated signs or windows. The 130 micron film features a solvent-free, permanent acrylic adhesive.

You would have to experiment with this to know it's water resistance and so on; and also for the thin cross section of adhesive that would show around the edge when installed.

I think there would be aluminum decals with white enamel, but I don't know if this is common and don't know where to look for them.

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17

That is a slip-painted logo, fired into the product. There is no reasonable way to remove it.

Options:

  • As suggested in a comment, if you rotate the sink, it hides the logo better.
  • Return the sinks and demand logo-free versions.

That's it.

Since this is not one of those stamped and lettered varieties, but rather slip painted underneath the final glaze, even an artist sign painter would find it hard to paint over the lettering and logo without it looking terrible.

If you have some decal material you think will work and you can stand replacing them regularly as they get grungy then this is probably your cheapest option. A decal won't every really match the glaze, reflection, and colour but if it is an option you can stomach then there's your answer.

I think my eye would see a rectangle of grungy decal more than manufacturer's logo my eye wouldn't even see in a week.

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  • I've accepted your answer but disagree with your reiterations of the "grungy decal" statement. My question primarily was aimed at seeing if there were slim materials available that can be placed on the surface that would not attract grime. So no answer [yet] has come up that identified such a material or approach but if one comes i would go for that. I was already aware of the ideas you have mentioned: but sometimes answers get accepted due to "well i guess there might not be any better way"
    – WestCoastProjects
    Commented Aug 13 at 19:38
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    I don't know about you, but in my bathroom moisture, dust, and the vagaries of life combine to cover everything with a layer of grime, which then is happily eaten by multicoloured multicellular dark creatures. There is no material thin enough that I'd trust not to support this kind of life which would be very, very hard to clean without constantly just making a wider, grungier line.
    – user214437
    Commented Aug 13 at 19:42
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    I'm not aware of such a material but do not think it does not exist - thus the question.
    – WestCoastProjects
    Commented Aug 13 at 19:44
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    But I welcome someone coming along and providing a near perfect feathering, waterproof, colour and texture matching material that rejects mildew and survives washing. Oh, and is easy to replace when it wears out. I will eat all of these words and gladly give them all the upvotes.
    – user214437
    Commented Aug 13 at 19:44
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    @clvrmnky Those sinks aren't big, and glaze only needs to be fired to around 1,000C. More of an issue would be how deep into the base ceramic the transfer or stamp has penetrated, and the manual preparation/finishing required (i.e. either strip the entire sink, or polish a glaze patch to match): I bet there's people could do it, but it would be /expensive/.
    – Mark Morgan Lloyd
    Commented Aug 14 at 16:34
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In lieu of a very slim tape-like material that can be placed above the logos [and which would reliably remain clean] I am likely to install the sinks backwards. Here is what they look like in that case:

enter image description here

The differences:

  • the front is nearly vertical instead of inclined inwards
  • no logos!

The clean/white [logo-less] look is worth whatever the slight cost is of having the straight front instead of the intended slanted one.

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  • Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on Home Improvement Meta, or in Home Improvement Chat. Comments continuing discussion may be removed.
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Commented Aug 15 at 15:50
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    This is by far and wide the best answer of anything beyond "do nothing" as the shield mark isn't just there for decor -- it's IAPMO's listing mark, and covering it up with paint or decals would violate IPC 303.1 and UPC 301.2.1.
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Aug 17 at 4:55
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    @ThreePhaseEel Are you saying that a homeowner can not decide to obscure a trademark? It seems doubtful they could be restricted in this manner? Actually even in commercial it seems a stretch?
    – WestCoastProjects
    Commented Aug 17 at 15:18
  • @WestCoastProjects -- the fact that NRTLs hold trademarks on their marks is irrelevant for the purposes of this discussion. (It's like painting over the UL or ETL marks on an appliance)
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Aug 17 at 16:47
  • 1. The UL are printed on underside of other sinks and this sink has lots of other stuff on underside. It was completely unnecessary to make it visible above the countertop. 2. There is no functional loss by obscuring the logos. 3. There isn't an inspector in this country that's going to care . So 4) There is no issue in obscuring.
    – WestCoastProjects
    Commented Aug 18 at 1:55
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Unpopular opinion: do nothing.

You'll forget about it after 6 months and visitors will never notice, unless you point it out to them.

This is one of the times when less can be more.

Edit:

Alternative: do nothing with the sinks, but put something around them to cover up the branding. Maybe a vase with some flowers or colored glass beads would work nicely. Maybe a picture frame with something in it, whether it's a picture, some dried herbs, or something else that works in that space to cover the branding without cluttering look.

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  • 2
    @WestCoastProjects, I didn't ask you to do anything, this is just an option. These answers are supposed to help other/future people with similar questions, not just you, and this answer might just work for some of them.
    – computercarguy
    Commented Aug 15 at 20:54
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I agree that rotation is a reasonable approach in this case. But for future readers where this may not be an option, here is an alternative:

Print the logo in white on top of the old logo.

This way you won't have a weird looking rectangle that will always show in reflection. Instead you will have the original logo but less conspicuous.

Many companies that do product marking for advertising purposes have UV printers capable of this, though you'll need to check if they can handle an item as large as a sink.

For a DIY approach, you can buy UV curable ink, print out a mask on a transparency film and use UV light to cure the ink. To make the mask, take a photo straight from front and some distance away to avoid distortion. Then scale it appropriately and make the text a bit wider (erode/dilate tool) to fully cover the old ink.

If this fails, you can remove the ink with acetone to get back to where you started from.

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  • Rectangles stick very good to surfaces. Custom logos that trace the text yet do not come off during cleaning... It's nice in theory but I don't see it work in practice. Do you have experience with this approach?
    – Mast
    Commented Aug 15 at 7:10
  • @Mast I don't have experience with this method on porcelain. Objects like coffee mugs get marked using the same method and they last a while, though not as long as better quality ones where the image is underneath the glazing.
    – jpa
    Commented Aug 15 at 14:10

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