Does anyone have a matt black granite work surface in their kitchen???

[Thankyouandgoodnight]

And if so - does it mark easily and how do you clean it (particualrly grease marks)??

Not sure if this is helpful, but we have recently installed a quartz-resin mix worktop called zodiac which is allegedly as hard and durable as granite and harder to stain. We were told that granite stains with lemon juice etc which put us off. The zodiac is as expensive as pure granite, and looks similar. It was installed last october so its early days, but so far no problems despite heavy use!

I had zodiac in our old place and it was great, no stains and easy to clean. I used those magic cloths from lakeland. I was bloody unforgiving if you're as clumsy as me, though. I was forever smashing things on it .

It doesn't mark easily and it's easy to clean. I use hot water and kitchen cleaner.

We had in our flat in India. It was old. The sink was the same black granite, only the sink was stained, watermarks, etc.

But I wouldnt recommend it.
If you are not careful, both jamjars, and glass, or cups may break if you dont put it down really carefully...

I think a marbling effect or sparkle in the granite helps to detract from the plain uniform surface of matt granite.

You'll be forever trying to rub off greasy marks. And second e cloths they are just the job.

Thanks everyone. Is zodiac matt or shiny? I have fallen in love with the earthy 'natural materials' look of the matt granite. Also - why would it cause things to break more easily than any other work surface?

....I have light coloured 'Kashmir' granite surfaces. There doesn't seem to be a problem with staining as such, but the most frequently used spots have darkened a little after 18 months use.

...my understanding is that black granite surfaces garner unwanted variations of sheen that are difficult to eradicate.

I had black matt-ish granite in my last kitchen and wouldn't have it again to be honest. We lived in really hard water area so any little water mark really showed - you couldn't just wipe the counter, you had to dry it as well. And the cats left little greasy footprints on it every night,which became very irritating. And I was worried about it marking with hot things, lemon juice, raspberries etc. And breaking stuff when I put it down on it as it was so hard and unforgiving.

I have oak in my new kitchen...more forgiving, doesn't need constantly drying off, and we can always re-sand and oil it again when it stains. I too love the look of natural materials, but haven't found the perfect solution yet.

The zodiac was shiny but not overly so. You may be able to get it in matt, I'm not sure. It's less prone to cracking apparently.

The smashing things was an issue, it seemed to take very little force! If I set a glass dwon too heavily then . I am very clumsy though.

I'd still have it again, though. It was beautiful. Our kitchen here has laminate work surfaces and I really miss my zodiac .

i do and it takes some looking after. In fact nobody else seems too apart from me so I am constantly pissed off eith it!!

oh bollocks that's a shame - is there any alternative does anyone know?? A slate? or is that the same as granite - I guess it's porous surfaces that cause the issue?

Granite just takes a lot of wipes. Don't use stone cleaner as it buggers it up apparently. If you live somewhere with hard water, you need to scrape the linescale off once in a while.

Looks really nice thougth!

I have a natural black granite thats bumpy and its ok never broke anything by putting things down on it there has been a few discoloration patches but not especially noticable unless you are looking for them

I'd had both the normal polished granite and the matt stuff. Is the one you're looking at sealed because some are and some are just lightly waxed.

I think most people on here are talking about a matt colour ie the non sparkly one. Is that what you mean or do you mean the one that looks like slate?

We had the slate looking stuff and it did look wonderful but was completely impractical. Unlike the polished stuff you couldn't put hot pans etc down on it. It also marked quite a lot so wasn't really the best material for a kitchen worktop.

The polished stuff we had in a sort of pure matt black colour. It was fab, really practical. Just be careful when putting anything glass down though we had very few breakages (mostly when drunk!)

Ah - now the stuff I saw was smooth but unpolished looking - so looked like a smooth slate. That's the look I want but obviously not if I have to bend over backwards to keep it looking decent. Can you remember what your polished matt stuff was exactly?? Can you get it polished to a matt??

Do you gave a granite work surface? Are you aware that some granite and rock based worksurfaces become stained by oil, grease, red wine and other cooking ingrediants?
Well the solution to stop your expensive worksurface becoming unsightly and stained is to use our Work & Bake Mat.
Its silicone base grips the worksurface and does not slide, then you can roll out pastry, etc on the non stick suface without any oil, fat, grease staining the expensive granite worksurface.
You can buy it from NonStickKitchen.com and retail outlets.