How to Seal Your Countertops

One of the things we are commonly asked is how to seal granite. The process is actually quite simple and can easily done by yourself in less than an hour.

The first thing to understand is knowing what sealing your tops really is versus the common misconceptions.

True:

• Sealing is a chemical process. But, all you are doing is putting on a silicone-water type solution which soaks into your stone’s pores. Then, the water dries and leaves the silicone behind, clogging the pores to help prevent staining and absorption or liquids.
• It will help make the stone feel noticeably smoother because of the filling of the pores.
• The main purpose of sealer is to prevent staining.

Misconception:

• It is not an epoxy coating, or an expensive and time-consuming clear sealer that goes on the stone.
• It will not make it shiny or bring out color, for the most part. It will not put a polish on your granite. Granite is polished by different grits of polishing pads. Think sandpaper for wood. So the stone is already as smooth as it can be.

Know that as a general rule lighter color stones are more susceptible to staining than darker ones. Lighter color stones are usually more porous (and also less heavy as a result) than darker colors, leaving them more prone to staining. So, if you have a lighter stone you should be a little more careful with spills.

The Process:

Take everything off of your tops.

1. Clean your tops thoroughly using granite cleaner. We use stone cleaner from SCI (Stone Care International) but you can use anything that says it is for use on natural Stone, Granite, or Marble. You can purchase this at Home Depot or Lowe’s, or any hardware store. Clean the tops as your would a glass mirror using the product.
2. For any gook that is on your top, use a flat razor blade. Hold it at a 45 deg. angle and make short movements to scrape off the gook. Don’t worry: this won’t scratch your countertop. Do NOT do this on marble! It will scratch. Only granite is safe for this.
3. Spray on your sealer heavily and wipe it in using a cloth as if you were waxing a car. We recommend doing this 2-3 times. If the stone is very porous you will actually see how quickly it gets absorbed into the stone. You will also notice it tends to dry quicker at the edges of the stone.
4. Give it 30 minutes to fully dry, then spray on your cleaner again to take off the excess that did not soak in, wiping with a dry cloth or paper towel. That’s it! You’re done!

At Washington Marble we recommend doing this once to twice a year, but there is no harm in doing it as often as you like. Any questions don’t hesitate to email us!

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