Singapore Expats

A helper who was asked to clean the stainless steel hob (and was given a special cleaning spray for it) decided to "go proactive" and brushed it with hard metal brush.. The hob was nice and almost new, only 2 years old, was of a beautiful matt metal finish, now is all in ugly brush scratches. When I saw it, I lost speech..

These can't be polished away with any of over-the-counter metal polishers. Please, can anyone recommend a fixing service who can re-polish the hob surface to bring the lost shine back 'cause the scratches are very visible..

Off-topic: now I seem to understand why some employers punish their maids..

mkdom wrote:Off-topic: now I seem to understand why some employers punish their maids..

Should punish the employer for not giving proper instructions.

Two way to go:

1. Stainless gets a nice patina once it is covered in scratches, go to any commercial kitchen and the s/s looks great when is its well used. So live with it and it will gradually even out as more scratches occur.

2. Its a tough job polishing up stainless, depends on the original finish, Some firm spray on this horrible film to make it fingerprint proof, which if you ask me makes the S/s a bit pointless. You can use tooth paste, or a abrasive powder, like the stuff you use to bed in valves in a new engine, and a shed load of elbow grease.

The thing will never look the same as when it left the factory where the polishing was done on a flat sheet of stainless to start with. If you live in the condo ask who the lift maintenance firm is as they regularly have to polish up damaged s/s door.

mkdom wrote:
Off-topic: now I seem to understand why some employers punish their maids..

they're punished coz they were pro-active? and also punished if they're not pro-active....

Can't expect too much from cheap labour. Hell, you can't expect too much from expensive labour. Myself included. Luckily I work for myself; I'm too old to take those kind of beatings.

Remove the hood and have it sent for sand blasting, as that's the only way to get the mat, matt, matte back

make sure you blast it with a right compound or you're gonna do more damage than just a bad DIY finish... i would just live with it or use some elbow grease (QRM's advice).

Elbow grease is impractical. I've done this with a scratched SS fridge with a light matte finish. It becomes quickly apparent that the elbow grease is producing a very shiny finish which must then be applied to the whole surface to satisfy aesthetics. That's a big job, and a hell of a lot more elbow grease than you probably bargained on.

QRM wrote:

mkdom wrote:Off-topic: now I seem to understand why some employers punish their maids..

Should punish the employer for not giving proper instructions.

To QRM: You seem to mis-read my post - clear instructions were given, her actions were her own "proactiveness" as I stated above. Perhaps, going personal and blaming is not the best idea when a person asks for an advise.

To all: Thank you all very much for advise, will ask around contractors and maintenance companies who do sandblasting. Its all not too bad as seemed before!

SunWuKong wrote:Elbow grease is impractical. I've done this with a scratched SS fridge with a light matte finish. It becomes quickly apparent that the elbow grease is producing a very shiny finish which must then be applied to the whole surface to satisfy aesthetics. That's a big job, and a hell of a lot more elbow grease than you probably bargained on.

you prolly using the wrong grade/grit if it's getting shiny.

mkdom wrote:

QRM wrote:

mkdom wrote:Off-topic: now I seem to understand why some employers punish their maids..

Should punish the employer for not giving proper instructions.

To QRM: You seem to mis-read my post - clear instructions were given, her actions were her own "proactiveness" as I stated above. Perhaps, going personal and blaming is not the best idea when a person asks for an advise.

To all: Thank you all very much for advise, will ask around contractors and maintenance companies who do sandblasting. Its all not too bad as seemed before!

Its nothing personal, why do people get all sensitive and come up with the personal or racist slant around here?

When you say you gave clear instructions, the end result would indicate you did not. When things go wrong it’s normally one of three reasons.

1. The person giving the instructions was not clear and did not make a sufficient assessment of intelligence and experience of the person receiving the instruction. eg. I assume most new helpers would not have S/s fridges in their homes. I always tell my new helper never to use any form of abrasive cleaner or materials including the old yellow and green washing up sponge on stainless steel, just baby oil and newspaper. Never to leave lemons on granite work tops etc.

2. The person receiving the instruction did not understand it. This is why you should always ask them to repeat back what you just instructed.

3. The person doing the work messed it deliberately

You say blaming is not the way to go. You seem to be blaming the maid who is the easy target.

QRM wrote:When you say you gave clear instructions, the end result would indicate you did not.

Oh my gosh QRM, are you kidding? With the cultural differences, the language barrier, illiteracy and the 'yes ma'am' thing going on, it's no wonder more things don't get ruined. You can be crystal clear, and they can repeat back to you verbatim, but that is simply no guarantee. There are so many filters to what you are saying, this kind of thing happens all the time.

A friend told her maid that her husband's suits were hanging by the door for the dry cleaning service to collect, so the maid thew them all in the washer, then dryer when the Ma'am left.

Another friend asked her maid to be careful of the fringe on their carpets when she vacuumed because they wrapped around the beater brush, so the maid cut all the fringe off of all their gorgeous Persian carpets.

Then there was the maid who lived in the other block at our condo. The employers went on a week's holiday, they told her how much food to give the dog per day, so she did - and completely ignored the water dish. When they came home the dog was nearly dead.

The hob top getting scratched was just an honest mistake, no? Let's not turn this into a whole maid thing...