How I Clean My Granite Countertops

By Tara

When we moved into our current house, I was suddenly introduced to the maddening process of trying to keep a dark granite countertop clean, without leaving streaks behind when the cleaning process was over. My mother-in-law suggested dish soap and water, and I thought she was crazy, because it couldn't be that simple, could it? Not after I'd tried every other cleaning product, ever.

Turns out, she was right. I add a little dish soap to a spray bottle, fill it with water, spray down my counters, dry it all with a dish towel, and call it a night. Clean, shiny, no streaks.

And then...my Williams Sonoma outlet had a sale on their dish soaps, and I got creative.

While I understand that it's only October, and it might be a little early in some corners of the world for Winter Forest scented countertops, that's not the case for me. I love the scent of pine and cedar and cinnamon, and it actually makes me HAPPY now to clean my counters, because the smell is just that awesome. But again, if winter woods aren't your thing, there are other options available, too.

Of course, I wouldn't recommend this if you are, say, cutting raw chicken on your counters on a regular basis, because I don't know how great it is for killing germs, but for the everyday messes of bread crumbs and peanut butter smears? It's kind of perfect. Happy cleaning!

Interested in all things kitchen? You may want to check out our sister site Food Lush for more, including specific cleaning tips.

{photo credit: williams-sonoma.com}

Comments

[Allison]

I work for a granite company and I can't tell you how many times I've told people to just use a little dish soap and that's just not what they want to hear haha! They want to buy the $20 bottle of cleaner that we sell in our showroom... which does work well too, but you know. If you ever get a stain, check out this video that shows you how to make a poultice! http://www.greatlakesgm.com/how-to-remove-stains-in-granite.html

[GraniteWisdom]

Hi Tara,

It's true. Most granite countertops can be cleaned with dish soap and water. I like the idea of putting the solution in a spray bottle- and love the "Winter Scent" choice!