I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?
Thanks

On 3/28/2008 10:37 PM spake thus:

I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

What kind of stains? Before you start grinding the surface away
(remember that's what abrasives do, remove material), you might try
removing the stains with bleach. A lot of stains will respond favorably
to that. Try a small area first; use a Q-tip to apply just a little
undiluted bleach and see if it clears the stain.

I recently cleaned up an old piece of furniture with a Formica top by
using a mixture of (mostly) naphtha, denatured alcohol and just a dash
of acetone, scrubbing with fine steel wool. Cleaned up very nicely.
(This one had big gobs of dried paint on it.)

If you do ending up actually grinding the stains away, keep in mind that
you'll need to polish it up afterwards. Can be done, but involves a lot
of elbow grease.

On Mar 29, 4:07*am, David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 3/28/2008 10:37 PM spake thus:

I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

What kind of stains? Before you start grinding the surface away
(remember that's what abrasives do, remove material), you might try
removing the stains with bleach. A lot of stains will respond favorably
to that. Try a small area first; use a Q-tip to apply just a little
undiluted bleach and see if it clears the stain.

I recently cleaned up an old piece of furniture with a Formica top by
using a mixture of (mostly) naphtha, denatured alcohol and just a dash
of acetone, scrubbing with fine steel wool. Cleaned up very nicely.
(This one had big gobs of dried paint on it.)

If you do ending up actually grinding the stains away, keep in mind that
you'll need to polish it up afterwards. Can be done, but involves a lot
of elbow grease.

If the countertop is white, try bleach. I had a white formica
countertop and stains came out easily using bleach.

Mikepier writes:

If the countertop is white, try bleach. I had a white formica
countertop and stains came out easily using bleach.

Yeah, try bleach. It works on non-white countertops, too. When I've
had stains that don't wipe up immediately, I've put down a paper towel
or rag soaked in a dilute bleach solution over the stain for half an
hour or so to let it "work". Wear gloves to protect your hands.

-Sandra

wrote in message
...
I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

Clensers like comet will take the finish off whatever you use them on. My
recommendation for your problem is Barkeeper's Friend. It is a polishing clenser
with bleaching additions.

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..

wrote in message
...
I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

Clensers like comet will take the finish off whatever you use them on. My
recommendation for your problem is Barkeeper's Friend. It is a polishing
clenser with bleaching additions.



barkeeper's friend is simply oxalic acid. it is not a polish, is not a
cleanser, and has no bleach additions.

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:58:26 -0700, "charlie"
wrote:


"Bob F" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

Clensers like comet will take the finish off whatever you use them on. My
recommendation for your problem is Barkeeper's Friend. It is a polishing
clenser with bleaching additions.



barkeeper's friend is simply oxalic acid. it is not a polish, is not a
cleanser, and has no bleach additions.



I recommend household bleach to remove food stains. It is
non-abrasive and won't scratch or dull the surface. You can "revive"
a dull countertop using an auto polisher and successive abrasive cuts
made for autos. This can make a mess, mask off areas using newspaper
and masking tape.

"charlie" wrote in message
...

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..

wrote in message
...
I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

Clensers like comet will take the finish off whatever you use them on. My
recommendation for your problem is Barkeeper's Friend. It is a polishing
clenser with bleaching additions.



barkeeper's friend is simply oxalic acid. it is not a polish, is not a
cleanser, and has no bleach additions.

It does do a very good job on stains in my experience. Thanks for the
correction. Iassumed it bleached the stains - my error.

On Apr 11, 7:09*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
"charlie" wrote in message

...







"Bob F" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
....
I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

Clensers like comet will take the finish off whatever you use them on. My
recommendation for your problem is Barkeeper's Friend. It is a polishing
clenser with bleaching additions.

barkeeper's friend is simply oxalic acid. it is not a polish, is not a
cleanser, and has no bleach additions.

It does do a very good job on stains in my experience. Thanks for the
correction. Iassumed it bleached the stains - my error.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have good luck with making a paste out of
ajax" cleanser and applying, then covering with paper towels[as
mentioned], but i test an area first, after leaving the stain covered
for awhile, and if still bad, leave covered and keep moist till stain
comes out, sometime you still have to scrub, but use a quality
scrubber pad, new if possible. "SOS" pads work well, too, i think they
are -oo- double ot[spelling?] and work on most stains, test first, can
scratch if used roughly. your landlord could have the countertops re-
covered at less cost than tearing out and replacing, that is the
beauty of laminate.
rose

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..

"charlie" wrote in message
...

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..

wrote in message
...
I live in a rented house where the plastic countertop (probably from
the 70's and 80's)
is badly stained. The landlord will not replace it. I was wondering if
I could somehow clean it.
Regular cleaners including comet cleanser doesn't do much. I was
wondering if using an orbital buffer would be more effective
especially with a more abrasive cleanser.
Can anyone recommend something more abrasive than comet for my
application?

Clensers like comet will take the finish off whatever you use them on. My
recommendation for your problem is Barkeeper's Friend. It is a polishing
clenser with bleaching additions.



barkeeper's friend is simply oxalic acid. it is not a polish, is not a
cleanser, and has no bleach additions.

It does do a very good job on stains in my experience. Thanks for the
correction. Iassumed it bleached the stains - my error.

It does, by the way, say "Cleanser & Polish" on the container.