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Commercial Stainless Steel Sink Buying Guide

Buying Guide

Commercial Stainless Steel Sink Buying Guide

How to choose a commercial sink — single, double or potwash, and which side the drainer goes — with real bowl sizes and fit.

Not sure which suits you? Call us on 03 9783 6325.

A commercial sink is the one fixture in a kitchen that every health inspection, every service and every close-down runs through. Get the size or the drainer side wrong and you don't just have an awkward sink — you have staff carrying dripping trays across a bowl a hundred times a shift, or a unit that won't fit the run you built the kitchen around.

Not every buyer runs a kitchen, either. A commercial-grade stainless sink is a popular choice for a laundry, a garage or workshop wash-up, an outdoor or alfresco kitchen, or a shed — it's tougher and more hygienic than a domestic unit and takes the abuse. The decisions below are the same whether it's going in a restaurant or your garage.

This guide covers what actually matters: how many bowls, which side the drainer goes, whether you need a potwash, and what has to be true for it to fit and connect. Every figure is from our own range, so you're comparing real sinks, not marketing.

If you'd rather talk it through, call us on 03 9783 6325.

Single bowl, double bowl or potwash? Start with the task

  • Single bowl — general washing, prep rinsing, a hand-wash-up station. The right choice where space is tight or the sink isn't the main dishwashing point. 1000mm and 1200mm wide.
  • Double bowl — the workhorse. Two bowls let you wash in one and rinse in the other, which is how most councils expect a manual wash-up to work. If this is your primary wash-up sink, start here. 1400mm to 1800mm wide.
  • Potwash — a single extra-large, extra-deep bowl built to swallow oven trays, gastronorm pans and stock pots that won't fit a standard 400mm bowl. If your pain is scrubbing big cookware, this is the one. 600mm to 1400mm wide, including a 700mm-deep bench option.

A common setup in a busy kitchen is a double bowl for everyday wash-up plus a potwash for the big gear — they do different jobs and one doesn't replace the other.

Size and price — the real range

All heights are 860mm to the bench (960mm to the top of the rear splashback), which lines up with a standard commercial prep bench so the sink sits flush in a run. Depth is 600mm on most models (700mm on the wider potwash units).

Single bowl

Width Bowl Drainer Suits
1000mm 400×400×250 Left or right Compact kitchens, secondary station
1200mm 400×400×250 Left or right Cafés, small kitchens

Double bowl

Width Bowls Drainer Suits
1400mm 2 × 400×400×250 Left or right Standard café / restaurant wash-up
1600mm 2 × 400×400×250 Left or right Busy kitchens
1800mm 2 × 400×400×250 Double drainer High-volume, drainer both sides

Potwash

Width Bowl Depth Suits
600mm Extra-large 600mm Tight corner potwash
800mm Extra-large 700mm Deeper bowl for big pots
1200mm 1000mm long bowl 600mm Trays, gastronorm, stock pots
1400mm Twin large bowl 700mm Heavy potwash, two-bowl

Live pricing is on each product page — follow the links below to the current listing.

Left-hand or right-hand drainer? The one people get wrong

This is the decision that causes the most regret, and it's simple once you see it.

Stand facing the sink. A left-hand drainer has the flat draining board on your left and the bowl on your right; a right-hand drainer is the mirror image. That's all the name means — which side the drainer sits when you're standing at it.

Choose it by the direction your wash-up flows. Dirty items come in on one side, get washed in the bowl, and clean items land on the drainer to drip and stack before they move on to a bench, a shelf or a dishwasher. You want the drainer on the side where clean items go next. If your clean bench or your dishwasher entry is to the right of the sink, buy a right-hand drainer, so washed items move naturally rightward instead of being carried back across a full bowl.

Get it backwards and every clean tray drips over the dirty bowl or gets double-handled. It's a small decision that a busy kitchen feels on every shift.

If your sink sits in the middle of a run with benches both sides, or you just want flexibility, the 1800mm double-bowl has a drainer on both sides and sidesteps the choice entirely.

Bowl size — will your gear actually fit?

The number nobody publishes and everybody needs. Standard bowls across the single and double range are 400 × 400mm and 250mm deep. That comfortably takes dinner plates, mixing bowls and 1/1 gastronorm pans on the flat, but a full-size oven tray or a tall stock pot is a squeeze.

That's exactly what the potwash range is for. Its bowls are extra-large — up to a 1000mm-long single bowl on the 1200mm unit — and the 800mm and 1400mm models go 700mm deep front to back, so a sheet tray or a 71L stockpot drops straight in. If big cookware is your daily grind, the size difference is the whole reason the potwash exists.

All models use a standard 40mm waste outlet, so they connect to normal commercial plumbing without adapters.

Fit and installation

  • Height: 860mm to the bench top, 960mm to the top of the rear splashback. Standard bench height, so it lines up with your stainless steel prep benches in a run.
  • Depth: 600mm on most models; 700mm on the wider potwash units — check the gap before you commit, especially against a wall with services behind.
  • Rear splashback: raises the back to 960mm and protects the wall behind from splash.
  • Undershelf: every model includes one — usable storage for tubs, chemicals or drying racks.
  • Adjustable feet to level on an uneven floor.
  • You'll need a plumber. These are free-standing sinks that connect to your waste and water — the 40mm outlet is standard, but connection is a licensed-plumber job. Factor it into the fit-out cost.

What to look for in a commercial sink

  • Commercial-grade stainless steel — hygienic, corrosion-resistant, wipes clean, and it's what a health inspector expects to see.
  • A rear splashback — protects the wall and keeps the join sealed and cleanable.
  • A proper undershelf — turns the space under the bowl into storage instead of dead space.
  • The right waste and overflow — a 40mm outlet that connects to standard plumbing.
  • Adjustable feet — a level sink drains properly and doesn't pool.

Warranty

Every Borrelli sink is backed by warranty — see the product page for the current term and what it covers. (We keep warranty details on the product page so there's a single source of truth if terms change.)

Frequently asked questions

What size commercial sink do I need?
For most cafés and restaurants a 1400mm double bowl is the standard wash-up sink. Add a potwash if you regularly scrub trays and big pots. Tight on space? A 1000mm or 1200mm single bowl.
What's the difference between left-hand and right-hand drainer?
Which side the flat draining board sits when you face the sink. Choose the side your clean items move toward next — toward your clean bench or dishwasher — so washed gear isn't carried back over the bowl.
Do I need a single or double bowl?
Double bowl if it's your main wash-up — one to wash, one to rinse, which is how manual wash-up is meant to work. Single bowl for a secondary or prep station.
What's a potwash sink?
A sink with an extra-large, extra-deep bowl for oven trays, gastronorm pans and stock pots that won't fit a standard 400mm bowl.
Will it fit my kitchen bench line?
Yes — all sinks are 860mm to the bench, standard bench height, so they sit flush in a run. Check width and the 600–700mm depth against your space.
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