When it comes to granite care, you should be very careful what you purchase; almost every commercial cleaning product contains at least one chemical that can easily damage or etch your granite countertop. It’s worth reading the cleaning product composition, but unless you are a chemist, many compound names may sound weird and give you little idea of what they do or how the material of your countertop will react to them. So, how do you clean a dull granite worktop?
The best way to clean your black granite countertop is to use a home-made solution. This way you know exactly what substances you are using, you’ll some experience with them, plus you will avoid damage while ensuring your countertop is free of germs and oil. Before you start cleaning or making your home-made cleaning solution, it is best to wear rubber gloves to protect your hands and keep all bottle and spray bottles far from children or pets in reach.
Using a home-made solution
Usually, a normal dish washing detergent, diluted in a cup of water is more than enough to clean your granite countertops, but it needs to be done often, at least three times a week. Use an abrasive soft sponge, previously soaked in the diluted liquid dish washing solution, and scrub the countertop until all dirt, oil splashes or grease is removed. You can do this with a back and forth movement or in circular directions, but only clean small sections at one time and when complete, use warm water to wash the area.
After it is free of the cleaning solution, dry the sections with a rag or a towel. If water or hazy drops remain, you can even apply a water deposit cleanser, or try using a very diluted white vinegar solution instead of plain water to clean the scrubbed parts of your black granite countertop. To ease the process, you can put the diluted solutions in spray bottles and apple them on the surface of the countertops. It is very important to remember to wipe the cleaned areas afterwards with non-abrasive rags or towels.
For different tough stains or residue build up, you can use an ammonia-based cleaning solution, although it is not the ideal choice. These solutions must be diluted with water to make sure they will not affect the countertop too much. Make the mix in a spray bottle then spray it over the stained area. Scrub with a rag or a clean towel and rinse with plenty of warm water.
Avoid cleaning products on your granite worktops.
Try to avoid any door or window cleaning solutions for your countertops. The substances used by these products usually break the finish of your black granite countertop. As an alternative, you could use limescale remover to remove those pesky stains. If you prefer ammonia, you can mis it with a light bleaching powder or baking powder and with a lot of water.
Once last bit of advice or a tip, don’t ever use hydrochloric acid solutions for cleaning your countertops and always have a few extra granite tiles for further use.