GRANITE & NATURAL STONE

 Care & Maintenance

Although we usually think of stone as "hard," it is a porous material. Natural stone has varying degrees of porosity depending on the type of stone. If left unsealed, spills and everyday messes can easily penetrate the surface. The liquid eventually evaporates but the stain is left behind.

Natural stone is very porous, with some being more porous that others.  The best way to prevent stains is to treat the surface with a protective sealer. The sealer fills in the pores and repels spills on the surface, allowing you time to completely wipe it away.  Be sure to check your granite or natural stone every 3-6 months, depending on use.  A good method to check if your countertop or surface needs to be re-sealed is by using a spray bottle of water and spraying a small spot on your stone.  If it beads up and stays beaded after a period of 10 or so minutes, you know your sealer is still protecting.  If the water disappears after that time period, you will need to seal the surface. 

Before the sealing process we recommend using a cleaner.  We recommend a product from DuPont that is a cleaner/revitalizer.  This will ensure you get all grease, oils, etc. cleaned from surface before you start the sealing process.  Spray or pour on the cleaner and wipe down with a clean, dry rag or cloth.  After a couple minutes, buff off the excess with another clean, dry cloth.  You are then ready to seal.

Sealing your granite or natural stone countertop / surfaces incorporates the use of a high quality sealer / revitalizer and a clean dry rag or cloth.  You can also use a squeegee to float the liquid sealer across all exposed surface areas.  This allows the sealer to be pushed into and penetrate the natural pores and crevices in some granite and stones.  After all countertops / surfaces are sealed, take a dry, clean cloth and buff off all excess sealer that might be sitting on the surface.  Clients can purchase a bottle of cleaner / sealer from us here at our showroom if needed. 

Some granite will need to be sealed more often than others.  Granites lighter in color, lots of veining, etc will typically need to be sealed more frequent than granites such as an Absolute Black.  Typically a granite that has a tighter grain pattern and darker in color, will not need sealed as often because of being more dense and less porous.  ALL Granites and natural stones will need sealed.

Other natural stones such as Marble, Limestone, Soapstone, etc. will typically need sealed more often than most granite.  Those stones are softer and more porous than most granite.  Same process of cleaning and sealing goes for these stones as listed above for granite.

We highly recommend the use of cutting boards or trivets under any skillets, crock-pots, etc. as direct, extreme heat can cause thermal shock to natural stone.  Even though granites and other natural stones are a rock and made of some of the hardest material on earth, they can like any other surface, be damaged.  Take special caution when using extreme heat. 

We highly recommend the use of cutting boards to cut on as well.  It is more likely you will dull your knives than scratching the granite countertop or surface, but there are chances of scratching or marring the surface.  Take special caution to avoid the chance of this happening. 

If you have any questions regarding the Care & Maintenance of your Natural Stone countertop or surface, please don’t hesitate to give us a call @ 541 – 484 – 6268