Staining - Which Granite

[davetazz]

I'm looking to install granite counters in my new kitchen.

I have white cabinets and am considering the following granites. I'm trying to determine which ones would be less likely to stain.

In my last kitchen I had Cambrian Black which was quite good. Only issue I had with that was that I'd have an etch mark where a glass of water sat once but you could only see it when the granite was wet.

Here are my choices in order of preference

Santa Cecilia
Black Ulba Tuba
New Venetian Gold
Ulba Tuba

[Koessler]

Hi Dave, Welcome!

I would lean toward the Uba Tuba myself. I'm not familiar with the Black Uba Tuba. We will also suggest TESTing your proposed granite. If you can get a piece of the slab that you are considering, do the following TEST.

Place a piece of lemon (or lemon juice) on the surface for about 10 minutes, then remove. Check and see if any dulling is present.

Place some olive oil on the surface for about 10 minutes. Wipe away. See if the surface has darkened.

If your results don't indicate etching or staining, you have a stone that won't even need sealing as well. If your results indicate no etching, but staining, your stone just needs to be sealed. If your stone indicates etching, not even a sealer will help (prevent etching).

	sealer Impregnation: This is commonly known as sealers. This is the first stage in preserving and maintaining your investment. This stage should occur ever six to eight months. There are three types of impregnation (solvent, water, silicone based), regardless to brand. This will stop most water base stains from occurring. It also will stop the stone from been damage beyond repair.

[Huligar]

aaaaafffaffaafa

[Topshop]

I like Santa Cecilia of your choices as long as it is a resined version (which I believe it is). This is also a great stone with its colors and large garnet crystals. It hides seams well and will never look dirty or finger printy. Be sure your fabricator top polished his seams or find another that does.

I am not fond of the look of the UbaTuba because it looks oily often. It seems that every time I put Ubatuba in, I get accused of not sealing the tops a week after it is in because it looks oily. Most customers don't listen to me when I lecture them on how to keep it clean because they are too excited about their new purchase and never read the pamphlet I give them.

New venetian gold is another stone that I don't care for much because I have never seen it resined and is very open to staining being such a porus stone.

[Koessler]

Hi Dave,

I can't reinforce enough about the importance of having resined Santa Cecilia. It is a beautiful stone, but unresined or unsealed is very porous.

You mentioned that you have white cabinets, and I find the contrast of the Uba Tuba to be stunning.

As anything, maintenance of granite is required. We like to give our clients their first quart of Prosoco's Rinseless Cleaner. My newest client was just using soap and water. After giving them some Rinseless Cleaner to dry, the soap film was removed and the counters were glass smooth. You could noticeably tell the resistance of the cleaning towel on the uncleaned areas.

[davetazz]

In my previous post this term was mentioned. I've never heard of this before.

[Topshop]

After the slabs are cut some stones have a resin applied to them before polishing is done. This resin fills some of the voids in the stone making them less porus and giving strength to the stone too. The resin also makes the stone more beutiful in most cases. Without this process we would probably have only half of the granite choices we do today.

Resin is a wonderful thing which makes alot of stones more stain resistant.

	Polishing Polishing: This is the final stage, which leaves the surface with reflective characteristics.

[tazlilt]

i think uba tuba is the best option but testing a part of the slab first is a good idea

[Maurizio Bertoli]

I agree that Santa Cecilia (resined) is an excellent stone. And so is Ubatuba, including the black one (it's kinda new and I've seen it only once).
At any rate, the test suggested by Jhon is the way to go.
(It does sound familiar, somehow... )

[Fred Hueston]

two words....Lemon test