Home Improvement : Plastic Countertops Last With a Little Care

If wind and rain can grind away a mountain range, nothing lasts forever. Still, plastic countertops come close. Given reasonable care, they can take years of hard knocks, spills, daily wear and even boiling water.

Don’t slide heavy objects around on your counters. Don’t use scouring pads or abrasive cleansers on plastic countertops. Don’t even store them on countertops. Keep them under the sink. If sand or dirt get on the plastic, wipe it off immediately.

Protect counters from extreme heat. Place hot pans and cookware on trivets or insulating pads. Do the same with electric slow cookers, toasters, curling irons and the like.

Beware of harsh chemicals such as drain cleaners, rust removers, oven cleaners and so on. If any of these spill on your counter, rinse completely and wipe dry. Above all, keep your counters clean. Your basic strategy for cleaning plastic laminates is to wipe them after every meal, and to take action against spots as soon as they are discovered. Start with the mildest cleaners available, and escalate to stronger cleaners one step at a time, as necessary, to get the job done.

First step is to wash the area with warm water and a mild detergent. Then rinse with warm water and wipe dry. For spots that don’t come clean with that treatment, try an all-purpose cleaner such as Fantastik, Mr. Clean, Formula 409 and the like. Follow Label directions.

Still no luck? Try Lava soap. This is mildly abrasive, so don’t over-scrub. Instead, take a soft, wet brush and rub it over the Lava to create a lather. Then use the sudsy brush on the stain, working in a circular motion. Rinse and wipe dry. If you see an improvement, repeat two or three more times.

If the spot doesn’t respond, try some undiluted chlorine bleach. Apply it to the spot and let stand for not more than 90 seconds. Then rinse two or three times and wipe dry. This normally does the trick.

This is probably the most common “serious” problem you’ll encounter. It’s simple enough to repair. Carefully lift the laminated area with a thin knife and scrape away at the old adhesive on the back of the laminate and the counter substrate. Lift the laminate and work a good amount of contact cement in underneath it with a small brush.

You can work the cement well back under the laminate by releasing the laminate and letting it snap back down. Do this a few times, then lift the laminate one more time and prop it up with a couple of toothpicks as shown in the sketch. Let the contact cement dry for about 20 minutes, then pull the toothpicks and press the laminate down firmly in to place.

Let the repair set for a day before exposing it to water. If there’s any excess cement on the laminate surfaces, you can remove it with contact cement thinner and a rag. Try not to soak the repair with thinner, however, or you may weaken the bond.

Chips and scratches can be filed with seam fillers. These come in a wide variety of colors. Sometimes a single color will match perfectly. Other times you may have to mix two or more colors to get a good match. Manufacturers provide mixing charts that list the formulas required to match the colors produced by all laminate makes. Your local counter shop should be able to provide you with the right material to get the job done.

Major damage such as burns, blisters and deep gouges are difficult to patch. Best bets are to replace that section of the countertop, recover the whole countertop or simply cover the damage. One easy cover-up is to cement a wooden cutting board over the damage with clear silicone caulk.

DR, COUNTERTOP REPAIR, ANDERS RAMBERG / Los Angeles Times