Hi All,
I had a few splashes and drips of the soap batter on my kitchen bench top. I wiped it up, but it has left marks that will not come off.
Any tips for getting rid of these marks? The bench top is Formica.
Looks like I might have to invest in a silicone baking sheet to lay down before soaping in future.
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It looks like the formica's plastic surface has reacted with the caustic batter and started to cloud, which means cleaning won't remove the marks.
1/ If the clouding has come from miniscule pitting of the bench surface (this happens to old glass too), you can check if just applying a surface coat would work. This can be checked by lightly wetting a small area of clouding with sweet almond oil ... if the clouding disappears or is reduced when you do this, it will also be reduced when the surface receives a coating (the holes will be filled and the reflections that cause the cloudy look will be minimized). You'd need to clean the surface thoroughly before adding any coating (especially after adding oil), and check that the coating will bond with the formica (some varnishes will not, and some will require sanding to bond - see step 2).
2/ If the clouding is a uniform reaction that hasn't gone too deep into the surface, you might be able to very finely sand the top and apply a few layers of very thin, clear epoxy over the top. Sanding itself also causes more clouding, so it cannot be done without the coating step, and removes some of the surface plastic, which flattens out the texture. Sanding too deep into the formica can also cause damage (by going past the surface plastic and into the structure). Doing a little test spot well out of sight first would be a good idea (to check whether the finish is better or worse than you already have). To add texture, see step 3.
3/ Stippling can be achieved using a fairly stiff brush and dabbing it on the surface. Replicating the stippled surface of textured formica is quite difficult to do after manufacture, but you can get closer in look to the original than a fully flat surface (less is more when doing this - stop before you think you've added enough stippling is more likely to give a pleasing result that over-stippling). Timing stippling can be tricky - the surface needs to be tacky enough to lift with the bristles, but not so much that the bristles leave indentations ... the idea is that the epoxy lifts slightly with the bristles as you remove the brush, and the stipple is created according to the volume, thickness and stiffness of your brush.
4/ Or you can fully re-coat the surface with a new finish - done well this can look like a new benchtop.
Personally I'd try the sweet almond oil test, and if that works (the clouding clears up a little) I'd consider adding a light epoxy coat, but if it didn't work I wouldn't bother doing anything else (unless it's important for you to minimize the damaged look).
... and a mat