How to clean your kitchen counters without damaging them

In a recent Youtube video, we spoke about our tips to keep your kitchen well organized because you have to admit that there is nothing more discouraging than a cluttered and dirty kitchen to start your day. Daily upkeep keeps us motivated to prepare good recipes and keep a clear mind.

Maintaining our things is also one of the pillars of a sustainable lifestyle. If we take care to maintain our possessions, we can keep them longer and spend less time fixing them.

''The time that we pass looking after material things is less time spent for people or human relations, on a general level.''
                                                     - The Art of the Essential, Dominique Loreau

But again, we need to know how to maintain and nurture those that we have. This is why we wanted to create a little cleaning guide with a theme, ''kitchen counters'' since wood is not maintained the same way as marble.

We have those that are experts of DIY and the natural products used for cleaning, but even in its natural form, a product cannot be used long term for certain surfaces. It is the case for vinegar that can be harmful to natural stones such as marble, quartz, etc.

Here are a few tips for your type of countertop.

WOOD: 

Wood counters are magnificent. They instantly add warmth to a kitchen with a small rustic touch. These are also more capricious because of the porous character of the wood. We must avoid letting any water soak into the wood to avoid water spots. If such is the case, we create a paste with baking soda and water and very gently rub the water spot to reduce the stain. We can also gently sand the area to restore a burn caused (for example, hot pot put directly on the
counter without any protection). The advantage of wood is that it is restorable.

For daily cleaning of your wood counter, use a cleaner that is soft with natural oils such as Linseed oil. This oil will offer additional protection and prohibit the proliferation of bacteria in the wood while giving it a certain luster at the same time.

NATURAL STONE (Quarts, marble, granite, slate):

Here it is important to know that each cleaning product has a different PH. For natural stones, we want to avoid at all costs and acid cleaners (vinegar or lemon) or too alkaline (baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, bleach) that could damage the sealer of your stone and make it more difficult to clean or, make the stone too porous. We are therefore looking for a product with a neutral PH such as dish soap diluted with water or a soft soap (Castille soap, black soap, Marseille soap). By cleaning your stone counter regularly with this type of soap you will avoid stains that could become encrusted and keep your counter beautiful longer. So, we can forget DIY with a vinegar base, and we do not rub the small stains with any scouring powder.

Note that once a year, a cleaner with a base of diluted vinegar can be efficient to degrease and make your counter shine… but not too often!

STRATIFIED:

It is often this material that is most commonly found in apartment kitchens since it is less costly and super resistant. Nothing is easier to clean, we use a cloth and soft non-abrasive cleaner so that we do not discolor its motif. Once again, this recipe for everyday cleaning is perfect for this type of counter.

Its weak spot is that it is difficult to repair if there is a burn or other accident. We must therefore take care to never put hot pots directly on the surface and always use a cutting board when cooking.

In closing, no matter what type of surface you have for your countertop when in doubt, use this cheap home-made recipe to clean your counters and remember that the key is daily maintenance and prevention. This way, the materials will be conserved longer making for a more sustainable kitchen.

DIY all-use cleaner

1 spray bottle
2 tbsp Castille soap (30ml)
2 cups water (500ml)
20 drops of essential oil (Geranium, Lavender, Lemon, Tea Tree etc.)

Mix the ingredients and pour into the spray bottle. This cleaner can be used to clean all surfaces on a daily level.

Article made in collaboration with La Tuilerie.