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Italian Marble and Granite

Call Us: 716-741-1800

How to Protect Your Countertops During the Holidays

The holiday season really can be “the most wonderful time of the year,” with family and friends getting together to celebrate. However, with the holidays quickly approaching, it is easy to forget about the care and maintenance required for your countertops.

Here are five tips to protect your countertops, whether you have granite, marble or quartz, during the holidays:

1. Use Coasters. Adding a second layer of protection between liquids and your countertops is always a great way to ensure your countertops stay intact not only during the holiday season, but over the years as well. (Coasters can also be helpful in remembering whose drink is whose.)

2. Wipe Up Spills. When having family and friends over during the holiday season, spills are just about inevitable. When there is a spill, it’s important to wipe it up as soon as you can to make sure the liquid doesn’t penetrate the stone. Wiping spills up quickly is the best way to avoid staining, which can happen with any surface.

3. Use Trivets or Hot Pads. It is extremely important to be mindful of heat when placing pots and pans on your countertops. Although natural stones like granite and marble can absorb heat, we still recommend using trivets to create another level of protection. For those with quartz countertops, using a trivet is crucial to keeping your countertops intact because the heat from pots and pans can burn the surface.

4. Use a Cutting Board. This is another simple tip that can make a huge difference when followed during the holidays and beyond. Cutting boards protect your countertops by preventing scratches from your knives when preparing food for the holidays. Also, using a cutting board not only helps preserve your countertops, but also helps preserve your knives too.

5. Use Stone Cleaner. When all the gifts have been unwrapped and the celebrations are winding down, it is important to use a granite/stone cleaner to make sure you’re giving your countertops a deep clean. This is a great way to ensure that residue and liquids do not stay on your countertops. The cleaners that we recommend can be found at Miracle Sealant Company’s wesbite ( https://miraclesealants.com/ ).

We hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season with their friends and family!

Preserving your Countertops During the Holidays

Preserving your Countertops During the Holidays

It’s that time of year again!  Everyone is coming over and surrounding your beautiful marble, granite, or quartz countertops.  Food and different beverages will be passed around, but how safe is your countertop.

If you have a marble, you are probably aware of the different factors that can hurt your counter.  Different foods and beverages can stain or etch your stone.  In regards to the granite, it is still a natural product.  Staining is not as much of problem as it is for marble.  However, it is not recommend to let spilled red wine sit there for awhile.  If you have overhang on your island or peninsula make sure no one is standing or sitting on it.  There is not as much support at the overhangs and the countertops can break.

So what can you do to help prevent damage to your countertops?

  1. Check to see if your countertops need to be sealed.  (QUARTZ DOES NOT NEED TO BE SEALED)  It is a common misconception that granite needs to be sealed every couple months.  We use high quality sealers that can last up to ten years, especially on granite.  Take some water and put it on your counter.  After a couple minutes if the water starts to bead then you do not need to  reseal your granite or marble.  If the water in being absorbed into the stone, then it needs to be sealed.  If your counter needs to be sealed call your local granite fabricator.  They have high quality sealers that are easy to apply.
  2. Make sure you have your guests use coasters, especially on the marble.  The last thing you want are marks from everyone’s red wine or food.
  3. Do not allow anyone to sit or stand on the countertops.
  4. If you are using quartz make sure you are not putting hot pans directly on the surface, you run the risk of melting or damaging your counter tops.
  5. Sometime stains happen.  If they do, call your fabricator as soon as possible.  There are different products they can use to try and remove the stain.

We hope this helps during this busy time of year.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!IMG_1388