Maintaining the beautiful gleam of a polished countertop requires regular, smart cleaning. Start by wiping them down with a rag or soft sponge that’s been soaked in hot water. Wipe the counters down before moving on to the granite cleaner. Many of the all-purpose cleaners that you can use on appliances and other surfaces can leave streaks, or even a filmy residue behind when used on granite. Using a specially-formulated granite cleaner, such as one from Rock Doctor, gets your counters clean, while avoiding the extra scrubbing, mess and frustration of an all-purpose cleaner.
If you’re using a spray can granite cleaner, make sure to shake it well before you spray (if the directions tell you to give it a good shake). It may sound silly, but firmly pressing the spray button down will save you some trouble later. If the granite cleaner spray doesn’t come out of the can evenly, and with enough pressure, that might result in an uneven application. Even with a quality granite cleaning product, that could make your granite look a bit dull and flat. This isn’t the same as the buildup or filmy residues left behind by other cleaners—give it a good spray with the granite cleaner again, and you should be good to go. Once you’ve used the cleaner, there usually shouldn’t be any need to wipe down the counter again.
In addition to a dependable granite cleaner, some of the work behind keeping your granite countertops clean is going to be developing good granite-cleaning habits.
While some prefer to clean the kitchen after they’ve finished cooking, cleaning while you cook when you have granite is going to save you a lot of frustration later. Granite is porous by nature, and likely to absorb substances that can stain, like grease and coffee and wine. Letting things sit until after a meal is over could lead to frustrating stains that take extra work to remove. So a dab of hot water as soon as a spill occurs should do nicely. After the cooking and meal is over, cleaning the granite is the same as any other time—hot water wipe down, apply granite cleaner, wipe and you’re done.
Always test your cleaners on a small area before applying it to the rest of the countertop. Apply, wipe, and check the test spot in the morning. A quality granite cleaner isn’t going to leave smears, stains or flaws in the countertop. If the granite cleaner you picked up was too abrasive, that small test site can be returned to a clean and attractive appearance, but it may take a little extra work. Asking your contractor, or local granite dealers about dependable products can be a way to find leads on granite cleaners you’ll want to use in your home. If you have friends with granite countertops, asking them what products they use can be a handy resource as well.
This article was brought to you by Rock Doctor, which offers a line of specially-formulated stone cleaner, stone polish, and stone sealer products. Rock Doctor stone care products can be purchased through a number of fine retail stores, including Wal-Mart, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ace Hardware, Do it Best Hardware, Hy-Vee, and Wegmans.
