Get Stubborn Scratches Off Your Glass Cooktop With A Handy Bathroom Staple

If you love contemporary-looking innovations in your home and sleek, modern appliances, you might be using a glass cooktop stove. With its smooth black surface, a glass-top stove makes you feel like you're sautéing in the future. Aside from looking incredibly cool, some models (check with the manufacturer) will heat up and cool down faster than stoves with gas heat or visible coils, making it a bit safer if you have kids who get into everything.

One of their few disadvantages is that they do scratch fairly easily. You can't operate your kitchen like a harried sous-chef at a popular restaurant, banging pots around at lightning speed to complete an order. If you're constantly plopping pots onto a burner or scraping them across the surface, that will accelerate the scratches that might appear even with regular use. Luckily, if you notice some scratches, you already have a handy bathroom staple that can get them off: toothpaste. Before you grab it, first clean up any food and splatter from the surface.

You'll just need two items: a soft cloth, preferably a lint-free microfiber (using a paper towel is a mistake — remember, a paper towel is made from wood pulp and you don't want to add scratches to the glass), and toothpaste. Don't use any old toothpaste, by the way. Avoid gel pastes. The absolute best type for this job is white toothpaste that contains baking soda, which is only slightly abrasive and perfect for this job.

Your prep involves having already cleaned the cooktop's surface, making sure it's free of any caked-on food or oil — and of course, that the stove is turned off and has completely cooled. Squeeze out a nickel-sized drop of toothpaste right onto the scratched area and buff it with the cloth, lightly rubbing the toothpaste in for a couple of minutes. Wipe any residue away to check your work and reapply if needed. Lastly, wipe with a clean cloth or moist sponge to remove all the toothpaste.