Granite work surface - what do I clean it with?

[wilbur]

I've just got a new granite kitchen worksurface (it's so gorgeous, I hardly dare go in the kitchen), but I don't know if there's a special thing to clean it with. I was standing there with my flash spray with bleach thinking that someone on Mumsnet would know if using that was a bad idea.

Good question - and I think the answer is that you DO have to be careful with any of the typical kitchen cleaners..

Did they also tell you to be careful not to leave greasy/oily stains on for any length of time as they will be absorbed and stain the granite.
The best stuff we found was something at Lakeland (of course!) - an aerosol with a black cap, but can't for the life of me remember it's name - will post later when I'm back at home if necessary.
We've also used Dettox with no ill efects - lots of polishing with kitchen paper afterwards.
For limescale deposits around taps we've used a bit of Viakal, but not left it on for any length of time - just used it to soften the deposits (you can see them 'fizz' - works great.

HTH!

Thank you Mo2 - I'll look in Lakeland catalogue if I've still got one. Thanks for the tip about grease too - better tell dh - he's one of those messy cooks...

I use a special cleaner that came with my worksurface about once a month. Otherwise I use an anti-bac spray or Kitchen Power by Ozkleen spray. Both seem to work well, although I always rice and rewipe afterwards. To keep the shine I sometimes, if I can be bothered, dry it with a tea towel.

I would probably avoid something that includes bleach. But otherwise any normal kitchen cleaner (mr muscle etc.) should be fine. Don't leave puddles of it for long periods of time on the granite. Granite is really pretty sturdy which is why it's used for kitchens.

Huggies Wipes. Work wonders on stainless steel too.

Have only had granite for 6 months or so and agree it looks the business, but boy is it unforgiving - glasses, jars, saucers seem to shatter on sight. I know I'm clumsy, but the cost of replacing stuff is doubling the original cost.

My favourite thing about it is being able to look at the reflection of the sky without having to crane my neck to look out the window in our overlooked kitchen. It's amazing how much light these big slabs of shiny black stuff have brought into our troglodyte existence.

water and fairy liquid gets rid of most stuff I find... I used to use those limescale removers (eg "Limelite" around the tap too but wondered if they would dissolve the granite in the end! they didn't seem to.

I just wipe around with soapy water (washing up liquid), then dry it quickly with a Vileda cloth you buy for about £3.50 in the supermarket (blue coloured) - the cloth washes really well and lasts for ages - I have two or three in circulation - the granite comes up lurrvly!

I agree pph, a sink full of hot water, a dash of Fairy and an Ikea flannel cleans every surface in my kitchen (including 1 year old and 4 year old dds hands )

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hi enid, how are you? haven't seen you around recently...

marble no good for kitchens - not hardwearing enough. hates acid so eg lemon juice will damage it etc...

stick to marble in bathrooms. it's not really practical for kitchens. granite really is very indestructible.

I always used Mr Muscle on my granite worktops with no probs.