How to Care for Your Countertops

brysonleague Oiling schedule for new butcher block: Once a day for a week, once a week for a month, then once a month for a year. After that, whenever it appears to be drying out. (At least, that's what my mom told me.)

Jan Yatsko We had granite countertops in PA with hardly any fuss to keep them looking nice. We decided to install granite countertops in our new house in Costa Rica. It has been a nightmare. The hard water has left many marks and I am constantly drying the surfaces to prevent more. After a year we finally found someone who sells and installs watersofteners. Does anyone know how to remove the existing water marks on granite?

angelica1388 I plan to put in Silestone in my kitchen. What is maintance for this type of counter top? And does it matter if it's a light color Silestone which is what I have in mind? Thanks

1maps To Jan Yatsko: I recently had to have some water marks removed from my light-colored granite from an area where a bowl had been sitting but I didn't realize the bottom was wet. I had a professional come in to do this, but he told me what I could do myself in the future. Make a paste of baking soda and water and apply it to the spot. Cover the area with plastic wrap, and then tape securely around the edges. Leave in place for two days; then remove the plastic wrap. The baking soda mixture should have hardened, and you can clean it off -- we used a utility scraper (like what you use on a flat-surface cooktop), and then wiped off the excess, and then rubbed with a damp paper towel. If any stain remains, repeat this procedure another time or two. You should be able to remove all of the stain, or at least enough so that it won't be noticeable on the granite design. Good luck.

mrbrownok Can Anyone tell how to remove the circles and stains from daily use of my carrera marble countertops in the kitchen? Had no idea they would stain and show everything that has ever sat on the counter.

kateskouros i was hoping to read about how to care for more than just two types of counters (granite and butcher block). what about marble, solid surface, quartzite, formica, etc...?

kateskouros jan yatsko: you can have your granite counters polished again. check with your supplier.
mrbrownok: it sounds as if you are experiencing etching. are your counters polished or honed? while all marble will etch, it will be less noticeable on honed surfaces. there is no way to prevent it. watch out for wine and highly acidic foods such as lemon juice, but water will also etch the surface. my calacatta counters are honed and do etch as well but are developing what we call a patina to them -or, we love it so much we live with it.

patscats2 I had formica for 20 years and loved it. I'm not crazy about my granite for a couple of reasons. First, because of the design I can't even see when or where it is dirty. My formica was a light and solid so I could see any spills. WIth this granite it's a matter of wiping the entire thing down constantly because I can't see if there is any dirt. Also, my formica was easy to clean. I had no problem with streaking or dulling film after cleaning. With the granite it takes time to clean and make it shine. Too much work AFAIC. Give me my formica please!!!

colonialgp I gotta ask, why are counter top surfaces so hard to maintain? It's in the kitchen where food, water, and stains occur ALL THE TIME. Doesn't make sense for people to have such high maintenance materials. Formica in my kitchen stains, has scratches, spots, but hey, it's the kitchen. Am I missing something on this whole granite, marble, soapstone, glass, tile etc. front?

1maps I've had formica, Corian, and now granite. Granite certainly looks rich -- the best of the three, in my opinion. However, if you get chicken drippings on your countertop, you really want to clean it with a sanitizing cleaner. From what I know, granite -- at least, light-colored granite -- can't take those kinds of cleaners. When we wanted to do a serious cleaning job on our Corian, we would wash it with SoftScrub with bleach. It sanitized, took care of any stains, and could be rinsed off and dried to look great. I'm just saying ...

addys To Jan Yatsko: I just saw your request for info on removing hard water stains. This link -
- is an article on the topic. Good luck! We have hard water too. The water softener helps but care is still needed.

bones007 How do you clean corian. We've had ours for about 4 years and its dull and always streaky. Not sure what to do...