OT - PSA for those who spent $$$ on Quartz Counters

RyanStl

TLDR: Use backyard mud to clean metal marks from quartz counters.

The story:

We recently redid our kitchen and the wife had to have F'ng quartz countertops, white at that.  I'm a granite guy, but happy wife happy life, right?  Maybe if I say ok I'll have levarage on my spending.

The quartz gets installed.  Quartz is supposed to be the hardest, most indestructible counter.  Maybe, there is some obscure counter type tougher, but on all accounts Quartz is even tougher than granite.

I immediately started to notice blemishes and how a **** it is to keep white stuff clean (I warned her).  My way to deal is tell myself, well my old granite just hid stuff so before, we were living dirty.  Now, I'm forced to be fresh and clean, clean.  The wife just noticed after putting an aluminum serving tray on the counter there were gray marks left.  I didn't believe her, but started to look close and there are lots of marks all over the quartz.

None of our go to cleaning products worked getting it off.  Simple Green, 409, Magic Eraser, Goo Gone; nothing worked.  Researching cleaners, I learned Quartz is a finicky B'tch, no bleach or anything acid or basic.  Houz forums I was reading (not a member) said Scrubbing Bubles non-bleach or Bar Keepers Friend would get this off.  They failed to specify granite/stone BKF, BTW.  Glad I caught that BS.  BKF, granite is hard to find and the Scrubbing Bubbles didn't work.

Our last resort was a YouTube video of a guy using mud to clean the metal transfer marks.  I was confused to what he was actually using, so I read the comments.  People would ask and he would just say mud.  Pressed he said Mud from the shop and then mud with some sand for grit.  Well, my wife, frustrated all to hell, went to the back yard and got some dirt.  She added some water and spread it around.

The mud F'ng worked.

Gulfcoastguy

I’ll have to put this into the memory bank. 

Legume

Fabrication of those countertops is really really dangerous, silica dust tearing up lungs and for years not enough protections for the people making them.

westernbbq

We too got quartz to make momma happy,   black
Question, if you cant use bleach what can you use to kill salmonella and other invisible maladies that lurk on the countertops

I wanted all SS industrial kitchen,  she said no way
Thanks for PSM

nolaegghead

The majority of the Earth's crust is some kind of feldspar (a mineral containing aluminum/silicon,etc) which is in most dirt (wet dirt is mud) and also in products like Barkeeper's Friend.  This is fine and dandy, however, the finest feldspar comes from three countries.  Regular old dirt/mud can have large particles that scratch your stone.  Try 2000 grit wet/dry paper.

paqman

We have beige quartz counters and I feel your pain.  Bar Keepers Friends worked for us to get rid of the marks but you have to be careful because it can destroy the finish so we only use it when needed to get rid of the metal scratch marks.  I can see why mud works but you are basically sanding the top of your counters so be careful with that.  I would only apply and rub where the scratches are located, again, be careful with that.

RyanStl

I didn't realize how delicate quartz finish is. I really regret getting it over granite.  Everyone says use X product, but be careful unless it's something as gentle as Windex.

Mattman3969

Be extremely careful using a magic eraser with any pressure cause it will change the sheen of the glue binder. A good home remedy for cleaning rough to get off stains us a mix of crest whitening toothpaste and blue dawn dish detergent. Just make a paste and rub with a damp white paper towel. 

A really good product to clean metal scuffs is Kenny’s Silestone cleaner. You can find on Amazon. Again use very light pressure and test in a hidden area of your counter. 

Also make sure you put a hot pad under your crockpot or any other heat generating appliances. I’ve seen crockpots and fry daddies cause the quartz to crack.  

Mark_B_Good

Yeah Quartz is a b%%tch ... I have it all over my house. In fact, in 3 bathrooms, I had to get rid of the white ones due to all the staining ... and replaced them with quartz (lol) ... but darker colors to hide any possible staining (that worked by the way).

Magic eraser has always worked for me ... we get those metal marks when working with aluminum foil on the counter tops ... but yeah, I have to keep this "trick" in mind, in case we have a stubborn stain.

Legume

We rented a vrbo about four years ago that had a huge center island in the kitchen covered in white quartz.  The owner had posted a list of things that absolutely couldn’t be put down on the counter or we would be charged.  It was ridiculous and kind of stupid for a full time rental, especially as there wasn’t any countertop that wasn’t that white quartz.

scdaf

Sometimes, (not often) it's good to be poor.  27 year old Formica countertops still look new.

Ozzie_Isaac

Reminds me of when I put Corian Counters.  They told me all the benefits of it, then I had to actually live with them.  They were not the wonder material they were made out to be.

The Quartz counters are absolutely gorgeous though, my wife really likes them and wants to put them in our house.  She really likes the lighter colors too.

PigBeanUs

Magic Erasers are really just foam sandpaper. 

Melamine foam is what they are. Melamine is that incredibly sharp plastic that is used to line, say, particle board cabinets. Melamine plates or dishware are common too. Ever break one? Basically like snapping formica. Because plastic laminate is layers of paper saturated with melamine plastic. 

Those incredibly sharp edges occur at a microscopic level too, in the Magic Eraser foam. 

That will dull finishes that are glossy. 

Using actual soil is just another form of abrasive, but I’d be afraid of staining, especially if I were using that red clay that’s common in the south. 

lkapigian

Love my Stainless Steel Kitchen , built for performance 

PeteSliver

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Reminds me of when I put Corian Counters.  They told me all the benefits of it, then I had to actually live with them.  They were not the wonder material they were made out to be.

The Quartz counters are absolutely gorgeous though, my wife really likes them and wants to put them in our house.  She really likes the lighter colors too.

Leather wrapped countertops are all the rage. It’s a darker look, but it really makes a statement.  I’ve seen them featured in garden and gun magazine.

Ozzie_Isaac

PeteSliver said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Reminds me of when I put Corian Counters.  They told me all the benefits of it, then I had to actually live with them.  They were not the wonder material they were made out to be.

The Quartz counters are absolutely gorgeous though, my wife really likes them and wants to put them in our house.  She really likes the lighter colors too.

Leather wrapped countertops are all the rage. It’s a darker look, but it really makes a statement.  I’ve seen them featured in garden and gun magazine.

🤣🤣🤣 Don't even joke about that.

womaus

scdaf said:

Sometimes, (not often) it's good to be poor.  27 year old Formica countertops still look new.

My one year old Formica countertops still look new too. And best of all I did them myself, custom, from Formica sheets. 

Best part was working with the contact cement inside the house....

RyanStl

One area my wife worked on was on seam.  She said crap I stained the seam with mud. It came out though.

I'll try toothpaste next, as it would be less messy than the mud.  Come to think about I could also try Novus 2 or 3. 3 is pretty abrasive though.

fishlessman

lkapigian said:

Love my Stainless Steel Kitchen , built for performance 

the type A personalities would hang themselves after trying to fix the first scratch.....ive made counters before for people and they always choose the straight sanded stainless that will never look that way again

Ozzie_Isaac

What is the perfect counter material?

Legume

Soapstone

Legume

Or maybe leather 🤣

I guess it depends on how you use your kitchen. 

fishlessman

Ozzie_Isaac said:

What is the perfect counter material?

stainless near the stove, soapstone near the sink(might as well make the sink soapstone as well, farmer style) wood where your prepping with a knife, might as well have a chilled soapstone section for rolling dough. that sounds about right to me

fishlessman

they make leather finished soapstone but no idea how that look holds up, probable not, but they look nice when new

Botch

How about glass?  

Mattman3969

Legume said:

Soapstone

Soapstone has way more maintenance in the first year than any other natural stone I sold.  You have to keep it oiled or waxed to achieve a dark patina if you like darker soapstone.  If not then you deal with oil splatters and fingerprints on the untreated top.  Soapstone also scratches  very easily but if it’s on a treated top the scratches 

are easy to camouflage.  

I would rather have granite out of any natural stone in a kitchen.  Basalt is very durable.I have it on my egg shelves and it holds up great 

TEXASBGE2018

We have White Quartz in our kitchen too. I will eventually rip the island counter out and replace it with butcher block. Since that is the most heavily used prep space in our kitchen. Butcher block is Functional, affordable, aesthetically pleasing and easy to maintain for someone like me. 

stv8r

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Reminds me of when I put Corian Counters.  They told me all the benefits of it, then I had to actually live with them.  They were not the wonder material they were made out to be.

The Quartz counters are absolutely gorgeous though, my wife really likes them and wants to put them in our house.  She really likes the lighter colors too.

I'm interested to hear of your issues with Corian?

Ozzie_Isaac

stv8r said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Reminds me of when I put Corian Counters.  They told me all the benefits of it, then I had to actually live with them.  They were not the wonder material they were made out to be.

The Quartz counters are absolutely gorgeous though, my wife really likes them and wants to put them in our house.  She really likes the lighter colors too.

I'm interested to hear of your issues with Corian?

Could not set hot pots or pans on it, it would discolor.  Couldn't cut on it, it would scratch super easy.  Not that I cut directly on my counters, but occasionally I do with my granite.  The Corian sink was white and easily stained.

I loved the look and the feel of it, but the surface was marred relatively easily.

Botch

Ozzie_Isaac said:

stv8r said:
I'm interested to hear of your issues with Corian?

Could not set hot pots or pans on it, it would discolor.  Couldn't cut on it, it would scratch super easy.  Not that I cut directly on my counters, but occasionally I do with my granite.  The Corian sink was white and easily stained.

I loved the look and the feel of it, but the surface was marred relatively easily.

Hmm, I don't set hot cookware on my Formica, nor cut on it, and it works fine. My "stainless" steel sinks occasionally stain, but a bit of Comet and a green scrub pad and its fine.  
If I upgrade any part of my home, at this point, it'll be the kitchen, but right now I don't see a good reason to do so.  
I remember the Corian era, but can't remember its relative cost.  

RyanStl

For me the perfect is granite, but the wife disagreed this time.  I should have held my ground on this, but her heart was set on this quartz.  I could have saved $13 a sqr. ft. as well.

Soapstone would be interesting, but that fall in the obscure category for me.  That's the stuff that was in the chemistry class right?