granite counter tops?
- Thread starter handdi
- Start date
David Gelinas
Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2007
- Messages
- 80
Randy
There are a few things you can do to clean granite tops; it pretty much depends on two things; 1) What you’re trying to achieve/remove and 2) What do you want to do once you’ve cleaned the top.
If you’re just cleaning the top you can use a stone cleaner.
If you’re cleaning the top to seal I’d suggest cleaning the top with alcohol. That way there won’t be any moister in the top when you go to seal it.
Here’s a pretty cool idea; if you’re wanting to clean the top and remove some of the accumulation of gunk and mineral deposits that get down into the stone (providing you are working on granite and not a calcium based stone) try scrubbing the top down with a marble polishing powder. No the powder isn’t going to actually polish the stone – there’s no calcium to react with. What it will do is take advantage of the fine abrasives in the polishing powder as well as the acid. The abrasives will get the gunk out of the texture of the stone and the acid will breakdown the calcium/hard water deposits that have been left behind from day to day wiping and use.
One more little tip – you know the white ring you get around the faucet, sprayer and soap dispenser? That’s hard water deposits. Take a NEW razor blade and shave off the excess like you’d shave chocolate or a hard cheese. Keep the razor blade at the right angle and its best if the area is wet when you do it, less likely to scratch. When you’re done getting off the bulk of it, finish up by taking some polishing powder and a rag to it, wrapping the rag around your figure tip. It should come out very nice.
I hope this helps you some.
David Gelinas
Marbleguy
There are a few things you can do to clean granite tops; it pretty much depends on two things; 1) What you’re trying to achieve/remove and 2) What do you want to do once you’ve cleaned the top.
If you’re just cleaning the top you can use a stone cleaner.
If you’re cleaning the top to seal I’d suggest cleaning the top with alcohol. That way there won’t be any moister in the top when you go to seal it.
Here’s a pretty cool idea; if you’re wanting to clean the top and remove some of the accumulation of gunk and mineral deposits that get down into the stone (providing you are working on granite and not a calcium based stone) try scrubbing the top down with a marble polishing powder. No the powder isn’t going to actually polish the stone – there’s no calcium to react with. What it will do is take advantage of the fine abrasives in the polishing powder as well as the acid. The abrasives will get the gunk out of the texture of the stone and the acid will breakdown the calcium/hard water deposits that have been left behind from day to day wiping and use.
One more little tip – you know the white ring you get around the faucet, sprayer and soap dispenser? That’s hard water deposits. Take a NEW razor blade and shave off the excess like you’d shave chocolate or a hard cheese. Keep the razor blade at the right angle and its best if the area is wet when you do it, less likely to scratch. When you’re done getting off the bulk of it, finish up by taking some polishing powder and a rag to it, wrapping the rag around your figure tip. It should come out very nice.
I hope this helps you some.
David Gelinas
Marbleguy
Mikey P
Administrator
David
Can you recommend some brands and grits of Marble polish for this type of work?
Can you recommend some brands and grits of Marble polish for this type of work?
David Gelinas
Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2007
- Messages
- 80
What I use most of the time, really all of the time now, is “Italian Craftsmen Marble Polishing Powder”, I get it through StoneCareDirect.com. This powder isn’t really categorized as a “grit” type powder, just a final polishing powder. In the past when it comes to “grit” powders I’ve used Stone Tech’s honing powders. They work well but they’re fairly pricy. I’ve used them from 400-1500. Most of the times now days I just go w/ diamonds because it’s a lot faster and a lot less messy than honing powders if I want to hone the stone. The reason for using the polishing powder in the above situation is NOT to actually polish the stone (That powder wont actually polish granite), its to remove the gunk and crud from the pores/texture as well as to use the slight acid in the product to break down the mineral deposits that get left behind each time the counter is wiped down during day to day use.
David Gelinas
Marbleguy
David Gelinas
Marbleguy
