Page 10 - Demo

10|September 2019
Do Engineered Countertops Stain?
likely substances to leave lasting stains, even after a thorough clean- ing and wiping of the surface. As you’d expect, darker colors and busy patterns made stains less vis- ible or invisible.
There was no apparent trend within the five brands tested— every brand was stainable. Aside from permanent marker, the most significant stains were with food dye on some of the Caesarstone and Cambria samples.
Slippery rock Gazette
On the left side, turmeric left a faint stain on Viatera Celeste. On the right side is a very faint stain from hot sauce.
Continued from page 5
Within each brand are several different product lines, surface finishes, and a vast array of col- ors and patterns. It’s not practical to test every possible combina- tion. To simplify things, I only tested polished samples, and I performed each test on a subset of brands and colors.
Part 1: Staining Quartz Countertops
Manufactured quartz is mar- keted as stain resistant, but what does that really mean? There is no ASTM standard for testing the stain resistance of quartz surfac- ing, so I used a method that repli- cates real-world conditions. I put a variety of common household substances on samples of quartz and let them sit for two hours. Then I cleaned them off using the methods described on the quartz company websites: a little warm water and mild soap. Among the five brands, I tested the potential for staining on 45 different colors and patterns.
Staining Agents Tested:
Blueberry, Mongolian Fire Oil (oil infused with spices and peppers), Texas Pete hot sauce, turmeric, Kroger brand food coloring in pink and blue, grape juice, tomato paste, and Sharpie permanent marker
Details of “a little warm water and mild soap”: 105 degree water, approximately 1/8 tea- spoon of Bio Pac liquid soap, a Scotch-Brite non-scratch scrub
marker
Grading of Stains:
• Moderate stain: Clearly visible • Faint stain: Noticeable but
light in color
• Very faint stain: A subtle mark
that was visible if you knew where to look. In many cases it resembled a shadow or
a slightly darker area on the sample.
The Results
The Details: Hot Sauce left a stain on three of the 17 samples. Caesarstone Cinder, Cambria White Cliff, and Viatera Celeste each had a slight, subtle stain from the hot sauce. The other 14 samples showed no visible effects. A paste of turmeric and water left a stain on most of the quartz samples. Of the 17 sam- ples tested, ten showed a stain. All of the colors that did not stain were dark colors or patterns that likely made the stain less visible. The turmeric stains were either
faint or very faint.
Cambria White Cliff with a faint yellow turmeric stain (left side) and a faint red hot sauce stain (ring, right side).
sponge (both the scrub side and non-scrub side were used), and a standard cotton kitchen towel. What Stained: Hot sauce, turmeric, food coloring, and permanent
Caesarstone Nougat with mod- erate stains from pink (upper right) and blue (lower right) food coloring. There is also the remnant of the letter F written in permanent marker.
Food dye left a stain on most of the samples. Of the 19 different colors tested, the only ones that did not show some staining were the dark colored pieces. The most no- ticeable stains were on Caesarstone Marrone, Caesarstone Nougat, and Cambria Coswell Cream, Newport, and Whitehall.
Permanent marker left an obvi- ous stain on every sample tested. The stain lightened somewhat with cleaning, but it was still prominent.
The Bottom Line
Engineered quartz surfaces are stain resistant, but not stain proof. Food coloring, turmeric, and per- manent marker were the most
Part 2: Cleaning Quartz
For the next series of tests, I used various cleaners and sponges to see if scrubbing or different types of cleaning prod- ucts would damage the finish of engineered quartz samples. As I described in my previous arti- cle about manufactured quartz, there is a substantial hardness difference between the actual mineral quartz particles in these products and the polyester resin that binds the particles together. The mineral component of engi- neered quartz is harder than most abrasive cleaning products, but the resin is not.
It’s important to note that the manufacturers of quartz products do acknowledge that it’s possible to damage the surface with abra- sive cleaners or scouring pads. Indeed, I found this to be true.
In the name of science, I went against the manufacturer’s rec- ommendations, because it’s quite likely that a homeowner, guest, family member, or contractor may not be well-versed in the fine print on the manufacturer’s website.
Please turn to page 16
Food coloring was among the most pervasive staining agents tested. Other staining agents included turmeric, hot sauce, Sharpie permanent marker, grape juice and oil.
Countertops