Why seal your Granite or Marble

We asked Ken Thompson the Operations Manager at Stone by Nature, America's largest online vanity top provider to give us some practical pointers on caring for granite and marble countertops including the need to apply a quality stone sealer. Bathroom Countertop Over the past decade the affordability of granite and marble products has seen a dramatic increase of natural stone countertops and flooring being used in American's homes. There are some differences in the care and upkeep of natural stone surfaces versus manmade materials like Corian, Zodiac, Laminates etc. Granite and Marble are two distinct materials, granite is a hard igneous rock that is scratch and heat resistant, Marble is a metamorphosed rock that is much softer and more susceptible to scratching and staining. Granite Bath All natural stone is porous meaning that it will absorb liquids, so let's use grape juice as an example, granite vanity tops, marble vanity tops, granite or marble kitchen countertops will absorb the colored juice, the water will eventually evaporate but leave the colored material behind, you now have a stain on your natural stone. To limit staining all granite countertops and marble surfaces should be sealed with a quality stone sealer. Form granite vanity tops or marble vanity tops seal these surfaces once per year or when water spotting is observed. For granite kitchen countertops reseal once every two years, for marble kitchen countertops every year. 61 inch vanity top Stone sealers come in two forms, water based or petroleum based. Water based stone sealers are most commonly found in home hardware stores as they are not classified as a hazardous material so if you want a petroleum based stone sealer you will likely have to find a stone fabrication supply store. Water based stone sealers are fine for homeowners, they do not penetrate the stone as well as petroleum based stone sealers so will not last as long. Follow instructions on the package, a quick tip, do not leave the stone sealer on your granite or marble countertops too long without polishing clear as you could end up with a cloudy residue on your stone, use steel wool to remove if this happens.