Stone Takes Care of You When You Take Care of It
A well-chosen stone countertop can last the lifetime of your home. We have clients with granite countertops installed in the 1990s that still look beautiful today. That kind of longevity does not happen by accident — it happens because someone understood how to look after their material.
The good news is that stone maintenance is not complicated. It just needs to be understood and practised consistently.
The Universal Rules for Every Stone Surface
Before getting into material-specific guidance, a few rules apply to all stone countertops without exception.
Never use acidic cleaners — vinegar, lemon juice, bleach, and anything labelled antibacterial with citrus ingredients will all degrade sealants and damage stone surfaces over time. Use pH-neutral cleaners specifically formulated for stone, or simply warm water with a small amount of mild dish soap.
Always use trivets for hot pots and pans. Even granite, which handles heat very well, can experience thermal shock if an extremely hot pot is placed on a cold surface repeatedly over years. It takes seconds to reach for a trivet and costs nothing.
Use cutting boards. Stone is hard, but a sharp knife used directly on the surface will eventually leave marks — and ruin the knife. Cutting boards are not optional.
Granite: Simple and Predictable
Granite maintenance is genuinely straightforward. Daily cleaning with a damp cloth and mild dish soap is all that is required. For weekly care, a dedicated stone cleaner keeps the surface looking its best.
The annual sealing is the only real ritual. Use a quality penetrating sealer — Miracle Sealants 511, Granite Gold, or similar products are widely available in Montreal. Apply it with a soft cloth, let it penetrate for 10 to 15 minutes, buff off the excess, and leave the surface alone for 24 hours. That is approximately one hour of work per year to maintain a surface you will use every day.
Schedule sealing in the spring after the dry indoor winter season, when the stone has expelled as much residual moisture as possible. This gives the sealer the best possible penetration.
Quartz: Maintenance That Barely Qualifies
Quartz is non-porous by engineering, which means there is genuinely almost nothing to do. Daily cleaning with warm water and dish soap. For tougher marks, a gentle non-abrasive cleaner works well.
The critical rule: no bleach, no oven cleaner, no harsh chemical solvents. These do not stain quartz — they attack the polymer resins that hold the surface together. Over time they can cause discolouration and surface degradation that is not reversible.
And trivets. Every time. The resin binders in quartz are sensitive to sustained high heat in a way that granite is not.
Marble: Rewarding Discipline
Marble is the most demanding of the three to maintain, but the reward is a surface that ages with extraordinary beauty. The key is understanding the enemy: acid.
Lemon juice, wine, coffee, carbonated drinks, tomato-based foods — all of these will etch marble on contact. Etching is a chemical reaction, not a stain, which means sealing helps but does not fully prevent it. Honed marble shows etching far less dramatically than polished, which is why we recommend honed finishes for kitchen marble.
Seal marble every six months in a kitchen environment, every twelve months in a bathroom. Use only pH-neutral stone cleaners. Wipe spills immediately — not eventually, immediately. These habits, practised consistently, will preserve marble's beauty through decades of use.
For stubborn stains on marble or granite, a poultice — a paste of baking soda and water left on the stain overnight — can draw out many common household stains without damaging the surface.