Stone Care & Maintenance

After every job we send out a Stone Care & Maintenance Guide to our customer's so they know how to take care of their new countertops.
I thought I would post it here for those of you who are not lucky enough to have worked with us.  ;)

Stone Care and Maintenance

The natural stone that you have purchased is an investment that will give you a lifetime of beautiful services. Simple care and maintenance will keep your stone looking new for many years.

Sealing

We sealed your countertops during the installation process.  We recommend resealing them on a regular basis. 

For granite we recommend once every 1-2 years. 

For marble, travertine, limestone or quartzite we recommend once or twice per year.

Quartz (such as CaesarStone, Cambria, etc.) does not need to be sealed.

You will notice when your stone needs to be resealed that it will start to absorb water more quickly around the sink area. 

Sealing is a fairly easy task.  Generally you wipe it on, let it sit for a few minutes and wipe it back off.   Just follow the directions on the bottle of the sealer you purchase.

Sealers are available at all the big box home improvement stores as well as most tile stores and online.  You are probably fine with any sealer made for your particular type of stone. 

Some of our favorites are…

·         Rock Doctor Granite Sealer

·         Dupont StoneTech Natural Stone Countertop Sealer

·         Miracle Sealers 511 Impregnator

Cleaning Granite & Quartzite

While any cleaning product should be fine to use on your granite it is still best to use cleaners made for natural stone.  Cleaners not made specifically for natural stone can break down the sealer.  By using a stone specific cleaner you will extend the life of your sealer while maintaining the beautiful finish on your stone.

Any cleaner made to use on granite should work just great. 

Of course we have our favorites though!    

We use the following in our own homes….

·         Rock Doctor Granite Cleaner. 

Rock Doctor also makes a Granite Polish that is great to use once or twice per month. 

Rock Doctor is available at Lowes, Bed Bath & Beyond or from us!  You can come to our showroom to purchase it or you can buy it through our blog www.granitegurus.com.

·         Method Granite Cleaner. 

Method is an environmentally friendly line of cleaners available at Target and Lowes.

Cleaning Marble, Travertine and Limestone

These types of stones are calcium based.  This means you need to be more careful in selecting your cleaning products.  Harsh cleaning products can etch the surface of the stone.  Do not use anything acidic on these types of stone!

You also need to be much more diligent about keeping your countertops sealed with marble, travertine and limestone.

We recommend using cleaners that are made for these types of stone or even granite cleaners.  Our favorites are actually the same as granite cleaners we listed above.