better late than never

We bought our house over 2 years ago. It was a HUD home in less than show worthy state. The previous owner was a drug dealer and for the last month or so of his life in this house, he did not pay his bills. So he bbq-ed in the front yard and the house was disgusting from top to bottom. Yay! I painted all the walls, ceilings, and kitchen cabinets before we moved in. I will be the first to admit that I did not do a professional job. I just know it smelled much better in the house after painting. I am still, 2 + years later, painting the trim in the house. I lack 2 bedrooms and the hall. Today I tackled the trim in my bathroom. I also tackled a super nasty thing that has bothered me no end since we moved in: cigarette burns on the bathroom countertop. I hate them. It was a gross reminder of what had gone on in this home before we bought it. I had bleached them, scrubbed them with vinegar, and anything else I could think of. Nothing worked. I finally got the brilliant idea to check YouTube. Voila! I watched several and deduced what I could try. So here are my before and after pics:

These are before. Yucky burns ran the entire length of our countertop. Bleck!

Here is my after! Yay, clean!! The videos I had watched recommended steel wool and scrubbing powder (like Comet). As you can see in my second photo, I just used an SOS pot scrubber. They are steel wool and have a heavy duty cleaner built into them. It took a bit of elbow grease, but every single spot came off. That includes one in my shower. (don't ask me how they did that). I am a happy camper, but my arms are about to fall off from painting and scrubbing. Well, I just thought I would share this small victory with whomever shall read this.