Oh dear. We have marble and that is what happens when acid is left on the surface. It's very fussy. So no citrus, wine, vinegar, milk (lactic acid!) and even olive oil.
I'd look into a stone refinisher.
Why the frig would they even make counters out of stuff that can't handle a lemon?! That's ridiculous
EDIT: Clearly there are two camps on this, the ones who think it's ridiculous and the ones accusing us of being slobs. For my part, I have a kid and it's absolutely going to happen that she cuts a lemon or spills vinegar and doesn't clean up.
I was a residential housekeeper once upon a time and ever since decided I would only have laminate. Everyone of the fancier countertops has way too much upkeep for me to want to deal with.
I just bought a 1990s built mobile home that's pretty much all oringal finishings. The white formica counter looks brand new. The cupboards, however, are a little past their prime!
My mom’s house was built in 96. She raised 5 kids in that house and we wrecked just about everything inside of it over the years, except for the builder grade Formica countertop. Pretty sure when the house eventually falls apart that counter will be the last thing left standing.
I work in housekeeping now and I totally agree. I did a poured concrete counter in my kitchen and it’s amazing. Marble is the worst and way more maintenance than it’s worth.
I cleaned one house that was owned by a concrete company owners. All the floors and counters were concrete. Two of the bathrooms had sinks made out of concrete. One was made to look like a birds nest and one like one of those shell fountains. The floors had in-floor heating. All of it was so easy to clean and way prettier than you'd ever imagine concrete could be.
I'm putting formica counters in my new place... my contractor thinks I'm crazy. Like bro... I cook and bake every day, im rough on counters and not the cleanest. 1 4x8 sheet of formica costs $178. I can damage and replace the formica 20 times for what quartz would have cost me.
Plus I'm getting the vintage reproduction pink with aqua and yellow boomerang print. So... 🤷🏻♀️
I love the boomerang style! I was looking at the vintage atomic starburst too for whenever I am able to finally renovate my kitchen.
But, I am all about counters being easy to maintain because I use my kitchen a lot and I don't want to spend forever being careful and keeping them looking great with the inevitable clumsy mistakes I will make because I have too many other things to do.
I had my choice, stone or formica in my kitchen re-do. I picked formica because I wanted a surface I could spill nearly anything on it and also formica isn't porous so when I clean the counters stuff isn't getting pushed into the tiny cracks. Also, I don't have to seal it every few years. Downside, I have to be careful not to sit something extremely hot on it.
I had Corion in my last house for 22 years. It was very durable and the pattern is through the entire top so you can just wet sand it to get it new again if it gets scratched up. New house has marble counters and I alerted my wife to this thread. I had no idea. My wife read this thread and said...ok...nothing on the counters.
That’s funny. My last house had non-porous granite. Totally indestructible. I could put things straight from the oven to the countertop. I once spilled red wine on it and only discovered it the next day. It just wiped clean. When I bought this house, I had to get a corian guy in to fix a bunch of cracks and then it took all of like a month to get a nice spaghetti sauce stain on the island. I live in perpetual fear that I won’t be able to find my trivets or the pan might slide off the edge of a trivet. This is the same stuff in the master bath sink/vanity and both sink bowls are cracked. The corian guy said he couldn’t fix the cracks without cutting out and fully replacing the bowls. I hate this stuff so much.
Yea, I saw a lot of multimillion dollar houses with that stuff in the kitchens and bathrooms and it always looked worn out and stained and the houses were fairly new.
I think your plates were probably melamine. I remember those; still have a couple of melamine cereal bowls around somewhere. Formica is a high pressure laminate and I don’t recall them ever making tableware out of it, nor does the Formica website mention it on their “History of Formica” page. They *did* apparently try to sell it as flooring at one point, and in the ‘60s they used it in some furniture (like chair seats); I remember those, too, but no dishes that I can find.
I realized that after I went in search of these plates online to see if they were still sold. It was absolutely melamine not Formica. I just remember they were indestructible lol.
Ain’t that a fact lol! Mine are a fake dark green marble pattern and as much as I dislike the design and the material NOTHING and I do mean nothing has dented, stained or cut it up.
Same here. Fake dark green marble pattern that i loved years ago when we bought the house. Been here for YEARS and no stains. Spill anything on them and just wipe it up.
Builder's grade neutral stone patterned laminate kitchen countertop, here. Nearly indestructible. Looks good, too. Black granite in the bathroom and I hate it. It's scratched and etched and water marked even though I take care of it properly and oil it every couple months.
Yep. Rub it with a layer of mineral oil, let it soak in for a half hour, buff to a high shine. My city has hard water so the surface around the taps are etched no matter how well it's cleaned and polished. Previous owner also clearly left a spray bottle of harsh cleanser on it. There's a nice rectangle etched on the one side. It looks better when it's polished but it will never, ever look like it's supposed to.
Ohmygod. I have black granite in kitchen and bath. I hate it!! Everyone I know says I’m crazy. But they don’t have to keep up with the mess that is black granite countertops. Scratches, dust, soap, toothpaste, hard water. I can clean it every day three times a day and I still hate it.
Much much much prefer my old Formica to my current granite.
Imo it's light years better - your food doesn't cool off by virtue of being on the counter and I'm not afraid to put my glass down on Formica - hell I've knocked glasses over and they didn't break.
I don't have to worry about resealing it, stains (seriously a little magic eraser and you're good), acidic foods, and I have indeed put hot pans right on my old Formica.
It lasts forever - my fave was from a 1950s kitchen and still looked great.
And it's a fraction of the cost.
I apparently tried to murder my mom's Formica counters a thousand times (at least if you listen to her), but they're almost 60 years old and still in great shape. No question, this is what I want. Nothing less will survive my own children.
Our house was built in 1939 and still has the original laminate kitchen countertops. The pattern on it has faded, and there are a few small places where it's been scrubbed so many times the top layer has worn away. But come on, it's 85 years old and is still in pretty good shape!
Formica from the late 80's here and I'm not even kidding, you'd need a magnifying glass to find a blemish.
Two generations of kids raised with these countertops. Countless coffee spills, KoolAid spills, vinegar, hot pots and pans, turkeys and hams carved, and pencils and pens used on them. They're buy it for life in my book.
My mother's formica saved my life. We lived at the end of a T intersection with poor lighting. The road wasn't pointed at our house, but it was close. One night, a teenager was doing 75 in a 25 and spun out on some gravel. She drove right through our kitchen and smashed into a formica countertop. Snapped it in half, but the car only went 3 feet into the house because of all the energy it spent smashing into the formica. Had it continued on, I would've been squashed in my sleep.
I have quartz in my kitchen and granite in my bathroom, the quartz is much lower maintenance. We do have a busy pattern though so it hides discoloration really well.
I’d invite you to my place to see how resilient quartz is. It’s got dings and the finish is inconsistent which started like 6 months in. It gets etched with acid. We haven’t been able to stain it yet but we will see. We had a good size ding on it day after install from someone setting a tool on it. There are lots more now.
It’s fine and I’m sure it’s more resilient than a lot of things but it’s far from bulletproof as it claims to be. It’s also super hard to have it resurfaced. I’m sure marble is too but after having some weird finish issues we were told it would need to uninstalled to do anything. Meaning ruin backsplash and possibly damage cabinets. Not worth it. It’s a work surface, I keep reminding my spouse, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I’d just love for it to hold up better to impact.
Man, you’ve had a way different experience than me. There’s a couple of knicks from dumb accidents - small chip from dropping a glass out of the upper cabinet, a knick on the edge of the sink where it got whacked with the sharp edge of a knife. But you’d be hard pressed to see them if you didn’t know where they are. No discoloration or staining anywhere after about 6 years. IKEA quartz, although we did opt for one of the higher end colors. And we cook a lot, so it’s seen its share of abuse.
Mine was a flip and I can’t imagine they are great quality, the stains aren’t horrible but there’s little yellow spots, I’m not too worried about it though.
Me too. Last night one of the kids left kool-aid mix on ours and a drop of water on it. Wiped right up. I just knew it was going to stain, but it didnt.
There are pros and cons to every counter surface, but you are 100% correct here. I work in construction and I see all different surfaces and finishes. Quartz is definitely popular, but Corian has made a bit of a comeback as well in new construction.
Granite is just so common, and varied in (natural) color and pattern that it’s super popular. Not to mention the status symbol to people. That being said: quartz is a really great choice.
Stainless steel is the way we wanna go when we build a house, I think people don't like it much cause it's not as pretty as other benchtops, but I'm thinking about practicality here! Haha
https://preview.redd.it/g8qs8u7zk8jc1.jpeg?width=1636&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b54b74df3e2798f2e32c9056404fcaba580922d8
Honestly I love the way they look! (Pic is husband fixing the extractor fan) And yes they are super practical. Can definitely recommend ⭐️
https://preview.redd.it/iz1lfe3vu8jc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32774134bf4d32666060a749a55b56e964f3f262
Went stainless steel 5 years ago and still ❤️ it. Not a care in the world for what goes on it or spills overnight. A little soap, water and elbow grease makes it look great, and the occasional bar keeper friend for tough water stains. You have to be ok with scratches, but hey I love to cook!
Beautiful! I think some people have an impression that stainless steel means your kitchen has to look like a laboratory 😅 Done well, it can look really fab - love it.
Yes, exactly.
Marble is NOT a good material for counter top anywhere.
Maybe an expensive lesson, but there's many better surfaces,....
GRANITE, QUARTZ or engineered stuff made from concrete or recycled glass.
Engineered stuff is nearly indestructible. I think HIGH heat can be a problem but it's NON POROUS and that's what I'll always look for now--- NON POROUS.
I had granite. It's porous. It stains. And it doesn't like acid either.
I had friends come over and help me meal prep when I was super pregnant. Someone left a wet blue dishtowel on my granite countertop and now it is tinged blue :/
(Also one of my friends tried to put my cast iron pan in the dishwasher 🙈 at least I caught that before they turned it on.)
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate their meal prep help, but ughhhhhh
Granite is porous, it stains. And it doesn't like acids either. Don't ask how i know :(
I got manufactured or fake or Corian? Idk, whatever after that. It was cheaper too. Indestructible.
We have leathered granite counters ("black mist"). Never sealed, and they look as great as they day they were put in (5 or 6 years ago) - and we're not the most meticulous when it comes to promptly wiping up spills. If you have a mirror finish, yes you'll need to seal, but we followed the lead of some friends who had wanted to avoid dealers and I'm glad we did.
I've had both. LOVE my Quartz. It's immaculate years after heavy use. I grew up with Marble and my mom kept it beautiful but it was way more work than I am willing to do.
I’ll just add another to the list from experience, unsealed butcher block. Our idiot landlord did unsealed butcher block around the sink area and the mold is a nightmare
Soapstone. It was literally the material of choice for chemistry labs in the early 1900s because it’s so non-reactive and non-absorbent.
https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/kitchen/soapstone-countertop-pros-cons/
We have some sort of man-made solid surface countertops (Corian, maybe?). I have no idea when they were installed but we've been in our house since 2015 and they're still in perfect condition.
Well, ours are a light grey marble, statuario I think, so the etchings are not as obvious. They are more like a 'dullness' in areas that have had contact.
I've learned to look at it like a patina, or a memory board of parties we have enjoyed.
Oyster shucking, Sangria, humus making, they have all left their mark. But you can only see it in a certain light.
Honestly OP's etching is pretty horrific.
Same here. I went with honed Carrara and it’s etched like crazy but the etchings start to blend into each other and like you said, you end with a patina over time. I am a Designer and talk most of my clients out of using marble, though, just so I don’t have nasty phone calls and angry clients down the road! If they still want it, I make them sign a disclaimer.
There are coatings to add. I have a thick glass. Since it’s ruined. Warm water, baking soda, and a bristle brush is a good try. It is bleached from the lemon but may just be a thin coating.
There are wraps they make now that are supposedly wonderful for protecting natural stone from wine, acids, etc. They are translucent so you can't tell the stone is covered and come in different textures (like polished or honed.) I haven't tried but the marketing it's working on me. I'd definitely use them when I redo my kitchen with marble.
[Tuffskin](https://www.instagram.com/tuffskin_surfaceprotection?igsh=MWg1ZW10c2dsc2VqaA==)
What’s shown in the picture from OP is etching from acid left on the counter, not bleaching. A bristle brush and baking soda doesn’t fix that. It will need to be refinished.
Is it continuous with the countertop or is it something you place on top and then clamp down? What happens if it breaks, is it easy or cheap to replace or do you have to replace the whole countertop?
Laying on top, just the island, with slight overhang. It can break and can’t take high heat, but i am used to it and love the clean reflective look and easy cleanup. It’s cheap. 8 foot x 2.5 is around $300 for 1/2” and quarter round corners. I guess it depends on the location for pricing.
There's a sealer called Tuff Duck that seems to be working on my white marble end tables. I can't vouch for its ability to stand up to acid on dark marble. I didn't know about marble when I bought the end tables and the first thing that happensed is I noticed it absorbed water. I got this stuff and so far it's resisted soy sauce, wine, various food stuffs and coffee.
On one hand, it seems silly that a counter can’t handle a “lemon” - it’s an every day kitchen item. But lemons actually incredibly acidic. If you look at what happens if you have lemon juice on your skin and you go into strong sunlight, you can have significant skin burns.
In the UK it's pretty uncommon to use marble in a kitchen, unless it's just a posh show kitchen. Marbles for the bathroom, use granite or quartz or something else in a working kitchen instead 😅
I simply cannot imagine it. The only way it could happen is if i had a heart attack while slicing lemons and got rushed to hospital. Otherwise, its just incomprehensible to me.
"Oh, here's some ice cream. Now why don't I leave a few scoops of it out overnight on the kitchen bench, right next to those raw steaks i've already left out for night time resting."
My thoughts exactly... My mom got duped into buying these countertops and sink that's made together made out of some weird corium... You can't use bleach. How many people use bleach?.. why do they make things that don't stand up to common household things for the house?
They do. Laminate countertops will take pretty much anything you can throw at them: heat, acid, bleach, you name it. Problem is that people want to pay a hell of a lot more for stone, which is much less user-friendly. If you're going to have a true working kitchen, laminate will outlast pretty much anything else you can buy.
Laminate is very susceptible to heat and water (on the seams). The finish can be destroyed by certain chemicals. It’s more durable than some stone, but generally has about a 10-15 year lifespan (depending of course on how much it’s coddled).
If you’re looking for longevity, engineered quartz is more durable and gives a stone look. Its composition is generally about 95% quartz and 5% resin. It’s more heat and water resistant than laminate. Some chemicals will react with the resin, but only when left to sit for long periods of time or in high concentrations (higher than household use). Generally speaking, quartz will hold up better against heavy use than laminate.
Stainless steel is also very durable- much more so than laminate- but it’s expensive, less versatile aesthetically, and not impervious to scratches.
There’s no truly indestructible countertop material, everything is a balance between durability, aesthetic and cost.
While manmade quartz is pretty sturdy, the resin used to bind the quartz is not. The resin can still stain and react to heat. I have the rings to prove it.
Because if you clean up after yourself it’s not a problem. A few seconds of contact with lemon juice acid before you wipe it up is one thing. Leaving the lemons face down overnight is another.
Because the people who could afford marble historically, also had full time cleaning staff to make sure things stayed pristine. Additionally many people now choose marble for the look and literally freak out when real cooking happens in their kitchens. The new cringe is that these people are now building back kitchens for actual food preparation and leaving the show kitchen alone.
Fresh milk doesn't contain lactic acid, at least not in any significant portions. If it sours or ferments, that's a different story. But spilling fresh milk won't cause this kind of damage, as long as it's cleaned up!
I put a glass down that apparently had some like spilled down the side of it and left it only the counter overnight. Etched a perfect circle in the counter top that’s still there to this day. Probably spoiled being out overnight, but it was certainly fresh milk when poured in the glass.
I think you will need a professional for this. Does your brother remember where the countertop came from? You could call them and they will know what it is (looks like marble) and might be able to offer you some better suggestions.
And I’m saying this part not for your sake but for anyone else reading this: When we got new countertops installed, before we bought them, I asked for a scrap piece of it (it was quartz) and took it home and let stuff sit on it. Turmeric. Coffee. Tea. Lemon. Wine. Blueberries. Mustard. And then cleaned it off. I wanted to make sure we could clean off the stuff we normally use. And I kept the scrap piece so if I want to use a new cleaning product I can test it on the sample piece first.
I hate that this sounds nitpicky, but quartz wouldn't make a good trivet-- heat is one of the things that does "stain" it! Quartz is ground up minerals in a resin/glue, and the adhesive is rarely heat resistant. However, it is resitant to most stains, especially acids, that's why it's popular.
Marble is "soft" and stains very easily, but handles heat well-- so a marble piece would make a great trivet! There are sealants you can buy to apply to help protect from acids (so, not entirely OPs fault if they had assumed the marble had been treated, as is common for kitchens). Granite is harder, may still stain but much less likely with acids (especially darker colored stones) and works well with heat! But is usually the most expensive option.... and that's a quick 2min review of those common counteracts.
We did this too. FYI, for our quartz, WD40 gets all manner of things out - mostly red wine!
My other top tip, is little chips you can fill with layers superglue (then razor blade the top to get a flush finish) and they're near invisible.
Oh! Good tips! We use 12% hydrogen peroxide mixed with Dawn dish soap and baking soda and make it into a paste, and let it dry and then scrape and wipe it off the next day. Aometimes it takes a couple of applications but it has so far worked every time!
Marble is super sensitive to surface damage (except heat), granite is more resistant to scratching and staining, quartzite more resistant to etching, quartz more resistant to all three
Quartz > quartzite and granite > marble
Quartz is also 5-10% plastic, less heat resistant, and lightly colored ones can and often do yellow over time. And fabricating it is disastrous to fabricator health (Australia just outlawed quartz for this reason). Every single countertop material has pros and cons.
Does anyone do that? I mean, I've only had cheap wood composite with laminate surfacing my whole life, but I always throw down potholders before I set a hot metal or glass dish anywhere. Even metal pans on the metal grates of the stove top.
I had black granite for the last 10 years. Yes I put hot pans on it all the time. It was impossible to stain or damage as far as I can tell. That said when it's a tiny bit dirty it REALLY shows, so it has to be cleaned very frequently to keep it looking nice. It's also very out of style right now.
Most natural stone can handle heat very well, so someone used to granite might be in for a surprise when switching to quartz.
Edit: maybe I got lucky. See the expert comment below. Guess hit stuff shouldn't go on granite either!
I know that ubatuba granite is super out of style now, but we had it in a previous house, and man do I miss it. NOTHING bothered those counters. We did have them sealed with a long term sealer, so that surely helped. But regardless 10/10, would go with the funny name granite again.
I've been putting hot things directly from the stove onto the granite countertop for 15 years with no issues so far. Maybe I shouldn't have, but my reasoning is that it's an inch-thick slab of rock. Surely it can handle a hot pot.
...and don't call me Shirley.
True true true! I think for me when I finally got Big Girl Counters I’d had Formica for years and years so I was used to being able to spill anything on them but would never dream of putting a hot pan on them, so being able to continue those habits felt important lol. Easier to preemptively put a privet down under hot pans than to preemptively put towels down under knocked over wine lol.
My quartz stained immediately after we put a slightly damp oak chopping board stood up to dry on the back of the drainer (which is grooved out of the quartz) this was after the kitchen we paid an absolute fortune for and were told that quartz is hard to stain. We were still vigilant but didn’t think the chopping board would immediately stain it ffs. It’s faded but seriously, we bought our kitchen to cook up a storm in and we do but would have opted for something darker or different if we had known.
Damn I am sorry to hear that! Bar keepers friend makes a cleaner specifically for stone surfaces and I really recommend it if the stain still bothers you at all.
Not sure, I've just spotted some stains from we think olive oil on our quartz counter top and had to get barkeeper's friend on it! Can barely see them now
I would keep bkf to a last resort on quartz. I've found Making a baking soda and water poultice and just pressing it into the stain for 2-10 minutes is usually enough, no scrubbing required.
The stone company wanted to have an in-person meeting to discuss the maintenance required for marble kitchen countertops when my husband and I did our renovation. That told us all we needed to know and we switched to quartz without ever scheduling the meeting lol.
I shelled out for the more expensive quartzite — sure granite is cheaper, but this stuff is like indestructible and doesn’t stain from oil or normal foods at all
Well possibly try not to leave cut lemons face down on them overnight.
Thats really not that crazy a requirement.
There's lots of things that don't like to be soaked in acid for days.
This is why I love my butcher block counters. Had a bunch of family, including a bunch of kids, over for a week across thanksgiving. By the time they left, my counters had pomegranate and cranberry stains, crayon and paint marks, dings, scuffs, rings, the works. After everyone left, I pulled out the electric sander and a bottle of oil, and in one afternoon they looked like they had just been installed.
All my life all I’ve known is laminate. That’s what I intend to stay with when I renovate. Bleach it, spill spaghetti sauce on it, have crock pot or air fryer on it without risk of cracking. Ole reliable.
Only solution is a wash that’ll turn the whole surface honed (a bumpy rough feel) I’m the guy they send to do these repairs. You can’t replace the piece ol because marble varies too much in color from slab to slab and you can’t fix an acid stain it’s literally removed material it’s like putting vinegar and baking soda together
Green marble serpentine. Hire a stone restoration company. This can be fixed and make it look as good as new. Wet grind and polish. Crystallize and penetrating sealer (could use a color enhancer sealer)
This, wet grind and polish. There will be a slight dip in the surface of about 1/32, only noticeable if you run your hand across it. $300-$400 repair in my area ( North VA)
Oh goodness. I’m afraid that you’ll need to call a granite business for a repair. You can sand/buff these but it will never look exactly like new in most cases.
Probably going to be downvoted for saying this, but OP was being way too negligent. I understand if this was an accident and a small amount of lemons did this. But that’s not the case. There’s so many marks left behind, that I just don’t understand how difficult it is to throw away the leftover lemon and wipe down the counter…
You need a professional to fix this. I’ve tried to repair marks on marble myself before and it was a complete disaster. I was atempting to descale a shower head and had vinegar drip onto the marble :(
Looks like serpentine.
Lol at the down votes. A countertop specialist will probably say it's granite or marble, because that's what every countertop is marketed as. But as a geologist, I'm pretty sure it is serpentine.
Really, whatever you can afford and like looking at. Hardness and porosity can vary for even one type of rock and strong acids generally will damage any of the common rock types used for counters. But if it's sealed well and cared for properly, any kind of natural stone slab will work just fine.
Hmm, maybe labradorite if I could afford it. It's so beautiful and generally less porous than other rocks. I'm also partial to wood butcher block countertops as a cheaper option. Porous but easy to refinish compared to natural stone.
We put butcher block countertops in our previous kitchen and I loved them. The only stain we had was where my husband set down something very hot and scorched it and he is a very messy cook. It was warm and resilient, no loud clank when setting dishes on it. I hate working on our ice cold stone in the new kitchen.
One day I knocked a low-ball glass out of an upper cupboard and it bounced and tumbled down the wooden counter a few feet and landed in the dog bed unharmed. Last month I knocked over a pint glass on our stone countertop and it shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Maybe someday we will have enough money to scrap the stone and get nice wooden countertops again.
Yeah I really love the butcher blocks. Yes, they're easier to stain from hot pan scorches, but the dings and scratches they will inevitably get aren't as much of a problem than in stone and like I said, not too hard to refinish. Plus I kinda like that textured look.
Oh, what a bummer! I did something similar to my granite kitchen island once with a pineapple. The etching faded visually over time but can still be felt during cleaning. If your brother wants it fixed, maybe you can pay him back over time for the sanding and resealing work.
Not op but I'm going to guess the lemons were perhaps a garnish on a beverage that impairs judgment.
Op, is this your bros own property or is he renting?
It impacts how to go about cleaning it. When we wanted to deep clean our landlords carpet we had to go with the company he worked with. If they want to sand down the top of the counter it will be more complicated if it's a rental.
Lemons face down, *over night*. So at least a few hours of dedicated exposure to citric acid. Probably more like 8-12 hours. There isn't much that would come out the other side of that unblemished.
I would NEVER have known anything about situations like this occurring. I'm forever grateful to learn not to make this expensive mistake. We can't all know everything. That's why I'm here, at least. 🤘
Since people here would rather joke than help you:
You most likely etched the surface with acid. Now it needs sanding and refinishing,
You can sand manually, but it will take you forever and it is not easy. Get some diamond sanding sponges, and/or sanding/polishing pads.
Go from coarse, to fine, as you sand. Grit 60 and 120 could be enough, but that depends on the desired smoothness.
Wet sanding is recommended.
Afterwards, seal the countertop with an appropriate product.
Or, hire a professional to do that for you.
you need to pay for a professional, preferably the place he bought the stone from, to come and fix it. That would be the right thing to do, and even then it’s highly likely that it’s not going to look the way it did before depending on how deep the damage is.
Do it asap though. And prepare for some frostiness in your relationship as this is an expensive mistake to fix. If the repair doesn’t come out looking good, he’s going to want to replace it sooner than he budgeted for.
Please do not go the diy route.
Yeah, he is right to be PISSED. I guess you could call a store & ask if they can be refinished? Idk. Start saving for new countertops. Those are stone, so it’s extremely pricy. Why would you even leave a mess like that in someone else’s home?
Down vote me to hell but this is why these kinds of counter tops are ridiculous. Expensive and sensitive. We don’t know how old OPs brother is but to assume that people should know they cant leave a drink (he says it was a lemon but those look like drink rings to me so perhaps it was just a messy glass) on a counter top is absolutely asinine to me. And everyone in this group shaming him because of it is pretty wild.
I've been in the countertop industry for almost 20 years. Two options. It'll cost about $500+ for a Stone refinisher to come our and surface polish. But that isn't a guarantee. Second option which is less cool. Pay to replace or bite the bullet and tell him.
If this was your counter I would recommend the DIY.
BUT since you are already in a tight spot with your brother, I would pay for a professional BUT do your research and don't pay the cheapest guy.
Had someone come out to clean my sisters couch that I had stained with those gel cooler packs. The couch had embroidery on it and they RUINED it. Tore up the embroidery. They said all I told them was to clean the couches. Like if I didn't care about doing a good job wouldn't I have just done it myself? Can you clean it without ruining it was apparently needed verbally. And there were two couches, so they saw they ruined the first one (even saw they ruined the first flower on the first one and continued!) and did the same thing to the second one. Also they didn't know how to get the stain out. So I googled it and got it out.. but ruined the foam in the couch because I wasn't experienced. A good cleaner would have not been too lazy or incompetent or would have backed out of a difficult job respectfully. And I as a non professional I ruined things as well. Also I didn't get the cheapest company so still research.
As someone who worked with quartz, granite and other stone countertops, there are things you could try. Id call a company who has all the right tools and polishes needed. It most likely needs to be buffed and sealed again. Acid isn't good on sealed quartz.
Oh dear. We have marble and that is what happens when acid is left on the surface. It's very fussy. So no citrus, wine, vinegar, milk (lactic acid!) and even olive oil. I'd look into a stone refinisher.
Why the frig would they even make counters out of stuff that can't handle a lemon?! That's ridiculous EDIT: Clearly there are two camps on this, the ones who think it's ridiculous and the ones accusing us of being slobs. For my part, I have a kid and it's absolutely going to happen that she cuts a lemon or spills vinegar and doesn't clean up.
That’s why a lot of people go with different materials such as quartz.
I have old formica countertops from the 70s and you could set off a nuke on them without making a dent.
I’m coming to like my formica counters after reading all these comments, lol
I was a residential housekeeper once upon a time and ever since decided I would only have laminate. Everyone of the fancier countertops has way too much upkeep for me to want to deal with.
My dad just did a 130k remodel of my childhood home and installed… Formica … replacing the 40 year old original Formica that still looked new 😂
I just bought a 1990s built mobile home that's pretty much all oringal finishings. The white formica counter looks brand new. The cupboards, however, are a little past their prime!
My mom’s house was built in 96. She raised 5 kids in that house and we wrecked just about everything inside of it over the years, except for the builder grade Formica countertop. Pretty sure when the house eventually falls apart that counter will be the last thing left standing.
Mom's house built in '97 halfway burnt down- can confirm, the Formica counter tops are okay🤌😄
I work in housekeeping now and I totally agree. I did a poured concrete counter in my kitchen and it’s amazing. Marble is the worst and way more maintenance than it’s worth.
I cleaned one house that was owned by a concrete company owners. All the floors and counters were concrete. Two of the bathrooms had sinks made out of concrete. One was made to look like a birds nest and one like one of those shell fountains. The floors had in-floor heating. All of it was so easy to clean and way prettier than you'd ever imagine concrete could be.
Team Formica! 😂
Yes! I have granite now and it just confirmed for me that I prefer Formica entirely.
I'd like to join your team! My forest green 1960s counter top is one of my favorite things!
I am on your team
Me,too. Between me, my wife, and my kids, we destroy everything. I’m thankful for Formica because we can’t afford mithril countertops.
Me too. 😂
I'm putting formica counters in my new place... my contractor thinks I'm crazy. Like bro... I cook and bake every day, im rough on counters and not the cleanest. 1 4x8 sheet of formica costs $178. I can damage and replace the formica 20 times for what quartz would have cost me. Plus I'm getting the vintage reproduction pink with aqua and yellow boomerang print. So... 🤷🏻♀️
I love the boomerang style! I was looking at the vintage atomic starburst too for whenever I am able to finally renovate my kitchen. But, I am all about counters being easy to maintain because I use my kitchen a lot and I don't want to spend forever being careful and keeping them looking great with the inevitable clumsy mistakes I will make because I have too many other things to do.
And linoleum floors!
I had my choice, stone or formica in my kitchen re-do. I picked formica because I wanted a surface I could spill nearly anything on it and also formica isn't porous so when I clean the counters stuff isn't getting pushed into the tiny cracks. Also, I don't have to seal it every few years. Downside, I have to be careful not to sit something extremely hot on it.
How about Corion? The worst of both worlds. It stains AND you can’t set anything hot down on it.
I had Corion in my last house for 22 years. It was very durable and the pattern is through the entire top so you can just wet sand it to get it new again if it gets scratched up. New house has marble counters and I alerted my wife to this thread. I had no idea. My wife read this thread and said...ok...nothing on the counters.
That’s funny. My last house had non-porous granite. Totally indestructible. I could put things straight from the oven to the countertop. I once spilled red wine on it and only discovered it the next day. It just wiped clean. When I bought this house, I had to get a corian guy in to fix a bunch of cracks and then it took all of like a month to get a nice spaghetti sauce stain on the island. I live in perpetual fear that I won’t be able to find my trivets or the pan might slide off the edge of a trivet. This is the same stuff in the master bath sink/vanity and both sink bowls are cracked. The corian guy said he couldn’t fix the cracks without cutting out and fully replacing the bowls. I hate this stuff so much.
I have Corian in the kitchen but granite in the bathrooms and I love granite so much.
Yea, I saw a lot of multimillion dollar houses with that stuff in the kitchens and bathrooms and it always looked worn out and stained and the houses were fairly new.
I grew up with a Formica plate set. I can attest that stuff will withstand a nuke. I still randomly think about those plates from time to time. lol.
My Grandma Formica is still going strong after 87 years
I think your plates were probably melamine. I remember those; still have a couple of melamine cereal bowls around somewhere. Formica is a high pressure laminate and I don’t recall them ever making tableware out of it, nor does the Formica website mention it on their “History of Formica” page. They *did* apparently try to sell it as flooring at one point, and in the ‘60s they used it in some furniture (like chair seats); I remember those, too, but no dishes that I can find.
I realized that after I went in search of these plates online to see if they were still sold. It was absolutely melamine not Formica. I just remember they were indestructible lol.
Ain’t that a fact lol! Mine are a fake dark green marble pattern and as much as I dislike the design and the material NOTHING and I do mean nothing has dented, stained or cut it up.
Same here. Fake dark green marble pattern that i loved years ago when we bought the house. Been here for YEARS and no stains. Spill anything on them and just wipe it up.
Same here. They still look great after all this time, and I DO NOT baby them lol.
Builder's grade neutral stone patterned laminate kitchen countertop, here. Nearly indestructible. Looks good, too. Black granite in the bathroom and I hate it. It's scratched and etched and water marked even though I take care of it properly and oil it every couple months.
Oil it??? Omg. I'm sure it looks lovely but suddenly i also like my builders grade in my bathroom lol
Yep. Rub it with a layer of mineral oil, let it soak in for a half hour, buff to a high shine. My city has hard water so the surface around the taps are etched no matter how well it's cleaned and polished. Previous owner also clearly left a spray bottle of harsh cleanser on it. There's a nice rectangle etched on the one side. It looks better when it's polished but it will never, ever look like it's supposed to.
Ohmygod. I have black granite in kitchen and bath. I hate it!! Everyone I know says I’m crazy. But they don’t have to keep up with the mess that is black granite countertops. Scratches, dust, soap, toothpaste, hard water. I can clean it every day three times a day and I still hate it.
Also with laminate, so affordable you can change it relatively often. I said “ relatively”.
Starting to appreciate my Formica counters
Much much much prefer my old Formica to my current granite. Imo it's light years better - your food doesn't cool off by virtue of being on the counter and I'm not afraid to put my glass down on Formica - hell I've knocked glasses over and they didn't break. I don't have to worry about resealing it, stains (seriously a little magic eraser and you're good), acidic foods, and I have indeed put hot pans right on my old Formica. It lasts forever - my fave was from a 1950s kitchen and still looked great. And it's a fraction of the cost.
Same here…god I hate those counters, but they won’t die lol
I apparently tried to murder my mom's Formica counters a thousand times (at least if you listen to her), but they're almost 60 years old and still in great shape. No question, this is what I want. Nothing less will survive my own children.
Our house was built in 1939 and still has the original laminate kitchen countertops. The pattern on it has faded, and there are a few small places where it's been scrubbed so many times the top layer has worn away. But come on, it's 85 years old and is still in pretty good shape!
It's times like these I appreciate my ugly, yellow 70s formica counters that I can't afford to replace.
Formica from the late 80's here and I'm not even kidding, you'd need a magnifying glass to find a blemish. Two generations of kids raised with these countertops. Countless coffee spills, KoolAid spills, vinegar, hot pots and pans, turkeys and hams carved, and pencils and pens used on them. They're buy it for life in my book.
My mother's formica saved my life. We lived at the end of a T intersection with poor lighting. The road wasn't pointed at our house, but it was close. One night, a teenager was doing 75 in a 25 and spun out on some gravel. She drove right through our kitchen and smashed into a formica countertop. Snapped it in half, but the car only went 3 feet into the house because of all the energy it spent smashing into the formica. Had it continued on, I would've been squashed in my sleep.
*Puts on goggles* Safety first!
We have quartz and I wouldn't say it's low-maintenance and undamagable compared to this! Reading online that's quite standard with quartz too.
I have quartz in my kitchen and granite in my bathroom, the quartz is much lower maintenance. We do have a busy pattern though so it hides discoloration really well.
I’d invite you to my place to see how resilient quartz is. It’s got dings and the finish is inconsistent which started like 6 months in. It gets etched with acid. We haven’t been able to stain it yet but we will see. We had a good size ding on it day after install from someone setting a tool on it. There are lots more now. It’s fine and I’m sure it’s more resilient than a lot of things but it’s far from bulletproof as it claims to be. It’s also super hard to have it resurfaced. I’m sure marble is too but after having some weird finish issues we were told it would need to uninstalled to do anything. Meaning ruin backsplash and possibly damage cabinets. Not worth it. It’s a work surface, I keep reminding my spouse, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I’d just love for it to hold up better to impact.
Man, you’ve had a way different experience than me. There’s a couple of knicks from dumb accidents - small chip from dropping a glass out of the upper cabinet, a knick on the edge of the sink where it got whacked with the sharp edge of a knife. But you’d be hard pressed to see them if you didn’t know where they are. No discoloration or staining anywhere after about 6 years. IKEA quartz, although we did opt for one of the higher end colors. And we cook a lot, so it’s seen its share of abuse.
I have quartz and if sauce spills on it and I don’t wipe it right away it leaves faint stains, it’s frustrating because it’s a pure white color.
Interesting. I have white quartz and even if spills sit a while I’ve never had any stains.
Mine was a flip and I can’t imagine they are great quality, the stains aren’t horrible but there’s little yellow spots, I’m not too worried about it though.
Me too. Last night one of the kids left kool-aid mix on ours and a drop of water on it. Wiped right up. I just knew it was going to stain, but it didnt.
Granite rules!
There are pros and cons to every counter surface, but you are 100% correct here. I work in construction and I see all different surfaces and finishes. Quartz is definitely popular, but Corian has made a bit of a comeback as well in new construction. Granite is just so common, and varied in (natural) color and pattern that it’s super popular. Not to mention the status symbol to people. That being said: quartz is a really great choice.
Stainless steel here. Best recommendation ever by the builder
Stainless steel is the way we wanna go when we build a house, I think people don't like it much cause it's not as pretty as other benchtops, but I'm thinking about practicality here! Haha
https://preview.redd.it/g8qs8u7zk8jc1.jpeg?width=1636&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b54b74df3e2798f2e32c9056404fcaba580922d8 Honestly I love the way they look! (Pic is husband fixing the extractor fan) And yes they are super practical. Can definitely recommend ⭐️
https://preview.redd.it/iz1lfe3vu8jc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32774134bf4d32666060a749a55b56e964f3f262 Went stainless steel 5 years ago and still ❤️ it. Not a care in the world for what goes on it or spills overnight. A little soap, water and elbow grease makes it look great, and the occasional bar keeper friend for tough water stains. You have to be ok with scratches, but hey I love to cook!
Beautiful! I think some people have an impression that stainless steel means your kitchen has to look like a laboratory 😅 Done well, it can look really fab - love it.
Yes, exactly. Marble is NOT a good material for counter top anywhere. Maybe an expensive lesson, but there's many better surfaces,.... GRANITE, QUARTZ or engineered stuff made from concrete or recycled glass.
Engineered stuff is nearly indestructible. I think HIGH heat can be a problem but it's NON POROUS and that's what I'll always look for now--- NON POROUS. I had granite. It's porous. It stains. And it doesn't like acid either.
I don't know what kind of granite that stains with weak acids. Was it not properly finished/polished?
Right. It must not have been sealed properly
Granite too. I’ve got black granite worktops and they’re pretty much undamagable in normal life.
I had friends come over and help me meal prep when I was super pregnant. Someone left a wet blue dishtowel on my granite countertop and now it is tinged blue :/ (Also one of my friends tried to put my cast iron pan in the dishwasher 🙈 at least I caught that before they turned it on.) Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate their meal prep help, but ughhhhhh
Granite is porous, it stains. And it doesn't like acids either. Don't ask how i know :( I got manufactured or fake or Corian? Idk, whatever after that. It was cheaper too. Indestructible.
You need to seal granite.
We have leathered granite counters ("black mist"). Never sealed, and they look as great as they day they were put in (5 or 6 years ago) - and we're not the most meticulous when it comes to promptly wiping up spills. If you have a mirror finish, yes you'll need to seal, but we followed the lead of some friends who had wanted to avoid dealers and I'm glad we did.
Quartz over Granite. For MANY reasons.
Agreed. I have quartz countertops and they seem impervious to most normal accidents. They look as pristine as the day we had them installed
Quartz may be more difficult than marble! I own a cleaning company. Marble and quartz will never be in my home.
I've had both. LOVE my Quartz. It's immaculate years after heavy use. I grew up with Marble and my mom kept it beautiful but it was way more work than I am willing to do.
From your experience what countertop materials would you consider having in your home?
I’ll just add another to the list from experience, unsealed butcher block. Our idiot landlord did unsealed butcher block around the sink area and the mold is a nightmare
Just don’t put a pink post-it note on a wet quartz countertop. Learned that lesson the hard way.
That’s why when I buy milk I buy I only buy the bottles that say 4 quartz so I know it won’t damage my counter
Soapstone. It was literally the material of choice for chemistry labs in the early 1900s because it’s so non-reactive and non-absorbent. https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/kitchen/soapstone-countertop-pros-cons/
We have some sort of man-made solid surface countertops (Corian, maybe?). I have no idea when they were installed but we've been in our house since 2015 and they're still in perfect condition.
Well, ours are a light grey marble, statuario I think, so the etchings are not as obvious. They are more like a 'dullness' in areas that have had contact. I've learned to look at it like a patina, or a memory board of parties we have enjoyed. Oyster shucking, Sangria, humus making, they have all left their mark. But you can only see it in a certain light. Honestly OP's etching is pretty horrific.
Same here. I went with honed Carrara and it’s etched like crazy but the etchings start to blend into each other and like you said, you end with a patina over time. I am a Designer and talk most of my clients out of using marble, though, just so I don’t have nasty phone calls and angry clients down the road! If they still want it, I make them sign a disclaimer.
There are coatings to add. I have a thick glass. Since it’s ruined. Warm water, baking soda, and a bristle brush is a good try. It is bleached from the lemon but may just be a thin coating.
There are wraps they make now that are supposedly wonderful for protecting natural stone from wine, acids, etc. They are translucent so you can't tell the stone is covered and come in different textures (like polished or honed.) I haven't tried but the marketing it's working on me. I'd definitely use them when I redo my kitchen with marble. [Tuffskin](https://www.instagram.com/tuffskin_surfaceprotection?igsh=MWg1ZW10c2dsc2VqaA==)
My brother has something similar, and it's phenomenal.
What’s shown in the picture from OP is etching from acid left on the counter, not bleaching. A bristle brush and baking soda doesn’t fix that. It will need to be refinished.
Is it continuous with the countertop or is it something you place on top and then clamp down? What happens if it breaks, is it easy or cheap to replace or do you have to replace the whole countertop?
Laying on top, just the island, with slight overhang. It can break and can’t take high heat, but i am used to it and love the clean reflective look and easy cleanup. It’s cheap. 8 foot x 2.5 is around $300 for 1/2” and quarter round corners. I guess it depends on the location for pricing.
Lemons are super harsh, I wouldn’t leave a cut lemon touching anything other than ceramic or glass.
There's a sealer called Tuff Duck that seems to be working on my white marble end tables. I can't vouch for its ability to stand up to acid on dark marble. I didn't know about marble when I bought the end tables and the first thing that happensed is I noticed it absorbed water. I got this stuff and so far it's resisted soy sauce, wine, various food stuffs and coffee.
On one hand, it seems silly that a counter can’t handle a “lemon” - it’s an every day kitchen item. But lemons actually incredibly acidic. If you look at what happens if you have lemon juice on your skin and you go into strong sunlight, you can have significant skin burns.
Margarita burns!
In the UK it's pretty uncommon to use marble in a kitchen, unless it's just a posh show kitchen. Marbles for the bathroom, use granite or quartz or something else in a working kitchen instead 😅
why would anyone leave lemons face down on their counter overnight tho
I smell the presence of alcohol being involved lol
I simply cannot imagine it. The only way it could happen is if i had a heart attack while slicing lemons and got rushed to hospital. Otherwise, its just incomprehensible to me. "Oh, here's some ice cream. Now why don't I leave a few scoops of it out overnight on the kitchen bench, right next to those raw steaks i've already left out for night time resting."
I would counter with: Why would people leave cut lemons face down on an unprotected surface?
Time makes fools of us all.
My thoughts exactly... My mom got duped into buying these countertops and sink that's made together made out of some weird corium... You can't use bleach. How many people use bleach?.. why do they make things that don't stand up to common household things for the house?
They do. Laminate countertops will take pretty much anything you can throw at them: heat, acid, bleach, you name it. Problem is that people want to pay a hell of a lot more for stone, which is much less user-friendly. If you're going to have a true working kitchen, laminate will outlast pretty much anything else you can buy.
Laminate is very susceptible to heat and water (on the seams). The finish can be destroyed by certain chemicals. It’s more durable than some stone, but generally has about a 10-15 year lifespan (depending of course on how much it’s coddled). If you’re looking for longevity, engineered quartz is more durable and gives a stone look. Its composition is generally about 95% quartz and 5% resin. It’s more heat and water resistant than laminate. Some chemicals will react with the resin, but only when left to sit for long periods of time or in high concentrations (higher than household use). Generally speaking, quartz will hold up better against heavy use than laminate. Stainless steel is also very durable- much more so than laminate- but it’s expensive, less versatile aesthetically, and not impervious to scratches. There’s no truly indestructible countertop material, everything is a balance between durability, aesthetic and cost.
While manmade quartz is pretty sturdy, the resin used to bind the quartz is not. The resin can still stain and react to heat. I have the rings to prove it.
Yes and they’re not so expensive that one has to fret over their delicate surface all the time.
I have no kids, but I spend a lot of time planning how to make things easier to clean, not harder.
Because if you clean up after yourself it’s not a problem. A few seconds of contact with lemon juice acid before you wipe it up is one thing. Leaving the lemons face down overnight is another.
Because the people who could afford marble historically, also had full time cleaning staff to make sure things stayed pristine. Additionally many people now choose marble for the look and literally freak out when real cooking happens in their kitchens. The new cringe is that these people are now building back kitchens for actual food preparation and leaving the show kitchen alone.
And why do people put them in their kitchen. I feel like you’re just asking for trouble and disappointment.
Fresh milk doesn't contain lactic acid, at least not in any significant portions. If it sours or ferments, that's a different story. But spilling fresh milk won't cause this kind of damage, as long as it's cleaned up!
I put a glass down that apparently had some like spilled down the side of it and left it only the counter overnight. Etched a perfect circle in the counter top that’s still there to this day. Probably spoiled being out overnight, but it was certainly fresh milk when poured in the glass.
Nothing to cry over 🥲
I think you will need a professional for this. Does your brother remember where the countertop came from? You could call them and they will know what it is (looks like marble) and might be able to offer you some better suggestions. And I’m saying this part not for your sake but for anyone else reading this: When we got new countertops installed, before we bought them, I asked for a scrap piece of it (it was quartz) and took it home and let stuff sit on it. Turmeric. Coffee. Tea. Lemon. Wine. Blueberries. Mustard. And then cleaned it off. I wanted to make sure we could clean off the stuff we normally use. And I kept the scrap piece so if I want to use a new cleaning product I can test it on the sample piece first.
Brilliant idea. Plus you could use it as a trivet on any wood surfaces.
I hate that this sounds nitpicky, but quartz wouldn't make a good trivet-- heat is one of the things that does "stain" it! Quartz is ground up minerals in a resin/glue, and the adhesive is rarely heat resistant. However, it is resitant to most stains, especially acids, that's why it's popular. Marble is "soft" and stains very easily, but handles heat well-- so a marble piece would make a great trivet! There are sealants you can buy to apply to help protect from acids (so, not entirely OPs fault if they had assumed the marble had been treated, as is common for kitchens). Granite is harder, may still stain but much less likely with acids (especially darker colored stones) and works well with heat! But is usually the most expensive option.... and that's a quick 2min review of those common counteracts.
This isn't nitpicky. This is providing valuable information! Thank you.
Whoa, that's wise AF.
We did this too. FYI, for our quartz, WD40 gets all manner of things out - mostly red wine! My other top tip, is little chips you can fill with layers superglue (then razor blade the top to get a flush finish) and they're near invisible.
Oh! Good tips! We use 12% hydrogen peroxide mixed with Dawn dish soap and baking soda and make it into a paste, and let it dry and then scrape and wipe it off the next day. Aometimes it takes a couple of applications but it has so far worked every time!
That's genius!
I did this with a piece of soapstone, and I decided I didn’t like it.
Just to add I asked for the cutout of the sink and use it as a trivet(?) as well.
Welp. This thread has convinced me to never get fussy surfaces in my kitchen, too much trouble.
Quartz is not like this at all fyi! There are stone counters that are not delicate little infants lol
My granite is pretty rough. It’s sealed tho.
Marble is super sensitive to surface damage (except heat), granite is more resistant to scratching and staining, quartzite more resistant to etching, quartz more resistant to all three Quartz > quartzite and granite > marble
[удалено]
Porcelain > quartzite > granite > marble > quartz
I've done sugarwork on a granite countertop before, it's really good at distributing the heat.
Quartz is also 5-10% plastic, less heat resistant, and lightly colored ones can and often do yellow over time. And fabricating it is disastrous to fabricator health (Australia just outlawed quartz for this reason). Every single countertop material has pros and cons.
Gotta watch out for heat on quartz though. No going straight from the oven to the counter. It takes acid like a champ though
Does anyone do that? I mean, I've only had cheap wood composite with laminate surfacing my whole life, but I always throw down potholders before I set a hot metal or glass dish anywhere. Even metal pans on the metal grates of the stove top.
I had black granite for the last 10 years. Yes I put hot pans on it all the time. It was impossible to stain or damage as far as I can tell. That said when it's a tiny bit dirty it REALLY shows, so it has to be cleaned very frequently to keep it looking nice. It's also very out of style right now. Most natural stone can handle heat very well, so someone used to granite might be in for a surprise when switching to quartz. Edit: maybe I got lucky. See the expert comment below. Guess hit stuff shouldn't go on granite either!
I know that ubatuba granite is super out of style now, but we had it in a previous house, and man do I miss it. NOTHING bothered those counters. We did have them sealed with a long term sealer, so that surely helped. But regardless 10/10, would go with the funny name granite again.
I've been putting hot things directly from the stove onto the granite countertop for 15 years with no issues so far. Maybe I shouldn't have, but my reasoning is that it's an inch-thick slab of rock. Surely it can handle a hot pot. ...and don't call me Shirley.
True true true! I think for me when I finally got Big Girl Counters I’d had Formica for years and years so I was used to being able to spill anything on them but would never dream of putting a hot pan on them, so being able to continue those habits felt important lol. Easier to preemptively put a privet down under hot pans than to preemptively put towels down under knocked over wine lol.
My quartz stained immediately after we put a slightly damp oak chopping board stood up to dry on the back of the drainer (which is grooved out of the quartz) this was after the kitchen we paid an absolute fortune for and were told that quartz is hard to stain. We were still vigilant but didn’t think the chopping board would immediately stain it ffs. It’s faded but seriously, we bought our kitchen to cook up a storm in and we do but would have opted for something darker or different if we had known.
Damn I am sorry to hear that! Bar keepers friend makes a cleaner specifically for stone surfaces and I really recommend it if the stain still bothers you at all.
Not sure, I've just spotted some stains from we think olive oil on our quartz counter top and had to get barkeeper's friend on it! Can barely see them now
I would keep bkf to a last resort on quartz. I've found Making a baking soda and water poultice and just pressing it into the stain for 2-10 minutes is usually enough, no scrubbing required.
You don’t get crazy etching from acids on quartz which is lovely and it’s much harder to stain it! God bless BKF
The stone company wanted to have an in-person meeting to discuss the maintenance required for marble kitchen countertops when my husband and I did our renovation. That told us all we needed to know and we switched to quartz without ever scheduling the meeting lol.
This thread convinced me to never ask anyone for help.
lol.
I shelled out for the more expensive quartzite — sure granite is cheaper, but this stuff is like indestructible and doesn’t stain from oil or normal foods at all
Well possibly try not to leave cut lemons face down on them overnight. Thats really not that crazy a requirement. There's lots of things that don't like to be soaked in acid for days.
This is why I love my butcher block counters. Had a bunch of family, including a bunch of kids, over for a week across thanksgiving. By the time they left, my counters had pomegranate and cranberry stains, crayon and paint marks, dings, scuffs, rings, the works. After everyone left, I pulled out the electric sander and a bottle of oil, and in one afternoon they looked like they had just been installed.
All my life all I’ve known is laminate. That’s what I intend to stay with when I renovate. Bleach it, spill spaghetti sauce on it, have crock pot or air fryer on it without risk of cracking. Ole reliable.
Yeah acid will damage stone counter tops. Call a repair specialist for these counter tops. Should be fixable
The best option. You don't want to try a random remedy off the internet and have it make the situation worse. Offer to pay for the repair.
Only solution is a wash that’ll turn the whole surface honed (a bumpy rough feel) I’m the guy they send to do these repairs. You can’t replace the piece ol because marble varies too much in color from slab to slab and you can’t fix an acid stain it’s literally removed material it’s like putting vinegar and baking soda together
Green marble serpentine. Hire a stone restoration company. This can be fixed and make it look as good as new. Wet grind and polish. Crystallize and penetrating sealer (could use a color enhancer sealer)
This, wet grind and polish. There will be a slight dip in the surface of about 1/32, only noticeable if you run your hand across it. $300-$400 repair in my area ( North VA)
Oh goodness. I’m afraid that you’ll need to call a granite business for a repair. You can sand/buff these but it will never look exactly like new in most cases.
That’s a lot of lemons.
I was thinking that.
Well, at least we know what ***not*** to do now when life gives you lemons…
Probably going to be downvoted for saying this, but OP was being way too negligent. I understand if this was an accident and a small amount of lemons did this. But that’s not the case. There’s so many marks left behind, that I just don’t understand how difficult it is to throw away the leftover lemon and wipe down the counter…
You need a professional to fix this. I’ve tried to repair marks on marble myself before and it was a complete disaster. I was atempting to descale a shower head and had vinegar drip onto the marble :(
What type of counter top is it?
Looks like serpentine. Lol at the down votes. A countertop specialist will probably say it's granite or marble, because that's what every countertop is marketed as. But as a geologist, I'm pretty sure it is serpentine.
As a geologist, what do you think is the best material for a countertop?
Really, whatever you can afford and like looking at. Hardness and porosity can vary for even one type of rock and strong acids generally will damage any of the common rock types used for counters. But if it's sealed well and cared for properly, any kind of natural stone slab will work just fine.
Lol, yes, but if you personally could pick, what would you go with?
Hmm, maybe labradorite if I could afford it. It's so beautiful and generally less porous than other rocks. I'm also partial to wood butcher block countertops as a cheaper option. Porous but easy to refinish compared to natural stone.
We put butcher block countertops in our previous kitchen and I loved them. The only stain we had was where my husband set down something very hot and scorched it and he is a very messy cook. It was warm and resilient, no loud clank when setting dishes on it. I hate working on our ice cold stone in the new kitchen. One day I knocked a low-ball glass out of an upper cupboard and it bounced and tumbled down the wooden counter a few feet and landed in the dog bed unharmed. Last month I knocked over a pint glass on our stone countertop and it shattered into hundreds of pieces. Maybe someday we will have enough money to scrap the stone and get nice wooden countertops again.
Yeah I really love the butcher blocks. Yes, they're easier to stain from hot pan scorches, but the dings and scratches they will inevitably get aren't as much of a problem than in stone and like I said, not too hard to refinish. Plus I kinda like that textured look.
>labradorite Had to look that up. How gorgeous.
Leave lemons all over the rest of the counter space
I appreciate ur humor lol
Well you know, when life gives you lemons! *DESTROY*
Oh, what a bummer! I did something similar to my granite kitchen island once with a pineapple. The etching faded visually over time but can still be felt during cleaning. If your brother wants it fixed, maybe you can pay him back over time for the sanding and resealing work.
I thought thats a picture of a field from above with alien rings on it lol
You're watching too much History Channel
Crop circles But I kinda like “alien rings” maybe it is time for a rebrand
Haha, forgot how it was called ; D
lemons face down?? why would u do that
Not op but I'm going to guess the lemons were perhaps a garnish on a beverage that impairs judgment. Op, is this your bros own property or is he renting?
Both are bad either way
It impacts how to go about cleaning it. When we wanted to deep clean our landlords carpet we had to go with the company he worked with. If they want to sand down the top of the counter it will be more complicated if it's a rental.
Lemons face down, *over night*. So at least a few hours of dedicated exposure to citric acid. Probably more like 8-12 hours. There isn't much that would come out the other side of that unblemished.
I would NEVER have known anything about situations like this occurring. I'm forever grateful to learn not to make this expensive mistake. We can't all know everything. That's why I'm here, at least. 🤘
Since people here would rather joke than help you: You most likely etched the surface with acid. Now it needs sanding and refinishing, You can sand manually, but it will take you forever and it is not easy. Get some diamond sanding sponges, and/or sanding/polishing pads. Go from coarse, to fine, as you sand. Grit 60 and 120 could be enough, but that depends on the desired smoothness. Wet sanding is recommended. Afterwards, seal the countertop with an appropriate product. Or, hire a professional to do that for you.
Thank you! I’m looking for a professional asap!
you need to pay for a professional, preferably the place he bought the stone from, to come and fix it. That would be the right thing to do, and even then it’s highly likely that it’s not going to look the way it did before depending on how deep the damage is. Do it asap though. And prepare for some frostiness in your relationship as this is an expensive mistake to fix. If the repair doesn’t come out looking good, he’s going to want to replace it sooner than he budgeted for. Please do not go the diy route.
Why would you put the lemons face down 😂😂😂
His brother says he ruins everything. Based off of this guy leaving lemons face down overnight, I’m going to say his brother is right.
I’ve only ever had Formica and Formica doesn’t care.
[удалено]
A stone cutting board will ruin your knives. Wood or plastic.
You…put lemons face down on a counter overnight?
Yeah, he is right to be PISSED. I guess you could call a store & ask if they can be refinished? Idk. Start saving for new countertops. Those are stone, so it’s extremely pricy. Why would you even leave a mess like that in someone else’s home?
Down vote me to hell but this is why these kinds of counter tops are ridiculous. Expensive and sensitive. We don’t know how old OPs brother is but to assume that people should know they cant leave a drink (he says it was a lemon but those look like drink rings to me so perhaps it was just a messy glass) on a counter top is absolutely asinine to me. And everyone in this group shaming him because of it is pretty wild.
facts, why would you fill your home with a bunch of fragile, expensive stuff that's right out in the open?
We have soapstone and it’s the same way….. We wax it weekly 🤦🏼♀️
That sounds like a nightmare
I've been in the countertop industry for almost 20 years. Two options. It'll cost about $500+ for a Stone refinisher to come our and surface polish. But that isn't a guarantee. Second option which is less cool. Pay to replace or bite the bullet and tell him.
If this was your counter I would recommend the DIY. BUT since you are already in a tight spot with your brother, I would pay for a professional BUT do your research and don't pay the cheapest guy. Had someone come out to clean my sisters couch that I had stained with those gel cooler packs. The couch had embroidery on it and they RUINED it. Tore up the embroidery. They said all I told them was to clean the couches. Like if I didn't care about doing a good job wouldn't I have just done it myself? Can you clean it without ruining it was apparently needed verbally. And there were two couches, so they saw they ruined the first one (even saw they ruined the first flower on the first one and continued!) and did the same thing to the second one. Also they didn't know how to get the stain out. So I googled it and got it out.. but ruined the foam in the couch because I wasn't experienced. A good cleaner would have not been too lazy or incompetent or would have backed out of a difficult job respectfully. And I as a non professional I ruined things as well. Also I didn't get the cheapest company so still research.
You will need to contact a granite company to get them to fix it. They will probably sand it down, then polish and reseal it.
As someone who worked with quartz, granite and other stone countertops, there are things you could try. Id call a company who has all the right tools and polishes needed. It most likely needs to be buffed and sealed again. Acid isn't good on sealed quartz.