Granite is incredibly tough – it’s one of the hardest natural materials known – so it doesn’t take much care to keep a newly installed counter looking its best. However, if you’ve just created your dream kitchen, we understand why you’d want to be extra careful with your new space. Here are our expert’s top tips for protecting your Granite Kitchen Worktop.
Our top tip? Ask for an off cut!
Many of our customers are wary of treating their granite kitchen worktops as roughly as we know they can be treated, particularly if they’ve previously had a more delicate material in place like oak or tile. If you’re installing a new stone kitchen, why not ask for an off cut to use as a chopping block or pastry slab? You can treat this spare piece as roughly as you like and see what it can handle!
Don’t use harsh cleaners
The most delicate part of a granite kitchen worktop is the finish. A highly polished stone countertop gets its gloss from an almost perfectly smooth surface. Abrasive cleaners can create tiny pits in the surface. Over time, these dull the shine. All our stone worktops are hygienically sealed so that food particles and liquids cannot penetrate them. This means that heavy duty cleaners really aren’t necessary.
Watch out for natural cleaners
Many natural cleaners contain acids (such as vinegar) or alkalis (including bleach) which can cause the same pitting conventional cleaners do. They can damage the seal on even a rough finish, so it’s really best to stick to the minimum or use a specialist stone care product. Many people simply wipe down their granite counters with a damp cloth or a splash of washing up liquid and find that’s plenty for daily care.
Mop up spills immediately
This one comes under the heading of common sense, and we imagine you already do this. The scientific reasoning behind this advice is that many foods, including vinegar, citrus fruits and wine, contain mild acids or alkalis. These, like their stronger counterparts in cleaning solutions can dull the polish or damage the seal if given time to act.
Use a chopping board
Don’t use knives or metal tools directly on your counter. Not only is this likely to permanently damage your knives (granite is tough) over time even granite can be scratched. What typically happens is that people stand in exactly the same place to perform routine actions, so a thousand tiny cuts build up, creating an odd-looking dull patch on your granite kitchen counter.
Use a heat mat or trivet
Granite can withstand more heat than most ovens can put out, so once again this is a matter of maintaining the seal and finish more than the stone itself. Heat can cause trace elements to bond to the sealant or cause small scratches or bubbles. Again, as creatures of habit we tend to use the same space over and over, so tiny amounts of damage can build up over the years.
