I’m sharing this method again because it is the easiest cleaning trick I have ever discovered. Squeeze some toothpaste on (make sure it’s the white non-gel stuff!), let it sit for 10 minutes, rub a quick minute, and you’re done.
For the second time, I had a stain appear on the countertop that I could not make disappear with my normal arsenal. I had received some lovely coasters as a gift and immediately put them to use. However, a couple days later I noticed pink rings were showing up on the counter by the sink (where we put dishes before they get pre-washed to get loaded in dishwasher). Apparently, the coaster color was sticking to the bottom of the glasses due to moisture. Kept the coasters, but they’re now a decor piece rather than a useful household item. Most of the pink rings disappeared with a quick scrub but the one below had apparently sat too long.
So, I was stuck with a pink ring. I have probably wiped down the counter a hundred times since this first appeared. I wipe down the counters a lot during cooking! (Forgive the picture quality…my counters are patterned like that and with the lighting it was hard to get a good shot. And I wasn’t spending 20 min. getting the perfect shot of a pink-stained counter! haha).
Anyway, 10 minutes and a couple swipes of a wet rag later, my counter is back to normal! Including the permanent brown scrape that is irreparable. Military housing. You live with the scuffs and scratches.
Here’s my previous story of discovering this trick. I love it because I was actually in a smart-alecky mood when I wrote it, so it’s got some great over-the-top scene setting.
From last year:
The house the military has recently given us to live in is all right in most aspects. However, the cheap countertops have already started to annoy me. I have a little scale for weighing foods. It has little rubber sticky things on the bottom so it doesn’t….ha-ha….mark up the counter. Well, in this case, the little rubber sticky things themselves left black scuff marks on my countertops. Cleaning them has been a saga of epic proportions.
First, I spritzed on my normal cleaner and did a little scrub with a washcloth. Swish, flick, wipe. Looked and there those black marks still were.
Hmmm. I rubbed harder, added more cleaner. Rubbed again. Broke out the hard bristled brush. I stepped back and narrowed my eyes. I’ve gotten stains out you wouldn’t imagine. I am a master. I would not be defeated.
I went to back-ups a, b, & c (which are vinegar & water, baking soda, and bleach & water, respectively). One by one they fell. Defeated. Dead in the dust…well, dead on the laminated kitchen floor.
I lifted my chin, still strong. I then scrubbed with straight bleach. My hang-nails disappeared (yeah, I know, you’re supposed to wear rubber gloves), but the black marks remained. I sat down on the kitchen floor, the countertop above me. Slowly, the determination which had bled out during the previous 20 scrubbings trickled back into my veins. I’m a military wife. I can clean anything; I can fix anything; I can deal with a house fire, a missing cat, and a stolen credit card- at the same time- without any spousal support and without crying.
An internet search yielded up a new solution. I marched up the stairs, retrieved my non-gel toothpaste, and applied a thick coat to one of the marks. I waited the required 30 minutes. I then scrubbed- just for a moment- with a soft-bristle brush. The white of the toothpaste obscured the countertop. I was breathless, unable to see if it had worked, wondering if I had finally succeeded. The final step. I wiped the countertop clean with a damp washcloth….. (are you holding your breath?)
The countertop was clean! Toothpaste had defeated the evil black marks, and shown up expensive store-bought cleaners, vinegar, baking soda, and straight bleach. I nodded my head slightly at the toothpaste, showing my respect, one veteran cleaning warrior to a new champion.
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