I tried the white vinegar. I poured some on a full strength, waited 15-20 seconds, and scrubbed with a tootbrush. The first pass removed most of the calcium build up. I did two more passes, and it was completely clean. You have to get very close and look behind the faucet to see a slight residue. At normal viewing distance it looks clean. The biggest problem is the faucet has a 4 inch spread which makes it impossible to fit your fingers between the handles and the spout. A small tootbrush barely fits. I was a bit nervous about putting straight white vinegar on granite. I figured if I could eat white vinegar, and not do damage to my digestive tract, then it probably will not damage granite. I am in the process doing the master bathroom vanity. I am going to get an 8 inch spread faucet in order to make cleaning easier.

I've lived in 8 kitchens in the past 13 years. We're currently remodeling now, so when it's done, that'll be 9. So this info is from what I've expereinced overall, not my current kitchen. Ceramic floor tile grout. The tile itself doesn't show dirt, but the grout is another story. In my current house, the previous owners installed the tile to sell the house. I was pretty certain the grout hadn't been sealed, but I didn't do it when we moved in. It also has a couple of gouges from dropped cans or pots in a few tiles even though it's not quite 3 years old. Ceramic glass/radiant heat electric cooktop. UGH. Everything boiled over, then proceeded to cook to a hard gunk on the top. To clean, you have to get a razor blade to scrape up the mess. NEVER AGAIN! I second the person who said, if you have to go electric, go induction. My single induction unit has the same type top, but since the surface itself doesn't heat, it stays relatively clean. Anything on it just wipes away easily. For those trying to acheive that streak free shine on ceramic/glass, you can forget windex or anything of that ilk. Use Weiman's cooktop cleaner and the red scrubbies they sell at Walmart. Apply the cream with the red scrubby, allow to dry to a film, and wipe off with either a microfiber or plain ol' paper towel. The cream turns an icky greige color, but once it's been wiped off, the cook top really shines, at least until the next mealtime. Another stainless fridge hater here. Ooh, that's a strong word, I know. Well, I've got 4 kids, um, I mean, 3 kids and DH and between the lot of them they can't seem to wipe their drips from the in door water dispenser. Or use the handles even though they're huge and conveniently mounted right on the front of the doors. If I had the money, I'd definitely go paneled. Downdraft. It just doesn't capture as much as an overdraft, if that's the right term. So, it causes more grease to settle on cabinet doors, backsplashes and walls. Cabinets that don't reach the ceiling. They're huge dust collectors. I don't really like the display idea, and really can't abide the fake ivy. It's just a personal thing, please don't flame me if you like that look. I'm a bit worried about what others have said about polished granite. I got a bunch of it when I bought my kitchen display cabinets. I'd just assumed we'd use it. It's a dark-ish, spotty stone called Baltic Brown. It's not my favorite color but, I've never had granite before, so it was kind of an upgrade from the tile, laminate and BB I've had in the past. I'm wondering if I should just sell it on CL and get butcher block. I've had it once before and loved it. I'm defintely not a great housekeeper. I want something that can take a quick swipe and look half way decent.

I found this by mistake, but completely agree with the tomato juice (or tomato anything) is useless -- just looks like a mess and the smell is all there when you rinse it off -- and thatt he hydrogen peroxide/baking soda method is the way to go. I have used baby shampoo as well as Dawn. One year, my dogs got hit 4 times -- the worst one of them on our driveway at the front corner or our house. The skunk was between a bush and tree trunk and got startled when the dogs came anxiously down the driveway for their evening walk. I was at the far end of the house and didn't hear DH yell for me, so he came through the house with the dogs. My car was parked right there and the smell seeped in. I tried airing it, wiping it down, but it was still smelly. I put a couple of open boxes of baking soda in the car and left it closeed up for a while and then lit a couple of scented candles and let them burn (carefully placed, windows open and monitored) for an hour or two. That took care of the final bit. All I could do for the house was turn on the range hood, spray some Febreeze and light some candles, but that worked. Our next door neighbor had dogs come in the house after being sprayed (babysitted didn't know what the smell was -- thought something was burning and alled the fire dept). They had to replace a sofa and carpet -- that I know of. If you still have skunk in the garage, I would spray or wipe down any surfaces you can and hose, mop or wipe with a clean cloth. Use baking soda (poured in some pans ofor more surface area) and as long as you can keep an eye on them, maybe try a couple of scented candles too. Like you, I keep a specially designated bottle of hydrogen peroxide and box of baking soda near the back door. The Dawn is right there too since our side door comes into the kitchen betwen our two sinks.

Well, of course you are entitled to your opinion, but to tell someone else that they will never repair something in a rental house is just an outright wrong thing to say. Which is why I qualified it two times! A leaking Delta faucet costs between $1-$25 to repair, plus about 15 minutes of time, and is well within the ability of just about any landlord. The problem being that those repairs that can be done cheaply by a landlord on a Delta faucet can be done on any faucet. Which kitchen faucet can you not find an o-ring replacement kit for? I assumed, I guess wrongly, that you were talking about the availability of replacement cartridges and base assemblies that Delta keeps available for a long time but can be hard to find for other brands. I don't see many faucets that you can't replace the o-rings in. But I will bow to your wisdom on this. ------- ETA: YMMV but in my high-end rentals, my tenants don't want me over there fixing things. I have had very bad luck, getting young professionals to accept my working on their places.