Hi! First sit, first post, you all seem very nice and helpful and I was hoping for some advice.
A few days into the sit I noticed light scratches on the the induction/ceramic stove top and my stomach just plummeted. I did not notice them before so don’t know if it is because they weren’t there or they were there and I just didn’t notice them because …?
Frantic googling of course, but I’m very concerned about further hurting the hob.
Any help would be so greatly appreciated. Of course, I plan on telling the HOs (don’t want to ruin their holiday now), but it is really stressful, and I would love to take care of it. I’ve never used an induction hob and don’t know if you really have to TRY to scratch them, or if it just happens in the course of normal use.
I know the stress! I have found a gentle rub with bicarbonate of soda have fixed scratches in the past. It kind of “fills in” the scratches. Good luck! It might well have been there before you started!
@OneBreathAtATime , Dont stress - I am always spotting scratches, stains and breakages around the home 3 days or more into the sit then worrying for a fortnight only to be told by the home hosts on their return that they were there all the time!
Even if you have caused it, light scratches and marks are usually easy to get out. As others have said, baking soda is your best friend!
My worst was last year. We arrived at a month-long sit and the home host very proudly showed us around his very funky new kitchen that he had built himself from scratch. Two days into the sit I noticed a small dent in the formia top! only small, that showed in a certain light but deep enough to have raked the formia work surface. I was convinced we had caused it so spent 4 weeks dreading their return. I hadn’t noticed it for the first two days of our sit but from then on it was the only thing I could see when I walked into the kitchen. When the hosts did return and I sheepishly fessed up, he laughed and said it was where he had dropped a screwdriver when he was building it!! I was so relieved
Completely agree @Colin its always around the day 3 mark that I notice a scratch or a mark and like you, then spend the rest of the sit worrying and then to be told on their return it’s been there all along! We have all been there @OneBreathAtATime so please try not to worry although I know it’s hard not to!
This happened to me on my first sit in New Zealand back in 2019. I sent a message to THS to ask them if it would be covered by insurance but they, as usual, took ages to respond by which time the owners had returned and confirmed the scratches were already there. Panic over.
That is likely to be your situation as I think you’d know if you’d damaged/scratched the hob.
Oh, bless try not to worry, HO are usually very understanding, however they were probarbly already there.
We have sat “Brand New” Kitchens and the Induction/ceramic Hob is scratched…as other’s have suggested a light sponge with some fairy and baking soda/bi carb will help, even a tiny bit of cif if they have some, I often look for a ceramic hob cleaner in the HO cupboards.
As soon as we get into a new HS I take Photo’s for my own records of where things are placed and the Kitchen’s and Bathrooms, if we move anything (me thinking I have Two Autistic Teens, who’s spacial awareness can be a bit worrying at times, so I worry they could knock something over) I move it back or move it somewhere safter until the end of the sit.
I take Photo’s so that I can put my mind at ease (the hob is already scratched) It’s usually so frantic as settling in the 3/4 of us, getting to know the Pets and the Home, it does take a day or Two to really start to look and think " was that like that?" Photo’s come in handy for that, plus putting everything back where it was in the first place.
Happy Sitting
You’re all so very kind!!! I was like, “what the heck!!! did I just not see these?” And I had already photographed everything else but my lack of experience with the Dreaded Induction Hob meant I didn’t register that once the Light Above was shining upon it, Scratches From Beyond would show up. I didn’t even check!
Never.
Again.
So I’m going to address the issues with all of your guidance and multiple solutions that I ran out and bought.
In other news: the level on the pool dipped dramatically and my partner turned to me horror struck: “Did we do that!!!??”
Pools can lose a lot of water to evaporation. Typically, if it’s losing a lot of water otherwise, it’s leaking. Unless you guys are splashing a lot of water out of the pool.
My induction cook-top story isn’t as traumatic. I was on a 2 week sit and it seemed that all the cook pans didn’t have handles on them. I actually went out a bought a pan - only to discover that all of the pans shared a few detachable handles - duh. Fortunately I kept my receipt and Asda gave me a full refund.
UPDATE: The HO said that the stove scratches were already there–so my stress was for naught. But let me tell you, I will be photographing any induction hobs with great scrutiny from now on.
LOL!