Peetal's outside occasionally grows things that were not cooked: cloudy blooms, dark blobs, fingerprint etchings. Each has a cause, and causes matter more than scrubs.
Damp-storage bloom appears as generalised cloudiness after humid months in closed cupboards. Treatment: lemon cloth rub, rinse, dry, and relocation to airier shelving so it never reforms.
Contact stains arrive as distinct dark prints where rubber bands, certain cloths, or chemical residues sat against metal for weeks. Same acid treatment lifts most; some deep-set contact marks fade but never fully leave, becoming permanent biography.
Fingerprint etching shows as outline shadows from hands carrying lotion or salt. Cosmetic, preventable by wiping handled pieces after polishing sessions.
What distinguishes harmless outside staining from concern: location and texture. Outside, smooth-under-finger, cosmetic. Inside the lining, raised or rough, worth a daylight assessment against the wear-signs guide before treatment.
All outside treatments share one law: rinse and dry completely afterwards. Acid left sitting creates tomorrow's stain while solving today's.
Before-and-after halves of a peetal surface showing clouded bloom cleared to warm patina.