Top 3 Tips for Cleaning and Maintaining Your Quartz Countertops

We get a lot of questions from our customers at Stone & Cabinet Outlet about how to clean and maintain their engineered quartz countertops. Here are our top three tips you can follow to ensure your quartz counters stay looking beautiful for longer

I. Clean spills immediately to prevent staining

Engineered quartz is stain-resistant, not stain-proof. While its smooth, non-porous surface makes it much more stain-resistant than natural stone like granite and marble (quartz doesn't require sealing), it can still be stained by stuff like tomato sauce, coffee, and wine if the spill is left to sit and seep into the counter.

Acting quickly can be the difference between preventing your beautiful white Calacatta quartz countertops from being dyed "Kool-Aid Red" by your toddler.

Blot up any spilled liquids or food and then wipe down the counter with a sponge or microfiber cloth using warm water and dish soap. You can also consider using specialized stone cleaning products.

Avoid using highly acidic or caustic cleaning agents, and don't use abrasive cleaning tools such as steel wool, Brillo pads, or similar, as they will damage your counters or fade the coloring.

You can also purchase special stone poultices for cleaning persistent stains from stone workshops.

II. Don't cut anything directly on your counters

This tip seems pretty obvious, but the fact that we still get customers asking, "Can I cut things directly on my counters?" tells us that Darwinian natural selection hasn't been doing its job.

Long story short, use a cutting board when cutting anything on your countertops. Quartz is scratch- and chip-resistant, but it can still be damaged. Take the extra couple of seconds to grab a cutting board from your cupboard and save yourself an eyesore and expensive repairs.

Also, be careful not to drop heavy objects on your counters, or scrape anything sharp or metallic across them.

III. Use hot pads and trivets for placing hot objects

Many customers ask us, "Can I put hot stuff on my counters?"

While you'll find people online saying engineered quartz can handle anything from 150 to 350°F, we don't even recommend testing its temperature tolerance; use trivets and hot pads whenever you're placing hot objects on your counters.

We also recommend using hot pads and trivets under any countertop appliances that emit a lot of heat, such as toasters and air fryers.

Prolonged exposure to high heat and hot objects can discolor or damage quartz. And like all types of natural stone, engineered quartz is susceptible to cracking from heat shock, so avoid placing high-temperature objects directly on your counters.

We hope you find these three quick tips useful. If you have any more questions about caring for quartz countertops, give us a call at 503-285-5606 or shoot an email to sales@betterhomecabinet.com, and we'll be happy to help.