I recently moved from a fancy place with stone countertops to a cheap house that has plain white plastic countertops. I am amazed at the amount of dirt on a countertop every day. Was that crap on my previous countertop, and I just couldn't see it? How is that a good thing? (most countertops advertise their ability to conceal dirt).

To me, clean kitchen is like washing hands: not just a convenient habit- it's a smart investment in my health. A bit of raw meat left overnight and stuck to my morning toast harbors the potential for a day of foodpoisoned toilet cuddles ... Or worse.

If you like the idea of hiding dirt rather than seeing it, why not extend it? Look for the poo-print toilet bowl idea. Whatever suits ya- I aim to please...

It's been years since I joined. I'm so glad tall have been keeping the halfbakery alive an pumping!
-- white, Sep 14 2009

Floor changes colors when wet. Floor_20changes_20colors_20when_20wet_2e
vaguely similar [xaviergisz, Sep 17 2009]

Tall = "yall" in iphonese.
-- white, Sep 14 2009


I keep a family of slugs on and around my countertops; that way they become self-cleaning. Some slugs get to be fairly giant.
-- vincevincevince, Sep 14 2009


I am totally gobsmacked by your restraint in using this site.

I have a serious problem with lurking slugs. There was actually one in the indoor toilet cistern the other day. I wonder if they're edible.

Anyway, chastened by your example, [white], i must say something overwhelmingly pithy and germane. Um, i think you have the Sutton and Cheam problem in reverse. Sutton is dark dirt on pale objects, cheam light dirt on dark (thanks to Douglas Adams, as always). If you have a surface of any particular colour, it will hide dirt of the same colour. Right now, i can think of two ways out of this. One is to have a transparent work surface, the other a glowing one. No, i've thought of a third. You have a knob on the side of the surface which you adjust to change its colour or simply have it cycle through the spectrum. Alternatively, you could research into the rarest colour of dirt and make it that colour, or maybe find the commonest colour and make it a complementary colour.

Not very pithy that, was it?
-- nineteenthly, Sep 16 2009


Color cycling countertops?! I weep with joy at the idea! I think it may not reveal the dirt, but I would gladly suffer a bit of food poisoning now and then to have such an awesome kitchen.

Yep, re halfbakery absence, It's just too great to ignore.
-- white, Sep 16 2009


How about one with a spectrum on it which constantly cycles through a colour wheel and responds to the ambient sound?
-- nineteenthly, Sep 16 2009


Electrified, bug-zapper style for self cleaning ability.
-- Sparkyplugclean, Sep 16 2009


How about a UV pumped countertop? None of my dirt seems to be UV emitting (except spilled Gin) and it would also be if not self cleaning, then at least self sanitizing. For safely sake you may want to add your own UV blocking spit screens.
-- MisterQED, Sep 17 2009


A UV-emitting floor would enable you to spot mislaid teeth.
-- nineteenthly, Sep 17 2009


There is no idea here. Great to have an old figure around, but do not you think praises should be dealt only after a successful post?
-- daseva, Sep 17 2009


Idea = counter top which shows the dirt.

halfbakedness = s/he doesn't know how.


Other users try to think of a way of making it possible.

Seems OK to me.
-- nineteenthly, Sep 17 2009


/big screen countertop/ there is your dirt-revealing solution, when the smallest speck of dirt appears anywhere on the countertop, it replicates it across it's entire surface, thus notifying the user of dirtiness. Push a button, and the countertop resets with a circle around the dirty spot. Wipe it clean, and the entire system resets.
-- Sparkyplugclean, Sep 18 2009



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