Please help before I cry... cleaning quartz worktops?

[Aworryingtrend]

Our new kitchen was fitted on Friday and I want to cry already. We ahve gone for quartz worktops and I cannot get them to look clean. They show every water mark, drip and smear and wiping them down with a cloth after washing up made them go all smeary. They cost so much money and already they are the bane of my life after 2 days. I want to cry.

How can i clean them without them going all smeary and showing the marks? What do you use to clean yours- what type of cleaner and what cloth? Some cleaner came with it- Apollo Stoneguard? But that was just as bad. Please help!

I use Barkeepers Friend (from supermarkets) and a microfibre cloth. Clean with the barkeeper's friend, wipe off with a clean cloth and then dry with the microfibre cloth.

Yep - microfibre cloth to dry/polish

Watching with interest as trying to decide on worktops at the moment and am contemplating quartz!

have to say my sil has quartz and it never looks clean - sorry aworryingtrend

Thank you everyone- clearly I need to get a microfibre cloth as dishcloth type cloth and/or kitchen roll not cutting the mustard.

Buda- beleive me when they are clean they look absolutely gorgeous- its just keeping them that way! I think the issue is ours is plain black polished quartz so shows every speck- if you went for a more speckled or lighter colour pattern i don't think it would be as big as a problem.

I have a hard composite worktop. I agree with using microfibre cloths, one wet and one dry, I use any cleaner, washing up liquid with this method and it is fine. Bar Keepers Friend is fab I tend to use it when I have a really good clean rather than the standard wipe round, it is available from Wilkos, Home Bargains etc.

It is drying properly that makes the difference.

Yes microfibre cloths to buff when drying are the key to making it shine.

I would highly reccomend the e-cloth glass cleaning cloth, I have this for our quartz worktop in our shop and it is fantastic, you only need water on it, so you clean the worktop as normal then wipe over with the ecloth and water, absolutely smear free, it's obviously designed for glass so fantastic on mirrors/windows/taps too, got mine from Lakeland, but they are a lot more widely available now, they also sell them at Dunelm mill
HTH

Isn't bar keepers friend a bit abrasive? Am I thinking of the right thing?

It is a powder - but doesn't seem as abrasive as Ajax.

I wouldn't use bar keepers friend on mine! Agree that it's all in the drying though!

Barkeepers friend isn't that abrasive - enough to get rid of the water marks and residue but the whole point of quartz is that it's almost indestructible. We went with quartz over granite because I make cakes and granite is too porous and stains with the food colourings whereas quartz doesn't. Plus, it's harder to scratch and chip.

I cut out icing on it using a knife, put pans straight off the gas hob onto it and used the scourer on a particularly welded on lump of weetabix and it's absolutely fine.

I bought a granite cleaner from Lakeland. I have cream quartz. I wipe with j cloth and granite cleaner (figured it would be good on either but the key I think is ph neutral ) and dry with e cloth (waitrose had them on special last week). Mine are usually smear free. Ecloth fab on gloss units and induction glass hob too. Quick wipe and it looks good.

I also have large cream floor tiles. And 2 small kids.......aaaaaaargh. May not have been the best choice !

We are probably going with cream quartz. One with speckles in. Lots of friends have black granite and I know that it is hard to keep that shiny.

Have you all got solid quartz? DH is keen on the quartz stuck on to MDF. Not sure myself.

But definitely finding this thread educational!

for black granite i use microfibre cloth and Method granite cleaner - much better than anything else i have tried. I am a recent convert to Method - love all their stuff

Buda, ours is solid as we wanted an inset sink which isn;t possible with the MDF version. A friend has the MDF version and she now says, having seen ours, that she wishes she'd gone with the solid one.

The solid has a slimmer profile and looks more like granite whereas the MDF looks more like normal worktop, it's just much more robust.

Depends which look you prefer!

Thanks! I know which I prefer. Just need to convince DH!

I have honed black granite and the stonemason recommended I use Sainsburys clear glass cleaner(about £1) and kitchen roll.works a treat and cheap too!!

Would recommend Method too.

keeping my shiny black granite smear free is a doddle !

method granite cleaner and sainsburys glass cleaner I think had the same ingredients(not sure that is the correct word??)in it when I looked ages ago

I have quartz work top and it was stained from tea cups so I used cif easylift spray and buffed up with kitchen roll afterwards and was brilliant.

Hi I REALLY WOULD NOT QUARTZ at all. I have just had a fantastic new kitchen fitted and went for cream quartz worktop, a workman spilled some tea (with milk added) on it and didn't wipe it up, and to my horror it stained and I couldn't get the stain out. I called the kitchen fitter who promptly came..........and he couldn't get the stain out either!! He called the company who fitted the worktop and they had to use special cleaner............I am not looking forward to using this worktop!!

I have sparkly black quartz. Method granite cleaner applied with a cloth & buffed with an e cloth (one for glass).

We use Apollo stone guard too, it came with a microfibres cloth though and drying with that after does the trick I find. Although I only bother once a week or if anyone is coming round!

I have black granite tops and just use soapy water on a j cloth, but need to dry/buff them with an e cloth or they dry smeary, like glass.

If anyone has a cleaning product that doesn't leave them smeary I'd love to know!