I have a ceramic cooktop range which is very prone to getting stones.
While I have kept it reasonably clean, I have been unable to remove a
particularly stubborn stain on one of the stoves. I believe this was
caused by a by a syrapy spill.
Looking for suggestions to eliminate this stain. I have tried Chlorox,
and mild sulphuric acid without effect.

Hello niloo-ga,

I sympathize with your stain removal problem; I've tackled many a
stain in my day and know how frustrating it can be. I've found
numerous Websites that offer solutions to the ceramic cooktop stain
problem; I hope one of these works for you and we hear of a good
report!

Here's an article on cleaning a glass/ceramic cooktop:

"Burned On, Crusty Soils: Hold a razor blade scraper at 30 degree
angle and very carefully scrape off soil. Clean remaining soil with
cooktop cleaner.

If plastic, sugar or foods with a high sugar content melt onto a hot
cooktop, remove immediately. (If not removed, permanent damage may
occur.) Scrape from hot surface using a razor blade scraper held
carefully with a potholder or use a wooden handled stainless steel
spatula. Clean residue with cooktop cleaner when surface has cooled."

Maytag.com: Cleaning Your Glass-Ceramic Cooktop
http://www.maytag.com/mths/ideas/recipes_articles.jsp?strTopic=DishwashingKitchenCleaning&strPageType=article&strOID=8253&cs=0&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

All of the sites I've visited warn about sugary spills and allowing
them to bake in or be subject to heat because it may make the stain
permanent. A site I found for specifically CERAN® brand cooktops
states that the cooktop should be "conditioned" before working with
sugary foods, in case of spillover:

"Before cooking food with a high sugar content (e.g. jam), always
treat the cooktop panel with a suitable conditioner. A suitable
cleaner and conditioner against sugar attack is Cera-Fix (Johnson
Wax)."


Stone Care International lists a few products that can help with
stains on ceramics:

"Stone Care International recommends the following products for the
cleaning and maintenance of Ceramic Tile Countertops & Tabletops.
Click on the product name for the full description of the product and
its usage."

Stone Care International
http://www.stonecare.com/shop/browse/9fe7981de52511db2985e268c32cfb21

I hope these help -- you may also want to see if you still have the
cooktop's manual. Sometimes the manual offers help on cleaning and
troubleshooting as in this example manual for a ceramic cooktop. This
manual does caution about sugary spills:

"Food spillovers with a high sugar content such as jellies, fudge and
candy syrups must be removed immediately, before cooling, as they can
cause permanent damage to the cooktop. Plastics and aluminium foil can
also cause pitting and must never be allowed to melt on. Special care
should be taken when removing hot substances. Turn off all surface
units affected by the spillover and remove the hot pans. Wearing an
oven mitt to hold the scraper, scrape the spill to a cool area of the
cook top and use a paper towel to remove any excess. Clean the surface
unit when cool. Do not continue to use the soiled area until all the
spillover has been removed."

"RECOMMENDED CLEANERS FOR CERAMIC COOKTOP
Weiman Cooktop Cleaning Creme (Sample provided with the cooktop)
Cera Care
Hopes Cooktop Cleaning Creme
Cerama Bryte"

Fisher And Paykel Customer Care Manual (PDF File)Pages 11 and 12
http://usa.fisherpaykel.com/CustomerCare/Usecare/pdfs/599085B3.pdf

One of the products recommended above is Cerama Bryte. Here is their
website which offers helpful information on how Cerama Bryte works.

"CERAMA BRYTE Ceramic Cooktop Cleaner is designed for use on ALL
glass-ceramic cooktops. It is tested and qualified for CERAN® by
SCHOTT GLAS and is recommended by EuroKera. It is non-toxic and
biodegradable."

"Use and Care Instructions for Glass-Ceramic Cooktops 
Glass-ceramic cooktops are made of very strong, heat resistant glass. 
With proper care, they should stay looking good through years of use. 
Make sure you always read the glass-ceramic manufacturers'
instructions first for full details of care and maintenance.

Clean the glass surface with CERAMA BRYTE ceramic cooktop cleaner
before you use the cooktop for the first time. Also, clean the glass
surface after each use. This helps protect the top and makes clean-up
easier..."

GOLDEN VENTURES, INC.
Homecare Products: Cerama Bryte
http://www.ceramabryte.com/page6.htm

Finally, the manuals I've listed do recommend using a razor blade to
scrape residue from the ceramic cooktop -- one cooktop even came with
a razor blade tool. You may want to check and see if your range came
with any kind of cleaning tools or if you can order one from the
company.

This PDF file from Fisher and Paykel recommends razor blade cleanup
for sugary spills:

"Clean these listed spillovers immediately using the razor blade
scraper provided. SugarSugar syrupJamMelted plasticsPlastic wrapMelted
aluminium foilDo not let these cool on the cooktop. If allowed to
cool, pitting will occur on the surface..."

"WARNING Do not use abrasive sponges of any type. Corrosive cleaners
such as oven sprays and stain removers should not be used. If the
stain is allowed to burn onto the surface, it may react with the glass
ceramic and will no longer be removable."

Fisher and Paykel
SOL X CERAMIC COOKTOP/HOB 
Cleaning Spillovers (Page 16)
http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:3IJ3mOGCFQkJ:www.fisherpaykel.co.nz/CustomerCare/Usecare/pdfs/599060E.pdf+removing+stain+from+ceramic+cooktop&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

If you've been able to avoid exposing the portion of the cooktop that
is affected to heat, you still have a very good chance at removing the
stain. According to these sources, though, the "syrup" that has
spilled might have reacted with the glass and won't be removable. I
wish you the best of luck in restoring your cooktop and hope that this
information will result in a successful cleansing of that stubborn
stain.

Sincerely,
Filian-ga

SEARCH STRATEGY:
removing stain from ceramic cooktop

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Clarification of Answer by filian-ga on 16 Oct 2003 12:20 PDT

Hello niloo-ga,

I'm sorry you were not satisfied with my suggestions. There was no way
to guarantee any of these methods would work, which I know must be
frustrating, but as you asked for "suggestions to eliminate this
stain", I did my best in giving you many options to try.

Please let me know what you believe is missing from my answer and why
you felt the one star rating was warranted in this instance.

I am regretful that none of these suggestions worked for you. Did you
have a chance to pick up any of the products mentioned (aside from
using the razor blade)? There may still be hope.

Sincerely,

Filian-ga

The answer is a rehash of information from various web sites. Most ask
for scraping with razor blade immediately after the spill. In my case
it is too late. I am not happy with the answer. It seems to me that
effectively there is no answer. I had scraped the spill with razor
blades for at least an hour.It did not help then, and it certainly
would not help now. This is my honest appraisal

A friend who has a glass cooktop swears by a product called Cerama
Bryte. Using this stuff, she was able to expunge a tenacious spaghetti
sauce stain that nothing else could remove.
 
http://store.yahoo.com/bestmaytaghac/cleaner.html

Clean ceramic rangetops with straightedge razor blades.  Box of 100
blades (either stainless or extra-keen it doesn't really matter) costs
maybe $10.  You need to take a leap of faith that a razor blade will
not gouge and scratch the glass, but a couple of swipes and you'll see
that it doesn't.  Once the thick crud is off, switch to ceramabryte
which contains silicone that leaves a shiny finish.  I wouldn't use
just ceramabryte because it's expensive and really just not the right
tool for the job of removing thick crud.

Maybe some of these suggestions will help --

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=156255

-K~

Good answer.  My mother-in-law is ready to scrape with a razor blade
and finsh with the cerama bryte after seeing your answer and the
comments.  Thanks.