Don's Home Home & Garden Countertops Caring for Granite Countertops

Countertops | Care of Granite | Granite Finishes

Cleaning:
Products:
  Acidic cleaning products and anything vinegar, ammonia or lemon based can damage granite.
  Don't use generic cleaning products such as bleach, glass cleaners, de-greasers or other common household cleaners.
These products that you buy at your local store contain acids, alkalis and other chemicals that will degrade the granite sealer (and will etch marble) leaving the stone more vulnerable to staining.
  Dish soap won't permanently damage your granite, but repeated use of soap will cause build-up (yes, even if you rinse) and dull your countertop's shine.
  Don't: use bathroom, tub & tile or grout cleaners. The powders and even the "soft" creams contain abrasives that will scratch and dull surfaces. There are also special granite cleaning products.
  You can make your own with very warm water with 3 parts water and 1 part rubbing alcohol. Alcohol works well because it has antiseptic and cleaning properties but contains a pH level of 7.0 --the same pH level in water.
The alcohol will prevent any bacteria, which (some claim) could get into cracks if the sealer wears off.

Procedure:

• Before you begin to actually clean the countertop, remove excess debris and move appliances or items so you can reach all areas.
• Use a basic soapy rag to clear countertops of remaining crumbs, debris or other matter before you thoroughly clean your countertops.
• Wash counters using a clean white cloth. For best results, use a white cloth, free of excess fibers that could become loose and be left behind on the counter. One possible solution is to use a clean cloth diaper or microfiber cloth.
  A sponge will work also.
• Run hand over the counter to ensure you’ve removed all debris. Due to the nature of granite counter designs, some stains or leftover debris and stains may not be apparent to the naked eye. However, if you run a clean hand over the countertop surface you may be able to pick up stuck on debris that your cloth may have missed.
• Buff and dry counters thoroughly. Although your counters will be clean, most cleaners may leave streaks if not dried immediately.

Stains:
Many granites are somewhat porous. Acidic substances like wine, coffee, fruit juices, tomato sauce and sodas will not etch granite like they do marble, but they could potentially stain the surface. Cooking oils may also leave a stain if not wiped up..
A sealer won't make the stone stainproof. It just gives you extra time to clean up whatever you do spill on the countertop.
I put wine, cooking oil, vinegar and lemon juice on my pre-sealed granite and left it overnight. There was no stain left after wiping it up.

Stain Removal:
A paste of flour and hydrogen peroxide pulls out grease, oil, bleach, and ink stains; a mix of flour and bleach cleans wine stains. If you want to go commercial, check out Alpha, Aqua Mix, and StoneTech stone cleaners.
  Acetone can be used to remove grease.

See:
How to Clean and remove stains from a Granite Countertop - YouTube
3 Ways to Clean Granite Countertops - wikiHow
Granite Counter Top Care: Do's & Don'ts, Granite Countertop Care Tips

Use:
Yes, you can take a hot pot off the stove and put it right on granite countertops without any problems. It is possible for granite (or any stone or quartz) to suffer "thermal shock" and crack, but rare.
  Yes, you can take a hot pot off the stove and put it right on granite countertops without any problems. It is possible for granite (or any stone or quartz) to suffer "thermal shock" and crack, but rare.
  Don't stand on granite countertops. It is not flexible like laminates and can break.

Sealers - impregnators
Granite is sealed when it comes from the dealer, and installers will usually seal it again to make sure everything is covered.

Sealers more appropriately referred to as "impregnators" are should be.

Many granites are somewhat porous and some types of grease and food products can be absorbed by the granite.
A sealer won't make the stone stainproof. It just gives you extra time to clean up whatever you do spill on the countertop.
Some granites like black granite are extremely dense stones that will not absorb a sealer.

Quality stone sealers will have a smaller molecular structure than grout specific sealers. The best quality stone sealers will have the latest microbond technology. Microbond based sealers will penetrate into even the most dense stones and bond with the stone to provide the maximum protection.

There are water based and solvent based sealers.
Solvent based sealers are able to penetrate deeper into dense natural stones due to its smaller molecular structure.
But, solvent bases sealers also have a higher VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) level, so must be used with adequate ventilation.

One quart of sealer is enough to seal about 100 square feet of granite countertops.

Re-seal when water stops beading up or soaks in within about 4 minutes.
You can also pour one drop of mineral oil on the granite. After 10 minutes, wipe the oil off the countertop. If a dark spot appears where the oil was, it’s time to seal the granite. A dark spot from mineral oil will fade within 30 minutes.

Many web sites say you need to reseal about 6 mos. to a year others say 3-5 years; Home Depot guarantees theirs for 15 years.
See How Often To Seal Granite

Spray the sealer on. Avoid wiping it on.
Allow 10-15 minutes for it to penetrate.
Wipe away excess.

Popular at Amazon.com: granite sealer impregnator
S.S (NN)  S.S = user review score out of 5,  NN - Number of reviews

StoneTech BulletProof Sealer $26/pt 4.0(406)

StoneTech Impregnator Pro, Heavy Duty Sealer for Natural Stone $35/Qt 4.5 (28)

Drytreat Stain-Proof $62/Qt 4.4 (36)

Drytreat 110712 Stain-proof Plus $51/16 oz 4.8 (18) 
  Optimized for dense natural stone.
  Three different custom sealing molecules for 3 levels of penetration and maximum stain repellence.

Miracle 511 Impregnator $27/Qt 4.3 (161)
 This is for all surfaces and it creates a moisture and stain barrier.
 Use this to seal and reseal granite countertops.

Miracle 511 Porous Plus  $50/Qt 4.5 (113)
 This product is formulated for all stone but is good for more porous stone
 such as limestone, travertine, or even on masonry. Use this on honed surfaces.

Tuff Duck Granite, Grout and Marble sealer $35/qt 4.6 (148)

Granite Gold GG0036 - Sealer, Preserver & Protectant $17/24 oz 4.3 (183)

Black Diamond  Nex-Gen Stone Sealer Penetrating Sealer $109 gal. 4.3 (142)

MB-4 4.2 (5)

My Tests (Used the same methods as TileCleaning.org above.)
I tested STAIN-PROOF, the highest rated sealer on Amazon and 511 Impregnator, the most popular sealer.
Stain-Proof caused a slight darkening of the surface.
Red wine beaded up on the two treated areas. It spread out on the untreated side.
After cleaning with a granite cleaner the STAIN-PROOF came clean the others still had stains.

Granite Shield claims to only require one application ... no re-sealing.
Granite Shield test - YouTube

Review of Some Common Stone Sealers | TileCleaning.org
Test Stains
We first sealed our stone samples and allowed the sealer to cure on the stone for 7 days. We then boiled the sealed stone samples in water. We then cleaned the samples with a common Ph neutral stone cleaner to test the durability of the sealer. We then applied some common food contaminates to the stone samples and allowed the contaminates to dry on the stone samples overnight. After this we cleaned the contaminates off the stone tiles with a pH neutral tile and stone cleaner and checked to see how well the sealers performed in keeping the contaminates from staining the stones tiles.

Note: Although these samples were listed under their stone sealer page, they seem to be grout test results.

Recomended
StoneTech Bulletproof Water based	DryTreat Stain Proof Solvent based. Stain-Proof Plus wasn't tested
Others
Aquamix Ultra	Aquamix	Miracle-511 Impregnator

See more at the above link. Sealer Application:
When water placed on the counter soaks in it is time to re-apply the sealer.

How to Use | STAIN-PROOF™ Plus

Links:
How To Seal A Granite Countertop | TileCleaning.org
Granite | Allyn Interiors
Granite Counter Top Care: Do's & Don'ts, Granite Countertop Care Tips
The Bare Truth About Impregnator’s Sealers : the best source for marble cleaning and maintenance products and services
Review of Some Common Stone Sealers
How To Seal A Granite Countertop

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