Countertop Care Guide

When you install a beautiful new natural stone countertop in your home, you may be a little worried about scratching it or not being able to take care of it properly. However, with just a few tips and tricks, you can care for your countertop like a pro.

If you want your countertop to stay beautiful for decades, then read on for our best advice about caring for countertops of all types, from daily cleaning to deep cleaning and resealing

• Daily Cleaning: Use mild soap and water or a gentle cleaning agent to clean laminate each day. Most laminate can also stand up to disinfecting products.
  
  
• Deep Cleaning: Laminate can get stained easily. To remove a pesky stain, try applying a baking soda paste and leaving it on for a few minutes. 
  
  
• Re-Sealing: You don’t need to reseal your laminate countertop. You CAN refinish it if you want to get a different look without swapping out the material.
  
  

• Daily Cleaning: Use mild soap and water to clean your stone and protect the sealant from etches. Make sure you wipe up any spills quickly, especially things like wine or tomato juice.

• Deep Cleaning: For deep cleaning, make sure that the product you choose is safe for granite. It’s a very sturdy stone, but if it does chip or stain, contact a professional for repairs. Unfortunately, DIY repairs are more likely to cause additional damage. 

• Re-Sealing: Use the water droplet test to see if you need to reseal your countertop. Place some water on your countertop and wait a few minutes. If after some time the water is still on the surface, your sealant is still in good shape. If the water soaks into the countertop, you need to reseal your granite. Most homeowners need to reseal their granite once each year.
  
  

• Daily Cleaning: Marble stains and etches easily, so make sure to wipe up any spills — especially tomato products, wine, and any other acids — as soon as possible. Use a soft cloth and warm water to clean
  your marble.
  
  
• Deep Cleaning: Avoid using any harsh products on marble. If you do use a cleaning product, make sure it’s pHn-neutral, such as mild dish soap.
  
  
• Re-Sealing: You can use the water-droplet test described above to test your marble sealant, too. Most homeowners need to reseal their marble surfaces twice each year.
  
  

• Daily Cleaning: Homeowners choose quartz because it comes in a variety of designs and doesn’t require a lot of care. You should still wipe off your countertops with mild soap and water each day, but if you can’t get to a spill right away, don’t sweat it. 
  
  
• Deep Cleaning: Quartz is the most forgiving countertop material on the market. You can use virtually any clean products you prefer. 
  
  
• Re-Sealing: Quartz doesn’t need to be resealed, so you can scratch that maintenance item from your to-do list!
  
  

• Daily Cleaning: Butcher block is a beautiful and unique material, but it requires careful daily care. Wipe down your countertop with warm water and a soft cloth after every use. 
  
  
• Deep Cleaning: If your butcher block gets stained, you can use fine-grain sandpaper to sand the stain off. Each month, be sure to condition your butcher block countertops with mineral oil to keep them from drying out. (You can purchase butcher block oil from a hardware store or online.)
  
  
• Re-Sealing: As long as you regularly oil your butcher block, you don’t need to worry about a sealant.