CARING FOR GRANITE

Once you've had your new Real Granite Top installed, you'll want to know the best way to look after it!!! By following these simple instructions, your Real Granite Top will retain todays beauty forever.

Preventing Damage It is worth remembering that natural stone is an up-market product, and as such most of our customers treat it as such. People who buy a $10,000 leather lounge generally treat it with more care than they would a $500 couch. The same applies for your Real Granite benchtop, only your granite bench will be much more durable than a leather couch!!!! With just a little care, you can ensure your Real Granite Top retains its beauty permanently. Avoid exposing stone counters to strong chemicals such as oven cleaners, oils, paint removers, fruit juices (particularly citrus juices), or any other acidic liquid. If spills do occur, wash quickly with clean water. Do not use your counter top as a cutting board. This will not only destroy your good knives, but you run the risk of causing damage to your benchtop with some specially hardened knives. There are NO benchtop materials available that are totally scratchproof, although natural granite is about the closest you will find. Some colors of natural stone require sealing to help prevent staining. Check with us to see if your stone requires sealing and see the section on sealers below....sealing is a simple process... Avoid dropping heavy or sharp objects on the counter. Granite is one of the hardest natural materials known to man, but if you try hard enough you will damage it... Avoid leaving hot cooking utensils on your counter tops for long periods. Generally exposure to hot pans will not cause any damage at all to your benchtop, but we recommend you use a cutting board or something similar just to further protect your benchtop. It is worth noting that the only benchtop material that is almost entirely impervious to heat is Stainless Steel. Other "Solid Surface" products are only heat resistant, not heat proof. Do not use oil based cleaners, i.e., turpentine, kerosene etc. Here at RGT we have formulated our own special granite cleaner. It is available cheaply from all of our distributors.

Cleaning Recommendations As with any other product, clean regularly. Once your stone counter has been sealed (if required), it is easy to keep clean. Most common household cleaning products eg. Spray and Wipe, Windex, will help retain the natural beauty of stone. You can also buy our specially developed stone cleaner. Do not use abrasive cleaners. Wash with clean water after cleaning if spills occur. Wipe the surface dry with a soft cloth after cleaning. There are many commercially available stone care products if you choose to use them.

Sealers Not all granites will require sealing. We will advise you when you are choosing your stone of each stone's sealing requirements (if any). The sealing process is a very simple one, it is no different to polishing your car, only it is much, much easier and you don't have to do it as often!!! There are a number of commercially available sealers which generally require an annual application if you wish to do it yourself, or if you like you can arrange for us to come and do it for you. We will seal your bench for you when we install it, and if you choose we can use our exclusive 5 year sealer, which means you won't have to worry about sealing your bench again for another 5 years!!! This sealer should be used in conjunction with our special cleaner to preserve the protective actions of the sealer to ensure your full 5 years of protection. It is important to understand what a sealer will and will not do. They will not prevent etching caused by acids. However, a treated surface will minimize the degree of etching by keeping the offending substance at the surface, not allowing the damaging effects to migrate deeper into the stone to cause severe etching. It is also worth remembering that etching does not occur instantly. The stone must be exposed to the offending acids for some time to cause the problem. A spill which is wiped up reasonably quickly will not usually cause any problems. A sealed surface is not a total guarantee against staining. Sealers are not stain-proofers. If an offending substance is left in contact for a prolonged period of time a stain may develop, however it should not become deep seated in stone that has been sealed. Therefore, care should be taken to remove any spills or foods from the surface as soon as reasonably possible. Treating the stone does not make it maintenance free, it still needs to be maintained with proper stone care products.