While you may typically know me for my love of new vacuum cleaner models and cleaning robots, I am interested in all aspects of cleaning. You’ll see this in my articles about hardwood floors, mops, and general floor cleaning, and in this article, I’m going to show you how to clean quartz countertops, which is a topic that’s near and dear to my heart.
It’s important to understand that you can’t clean quartz countertops in the same way that you would clean laminate or even granite countertops.
Quartz is tough and non-porous, but the wrong materials can definitely wear away at the protective layer of resin that keeps it looking nice.
Readers have reached out to me telling me how they have a hard time figuring out how to clean quartz countertops daily, but I tell them that with the right materials, the process can be relatively simple.
For example, did you know that you shouldn’t use harsh cleaners on your quartz? Chemical cleaners are great for many materials, but in the case of cleaning quartz countertops, the alkaline will wear away the surprisingly gentle quartz, so it’s best to stay away from these cleaning materials.
Now that you understand this, I’m going to show you how to polish quartz countertops without subjecting them to harsh chemicals.
First, let me show you what you’ll need:
Table of Contents
What You Will Need to Follow This Tutorial
It’s important to note that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to keeping your quartz surface clean; you’ll need to face each stain and spill as it comes.
For this reason, I’m going to break this section and the following one into two parts that include cleaning quartz countertops that have fresh stains and how to deal with stains that have set onto your quartz countertops.
Quartz doesn’t stain easily, but you should keep it in good shape by cleaning it daily.
Cleaning Quartz Countertops That Are Freshly Stained
The materials for this are designed to help you tackle stains that have just materialized on top of your countertops. This will work well for removing materials like juice from meat, and it even works as a great method for those looking for a way to learn how to remove water stains from quartz countertops.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Dish soap.
- Two cups of warm water.
- A gallon of hot water.
- An alkaline-free degreaser.
- A microfiber cloth or dishrag.
- Window Cleaner.
- A Dish Towel.
Deep-Cleaning Countertops That Have Solids on Them or Are Deep-Stained
Alternatively, when the stains are deep-set or solid, you’ll have to take another approach so that you can more deeply clean. This method takes a little bit of elbow grease, but it’s designed specifically not to damage the quartz in your countertop and will manage even the deepest stains on light or dark grey quartz countertops.
Here are the materials that you’ll need:
- A plastic scraper that won’t cause scratches.
- Paper towels.
- A cup of water.
- A teaspoon of vinegar or an equivalent amount of hydrogen peroxide.
- A dry dish towel.
How to Care for Freshly-Stained Quartz Countertops
Step One: Prepare the Solution for Cleaning
When the stain is fresh, it’s still a good idea to use a solution that won’t prove to be abrasive to the quartz, which means that harsh, alkaline-based chemicals are a no-go.
Instead, use a gentle solution that’ll still provide some great cleaning ability, and there’s no better mixture for this than soapy water.
Some dish soap includes elements like astringents; be sure to avoid this kind as it can cause damage to the quartz over time.
Combine a few drops of dish soap with about a cup or two of water. Make sure that the solution is well-mixed – with most dish soaps, the solution should turn pretty sudsy.
Source: greenideareviews.com
Step Two: Grab a Rag
The next step involves grabbing a rag and dipping it in the solution. It’s important to use a rag that doesn’t have a lot of texture; cleaning materials with too much abrasiveness can definitely wear away the resin that companies use to protect the quartz.
While this can happen over time, you’ll be surprised at how fast this will happen, especially with daily cleaning. You also don’t have to dip the entire rag into the solution; it’s enough to get a tip wet if there is a relatively small stain or spill.
Additionally, you can also opt to use a sponge for this part; just be sure not to use the abrasive side if the type of sponge you use has one.
Step Three: Thoroughly Clean the Area
Once the solution is ready and you’ve wet your rag or sponge, now it is time to clean. If the stain is thick, you can just pour a little water atop it to start loosening the spill. Once this is done, rub the spill away with a gentle circular motion so that you can get the entirety of the stain.
Step Four: The Follow-Up for Tougher Fresh Stains
Believe it or not, window cleaner is a great solution to use on quartz and granite when you dilute it in freshwater.
When I’m cleaning like this, I simply spritz a little window cleaner into about two cups of water.
Next, utilizing a sprayer, spray the countertop with the watered-down solution and wipe it off with a soft cloth or paper towel.
One of the advantages of this method is that you won’t have telltale streaks on the quartz coating when you’re done wiping.
Step Five: Dry the Surface
Using a dry towel or cloth, wipe away any excess moisture that has formed on the surface of the quartz coating.
As a rule, you can listen for that expressive squelch that will tell you that you’ve removed any excess grease or fluids from the surface of the countertop.
If it still feels a bit greasy, you may have to repeat the cleaning phase, but I find that nine times out of ten, there will be no greasy residue after you use soapy water or window cleaner to clear away spills and setting stains.
Drying your quartz countertop not only makes it ready to use sooner, but it’ll also pull away any excess soap or chemicals so that you don’t end up with a nasty residue on top of your counter.
Deep Cleaning for Quartz Countertops
Step One: Create a Deep-Cleaning Solution
Sometimes, just plain soapy water won’t quite do the job, so you’ll need to turn it up a notch.
This doesn’t mean that you should upgrade to tougher chemicals like bleach or ammonia; each of these can loosen the bonds between the stone and its resin cover, which means that the countertop will wear down.
Instead, you can make a home cleaning solution that’ll loosen stains, not your quartz. Similarly to the solution that we created in the previous first step, you’ll need water, but this time, use vinegar instead of soap.
Once you have about two teaspoons of vinegar diluted into your water, you’re ready for the next step.
As a side note, if you don’t have any vinegar on hand, you can also use a similar amount of hydrogen peroxide. For the purposes of this step, the two chemicals can be used interchangeably, and neither will weaken the bonds used to bind the quartz together and create a beautiful surface. For both of these, if you want a pleasant scent, feel free to dilute a drop of lemon juice into the solution.
Step Two: Soak Your Countertops
The next step will require that you let the surface soak for a bit; this will help break down the bonds that are holding the stain to the top of the resin used to bind the quartz and make your countertop.
To soak the surface, simply dip a paper towel or two in the cleaning solution – be 100 percent sure that the paper is absolutely saturated with the solution, and make sure not to wring it out.
Once it’s nice and sopping wet, simply drape the paper towels over the surface of the stain. Once applied, let the towels rest on the surface of the quartz for at least 10 minutes, and then you’re ready for the next step.
Step Three: Wipe the Surface
After the countertop has had time to soak thoroughly, it’s time to wipe the whole thing down! For this part, I typically use a soft cloth or a sponge, but I avoid most surfaces that may abrade away the resin covering. Just wipe it clearly so that you remove most of the vinegar and water solution and the majority of the moisture from the surface.
Step Four: Get Scraping
For tough stains that are too tough for the wiping stage, you can use a plastic scraper to really get under them.
Nine times out of 10, you’ll notice that the harder stains will be significantly weakened by the vinegar solution, so they should peel right up.
Stuck-on stains look particularly bad on light gray quartz countertops, so use this technique to clear them away.
Step Five: Dry it!
Once again, it’s squelching time! For this part of the cleaning, just use a towel or paper towel to dry the excess moisture from the surface of the quartz countertop.
Like before, don’t be afraid to add a little bit of strength to your cleaning; you’ll want to remove all of the excess solutions from the surface so that there’s no residue when you’re done.
Conclusion
For me, keeping my countertops nice in clean is the first line of defense against un-cleanliness. Did you enjoy my tutorial?
The techniques that I outlined are great ways to quickly clean fresh and deep-set stains and spills, and they pretty much work in every situation.
There are products out there that can clean quartz pretty easily, but why bother when the right products can be found around the house? This is why guides like this are so important to me.
In any case, I would love to hear from anyone reading this guide, so please feel free to comment in the comment section.
Also, share it with your friends if you liked it, especially if they have these and want to know how to clean quartz countertops!
