Anyways, here is what you see in the glare from the windows (this is my son's favorite play surface):
Scratches (from pots, pans, and trucks), weirdo imprints, water marks, water rings, gouges.Polishing the counters with vegetable oil helps - a little. You are supposed to use a tiny dab, which is how I started. Then I became impatient and accidentally, on purpose, poured a big glop and rubbed it in with paper towels; you need to use pressure. CORRECTION!!! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO USE VEG OIL, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO USE MAZOLA (Corn oil)...RUB IT IN WITH FINGERS, AND BUFF WITH OLD T-SHIRT (I called the slate supplier to confirm, since my husband insisted I used the wrong cooking oil...and, well, he was right, I was wrong - poo)
Side by side before and after:
What type of counter tops do you have? Are you happy with them? Are you dreaming of natural stone or would the imperfections drive you crazy?
ps. for daily cleaning, we use Palmolive and water - no harsh cleansers. The cleaning lady used bathroom cleaner on the counters last week (we were trying out a cleaning lady recommended by a friend...she didn't make the cut, I purposely have NO HARSH CHEMICALS on my main floor, but she was wily)...so the counters are a mess of wipe marks. These 'stains' from chemical cleaners are harder to mask than the scratches. It makes me a little sad, but eventually the marks will fade.
pps. I am pretty sure we can have it professionally polished/restored/buffed if we ever decide to sell the house.
Your counters are beautiful. It might drive me a little crazy though, just cuz that's the type of person I am.
ReplyDeleteWe had limestone counters in our last place and while they looked beautiful I hated to live with them. Any spills and I would be wiping it up right away (imagine when guest place their glasses down). Any type of acid (like tomatoes) would wreck the finish. And it would scratch so easily. Nothing would fix it except having them re-polished.
Currently we have laminate which I actually don't mind. They are just plain grey so they don't stand out. They take a lot of abuse and would be easy to replace if damaged. Our bar does have a slab of marble to dress up the one side.
LOVE the slate but this post is the reason we opted not to go with a natural stone (or concrete which is what we really wanted). I think the slate still looks beautiful and lived in, but some days I bet you just want it to look spotless. We went with Quartz because it gave us more of the concrete look but without the worry of staining and polishing. We love the quartz (4 years later)!
ReplyDeleteIts funny that the marks really don't bother me - at all...
ReplyDeleteThe no-longer-so-white cupboards, on the other hand, drive me insane! If we have a choice, this will be our only white kitchen. (Not that we are moving anywhere, anytime soon!)
The counter looks like it's been enjoyed and loved by many people. Don't worry about the imperfections- you'll remember your son playing on them every time you look at it. I have no problem with the imperfections of aging stone.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Nancy
3 years ago we installed black granite and its polished, it is SUPER HIGH MAINTENANCE. Every crumb shows and streaks like crazy. Too late now, I thought of having in honed but I don't know if that would ever help, do you know? Great post btw!
ReplyDeleteI love your counters and think the marks add a nice amount of character. They remind me of the olden days when bank branches used to have a table with a top like your counter and pens on chains. Customers would have to fill out their withdrawal or deposit slips before lining up to see a teller. Anyhow i would seriously consider a dark slate or soap stone in my next kitchen.
ReplyDeleteWe have honed carrera marble in our home, with plenty of scratches, and a couple of small chips and bang marks. I seal it every couple of years, so fortunately no stains. We don't mind the blemishes, but would probably be heart-broken if there was a big permanent red stain from wine or tomato sauce.
I live with polished black granite...although I think I would prefer honed anything next time. Natural stone does always look fabulous...
ReplyDeleteI love these! We have limestone in our last kitchen (agree with Maggie, it was constant vigilance before the inevitable rings, etc.) and having learned nothing, we now have installed marble. But I am with you, I kind of like the wear they take, although I need to find out about how to properly clean them (right now we just use dish soap like you).
ReplyDeleteI love your counters, "patina" and all!
ReplyDeleteWe currently have minty-green laminate counters that I find just heinous. While I'd love to replace them with something stone or solid surface, we'd like to do a full kitchen reno in the next few years so I can't really justify the cost (especially not with something like 50+ sf of counter area). I'm thinking of replacing them with another laminate counter (in non-offensive grey) in the interim.
great post!!! I've been thinking of trying out a cleaning lady myself, but can't bring myself to make the call... the dust bunnies and I are becoming fast friends. I have the same rule about chemicals. I have a quarter of cleaning supplies most ppl do. I just can't bring myself to use them on things we sit, things we wear and eat off of.
ReplyDeleteoh me oh my - i'm just looking into counters now and it seems all the best looking ones are quite high maintenance!
ReplyDeleteI own similar counters in 1/2 my kitchen. TOTAL & ROYAL pain in the you know what. Have you tried IKEA mineral oil. We use it once a week...same process as vegi oil...however our counters look darker & deeper than yours. In between the once weekly oiling we wipe the counters with a hot cloth. I never prep food on the surface. It dents very easily. I would NEVER install them again...however when greased up and all pristine...they look stunning.
ReplyDeleteI have black granite, "Black Galaxy" to be specific, which has sparkle to it. Everyone who comes over absolutely loves it, and it's held up really well. No chips, no stains. I think maybe the combination of the dark colour + sparkliness of it may mask imperfections if there are any? We are pretty lazy about sealing it, we definitely don't do it every year.
ReplyDeleteEven though we had a great experience with it though, I think for our next house I would try a different material because I want a lighter counter top. The trade off at that point probably will be I will need to be more vigilant about maintaining it. But maybe by then I will be more "domesticated". ;)
We have polished concrete counters that look very similar to yours. I find that a little mineral oil goes a long way for regular maintenance and every month or so I give them a coat of beeswax (the kind for salad bowls that you can get at Lee Valley) - it really darkens up the light marks and evens everything out, albeit temporarily.
ReplyDeleteLove your slate countertops, especially with the character. We have quartz in the kitchen, and some days I still wish I had opted for the marble. Except when I splash red wine on them, lol.
ReplyDeleteWe once had a housekeeper who managed to spill toilet bowl cleaner on our carpets on two different levels of the house on the same day. It totally melted the carpets which had to be replaced. Ugh.
The other bathroom countertops options are granite countertops. Granite is an igneous rock which is formed from magma. http://www.countertops.com/
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