As my girls got older and started getting taller, I knew that safety was going to be the major topic in the house, especially in the kitchen. Victoria had already burned herself once when she started playing with my unplugged, yet still hot curling iron one morning. She knew what “hot” was. Alexandra, though, had not really experienced something super hot, and I wasn’t sure telling her “hot” would keep her away all the time. At this point, my biggest concern was keeping them away from the stove. They LOVE to help me cook, and I just knew that it would only take a split second for them to get just an inch too close to the stove for disaster, so I started looking into something to keep them away.
I looked around and saw a couple of options out there. I eventually decided on the Prince Lionheart Adjustable Stove Guard. It was easy to find, and fairly inexpensive. It’s made of a heat resistant, poly-carbonate plastic, and it is adjustable to fit stoves from 24 to 36 inches wide. Perfect! I knew it would fit my stove! I ordered it from Walmart.com and waited. They had their Site to Store system in place, which would save me nearly $9 on shipping, so I chose that option. It was supposedly only going to take a couple of weeks, but that turned into a month. When I finally got the email from them telling me that it was in, I had nearly forgotten about it.
I went to pick it up, and opened it up as soon as I got back to the house. Of course, the girls were right next to me the entire time asking what it was. I explained that it was going to go on the stove to protect them so they wouldn’t get burned while Mommy and Daddy were cooking. I laid out all of the pieces on my counter and checked out the instructions. It was pretty self explanatory, but when it comes to safety products, I want to make sure I’m installing it properly. It came with 3 plastic shields, 3 plastic clips, and 3 pieces of double sided foam tape. I was a little skeptical, but thought that if they sell so many of them, it’s gotta work.. right!?!? WRONG!
I put everything together, cleaned off the stove front with some cleaners, dried it off, and applied the double stick foam tape. It took about 3 minutes for the weight of the plastic shields to pull the tape from the stove. I thought maybe it would help if I just stuck the clips to the stove and let them sit for a bit before I put the shields in. A few hours later, I tried putting the shields in the clips, and it fell off again… I stuck them back on and just held it there for a while. Finally… I thought it would stay on, and it did, mostly. I did have to check it constantly.
We were able to use it for a couple of days, and then I noticed some little bubbles forming in the plastic shields, and a little bit of a bend in it as well. This thing was melting! So much for heat resistance. I let it go, thinking it wasn’t too badly destroyed, and still fully functional.. Besides, I didn’t want to wait yet another month for one if I re-ordered it.
Just a couple of days later, I was boiling some water for pasta, and walked away to check on the girls in the play room. I came back, and saw the shield had melted even more! I turned off the stove immediately and let everything cool off. That was dangerous! Had that plastic melted any further, it could have set my house on fire! I took photos of the shield, and called Prince Lionheart, the manufacturer. I got to a customer service agent, and explained what the situation was. I told her that the stove guard was installed properly,and that it was leaning away from the stove, etc. She asked me to email the photos and told me she would get back to me. I received a call a couple of days later and was informed that it was determined that the damage was caused by user error. She accused me of touching the plastic with a hot pot or pan, thus melting it. I told her that the photos were taken with the pot and guard in place. I did not move anything when I took the photo AND the melting is from the top, not the bottom where a pot or pan could touch it. I was beyond upset when she told me it was my fault. I asked to speak to a supervisor. Eventually, they agreed to send me a new piece to replace the melted one.
By the time it arrived, my girls had already learned well enough to not touch the stove. We have had talks with them about how hot the stove is, and held their hands about a foot away from a boiling pot so they could feel the steam and heat from that far away… They knew that it got hotter the closer you got to the source.. Besides, the sticky tape was ruined, and I just didn’t have the energy to deal with it any more.. I was so disappointed in the product and the company…
In doing some research for this write up as far as prices go, I found several customer comments on various sites that stated the same thing happened to them… with a gas stove… Nowhere on their product description or box does it state that this product should not be used with a gas stove. It says it is Heat Resistant, and I followed all instructions.. It should have worked..
I’m sure they have several good products, but this is not one of them… I do not recommend this product. I personally feel it is more of a hazard than a safety feature.. especially if you have a gas stove…
I got mine from Walmart.com for $16.24.
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