Finally fixed the mystery knobs on my stove

Same kind of problem here but from wear instead of vandalism. Our old Hotpoint had the markings worn completely smooth after years of the previous family cooking, and I did the whole water test thing too, boiling a pot on each position and writing down what it actually did. Found out medium high on ours was barely different from high, which explained a lot of my ruined stir fries. One thing that worked even better for me than the paint pen was replacement knobs. I measured the shaft on the stove, it was a standard D shaped stem, and found a pack of universal knobs online for like twelve bucks. They came with little numbered dials that just press on and turn, so now I have actual numbers again instead of dots or tape. I also took a photo of my notes and stuck a copy inside the cabinet door right next to the stove, so when the knobs get swapped around by guests I can put them back in the right order. That bit me once when my brother in law reorganized everything and I cooked potatoes on what turned out to be the simmer setting for an hour. Your dot system is honestly more durable than the marker trick I tried first, that wiped off in a week.

We had the same thing in our last rental, except the dials were melted half smooth from someone leaning a baking sheet against them. I tried the marker route first and it smeared off within a month of wiping down grease, which happens constantly on a stove. What actually held was nail polish. My wife had a little bottle of white in a drawer, tiny brush, and I just filled the engraved lines in and wiped the excess off the surface with a damp paper towel before it dried. Two years later you could still read every position. For the gouged spots like you describe, filling the scratch first helps. I used a crayon matched to the color, rubbed it into the grooves, then buffed it flat with a soft cloth before putting the polish dots on top. Sounds silly but it made the panel look way less chewed up from across the kitchen.

Also worth pulling the knobs and checking underneath. Ours had the numbers stamped on the knob base itself, so half the info was there the whole time.

Label maker tape held up way better for me than anything wet. I ran a little strip above each dial with the settings typed out, pressed it down hard with a fingernail, and years later it's still on there through daily wiping. The trick is putting it above the panel where the sponge doesn't hit it, not on the flat face where hands drag across. Also on the knob swapping thing, mine had a flat spot on the shaft so they only go on one way per position. If yours are like that, snap a photo before pulling them all off for cleaning, saves the guessing later.

Funny enough mine weren't even scratched, the whole dial panel was just missing when I moved in. Found the model number inside the oven door and pulled up the manual online, which had a diagram of the layout. Printed it, cut it out, taped it behind the knobs. Looks almost factory if you don't look too hard.

One thing I'd add for anyone doing the water test, do it with the same pot every time. I used a little saucepan for half the settings and a big stockpot for the rest and my notes were basicly useless till I redid them all.

I'd push back on the water test everyone keeps praising. Water sits at the same temp once it's boiling no matter what the burner is doing, so if you're watching what the pot does, medium high and high will always look identical. You'd only catch a difference by timing how long it takes to get there. I test the low end with water, then check the top settings by how fast an empty pan gets screaming hot. The Hotpoint guy prolly had a perfectly fine stove and blamed it for a quirk of the test.