Care and Maintenance

Quartz
Quartz surfaces are extremely robust, durable, and non-porous, making them virtually maintenance free. The following guidelines with help keep your worksurfaces in pristine condition.

Routine cleaning
Always wipe up spills straight away with a damp cloth or with mild soap and water or non-acidic cleaner. Thoroughly dry the surface with a paper towel or a microfibre cloth works well. Routine cleaning should be done with specialist spray cleaners, now readily available, or with soapy water solution. Once clean, thoroughly dry the surface with a paper towel or preferably a microfibre cloth. Don’t allow any water to dry on the surface or over time there will be a bloom.

Stubborn stains
Dried on stains should be removed gently with a non-abrasive pad and cream cleaner such as Cif, but don’t be too vigorous.
Always make sure any cleaners are quartz friendly before using them or try in a small inconspicuous area first.
Note: Colours that are available in a honed or textured finish are more sensitive to grease or fingerprints than polished surfaces and may require extra care during routine cleaning due to the different level of smoothness.

Limescale.
Limescale around taps and in drainer grooves can be avoided if you keep your worktops dry and don’t let water evaporate on the surface after washing up etc.

General
Avoid exposing quartz to chemicals and solvents, especially paint removers or furniture strippers containing trichloroethane or methylene chloride. Keep away nail polish remover, bleach or cleansers that contain bleach, bluing, permanent markers, or inks. Strong abrasive and highly alkaline (outside of 5-9pH) cleansers are not recommended when cleaning quartz.

Scratch resistance
Although quartz is very resistant to scratching always use a chopping board rather than cutting directly on your worksurfaces.

Heat resistance
To avoid potential scorching or cracking never put hot pans etc directly on your worktops always use a trivet.

Granite
Granite is porous and therefore we seal all our natural stone worktops with Drytreat Stain-proof for maximum protection against liquid staining. Nevertheless, any sealing does not render the material bullet proof once applied, sealing merely gives longer to deal with any liquid spills that could potentially stain. Drytreat however off a 15-year performance warranty so nowadays staining isn’t a common occurrence.
Once sealed care and maintenance is as quartz above, always use products that are stone friendly.

Heat resistance
As with quartz we don’t recommend putting hot pans etc directly on your worktops, as thermal shock could crack the stone, always use a trivet.

Scratch resistance
Like quartz granite is very resistant to scratching however always use a chopping board rather than cutting directly on your worksurfaces.

Marble, Limestone, slate and other natural stone
As with granite we seal all our marble and natural stone worktops with Drytreat Stain-proof. However marble and other natural materials can be affected when in contact with anything acidic. Even mildly acidic products such as wine, Coke, citrus fruits/juices, ketchup, pickles, vinegar, household cleaning products, cosmetics, perfumes, and facial products can etch or bleach the surface if spillages aren’t wiped up straight away. Impregnating sealers cannot protect against this as the immediate surface of the stone is still exposed. So, care must be taken when the stone is in areas where these products are found.