Your Guide To Granite Countertop Cleaning and Maintenance
Get Advice On Taking Care of a Granite Countertop
When it comes to granite countertops, there are misconceptions about difficulty caring for and maintaining the material. The truth is, granite countertop care is pretty much no big deal. Once you learn a few simple secrets, caring for this durable, luxurious and aesthetically beautiful material is actually a breeze!
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With their timeless style and wide range of colors and patterns, granite countertops continue to be one of the top choices of both designers and homeowners. Here are some tips and tricks to keep your granite looking spectacular day after day.
Granite Countertop Care
When it comes to proper care and maintenance for your granite countertops, knowledge is the key! Unfortunately, there is a lot of downright incorrect information out there when it comes to granite care. It is important to remember that your countertops are made of STONE! They are durable, resilient, and will age beautifully, with a minimal amount of regular care. While granite can become damaged, easy to avoid, and granite repair is often possible when needed. The bottom line, granite countertops can last a lifetime!
Here are some granite countertop tips and tricks!
Wipe Them Down Often!
Keeping your countertops mess-free is the first step for maintaining your granite. Whenever you use your kitchen, clean as you go, especially if you are working with acidic liquids like wine, coffee, fruit juice, or tomato sauce. These can potentially stain your counters. Wipe them up quickly.
Wipe your counters with a soft, dry, or damp microfiber cloth. Avoid using harsh cleansers or abrasive cleaners. Speak with your stone fabricator to get recommendations for the best cleaning products. NEVER use generic cleaning products that contain bleach, ammonia, vinegar, or citruses like lemon or orange.
If You Get A Stain – Work At It
Natural stone is porous and can stain when exposed to acidic substances or oils. Fortunately, there is a simple remedy you can try. Mix baking soda and water into a paste. Using a soft cloth or sponge, massage it into the stain gently. Then rinse it thoroughly with plain water. You may need to repeat the process several times to get the stain out completely.
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For a tough stain, apply the paste and leave it. Next, cover the spot with plastic wrap and keep it in place until it dries, then remove the wrap and with away the paste with a soft cloth, and rinse the spot with water.
Reseal When Needed (every two to four years)
Resealing your countertops is another task you will need to take care of. However, not all granite needs to be resealed. If you are not sure if your countertops need resealing, try this test...
Spill a little water on the surface, and make a little puddle. If the water beads up immediately, you are good. However, if the water begins to sink in and leaves a dark spot, you need to reseal them soon.
Add Some Shine
To spruce up your countertop and give it a bit of a glow, you can occasionally oil the surface. Apply a small amount of cooking oil to a soft cleaning cloth. Wipe the oil across your countertop, go back and lightly buff the entire surface. In addition to adding a pleasant sheen on the surface, this treatment can also help your countertop resist staining.
Annually Check Your Countertops Closely
Most of the maintenance surrounding your countertops consists of day-to-day clean-ups and wiping up spills. But around once a year, take the time to closely examine your countertops to look for potential issues. Check the surface for stains and scratches. Pay close attention to seams and edges. These are the areas most vulnerable to cracking and shifting. If you find stains, scratches, cracks, split seams, or any other issues, call a stone care professional. Please do not put off fixing issues when you uncover them. Delaying repairs can make it much more costly and difficult to repair.
Ongoing Tips For Proper Care
Along with the regular maintenance tips above, there are a few simple steps you can take daily to protect this focal point of your kitchen. These include:
Use Coasters: Placing coasters under glasses, bottles, cans, and other items that could scratch, stain, or leave moisture is a smart move for keeping your granite in good shape.
Use Trivets: Technically, granite can withstand the heat from pots and pans that come right off the stove, but if you want your counters to last, use trivets or hot pads. In rare cases, granite can crack as a result of thermal shock from a hot item.
Cutting Boards: While granite is durable, you should always use a cutting board. Do not ever cut directly on the stone. Not only can you scratch the stone, but you can also damage your expensive knife's edges.
Granite Countertop Maintenance Routines
Here is a list of granite countertop maintenance tips to take, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
Daily Maintenance
Clean your counters daily using hot water and a dishrag or sponge to clean spills and wipe away crumbs to keep your granite countertops throughout the day. You can also spray and wipe the main areas with a good granite counter cleaner.
Weekly Maintenance
Remove everything from the countertop, including appliances, and use the granite cleaner over the entire surface, including the edges. This will remove dust, debris, hidden gunk, or spills that collect around appliances or containers.
Using a specific granite cleaner also serves to condition the stone, protect the sealer, and help maintain its luster.
Monthly Maintenance
A temporary granite polish like a Topical Conditioning Stone Polish can be used periodically (weekly to monthly) to enhance the shine. Topical dressings are not for maintenance or repair. However, and the product does not make the top shiny. Instead, it enhances the sheen (like waxing a car) and improves cleaning, eliminates fingerprints, and provides a bit of protection.
Yearly Maintenance
Test your countertops annually using the lemon juice and water drop tests to determine if you need to reapply a sealer. However, that does NOT mean that you should be resealing your granite countertops every year. When you reseal your countertops is dependent upon several variables. Testing will guide you. You'll likely know it's time to reseal when you begin to notice that water around the sink darkens the stone.
Granite countertops are beautiful, durable, functional, and with proper care and maintenance, they can literally last a lifetime. Following the tips and schedule we've discussed here, you can keep your countertops looking great and functioning perfectly while protecting them from damage and wear.
If you live in Massachusetts, Rhodes Island, New Hampshire, Maine, or Vermont, contact us to learn more about our offer's products and options! Stonelink Marble & Granite now serves all of New England. So give the experts at Stonelink Marble & Granite a call at (508) 393-0720. Let us show you the many exciting granite options available for enhancing your kitchen or bathroom design!