Oh, forgot to mention, I have polished AB granite.

I am still on my first bottle of method granite cleaner. I just read the label and all it says is corn and coconut surfacant. It says to go to the website methodhome.com for more info. I went there and they have changed the formula. There are several negative posts about the change.

I'm almost out but now wonder if I should buy another bottle or not? I love the way it makes my steel gray granite look. It doesn't do much for the white diamond.

There is a thread currently on the decor forum about what to clean granite with. There are a few product suggestions.

I know there has been a lot of success with a homemade recipe of (I think) water + alcohol + detergent. I'll have to look it up.

buehl, My fabricator said not to regularly use alcohol on any granite with sealer as it will start to degrade the sealer. I use the alcohol mix on my steel gray but not on my white diamond. Have you heard this?

No, I had not. I haven't used it yet....but I may try it now that Method has become a problem.

If that's true, it will not affect me (at least) b/c my granite is not sealed (it didn't need it b/c it's so dense).

I've been using the alcohol-water spray on my Labrador Golden Flake granite for the past 2-3 years now, and it doesn't seem to have had any negative effect on it.

Hope this isn't too OT, but regarding the water + alcohol + detergent recipe. I have quartz and was told no ammonia (Windex) or 409, etc., so for 18 months I've been using water + a few drops of Dawn--but no alcohol--for my exclusive counter cleaner. It works okay. It appears to clean, but then it gets smudgy/grainy feeling really quick. I'm wondering if it's the missing alcohol or if I need more Dawn to cut through what's on the surface, rather than just moving it around.

Cat_mom - I was thinking of your recipe...what is the actual recipe that you use?

I have a bottle that is 3 years old (so, original formula.) I've used it a couple times, and it is terrible on my allergies/asthma.

Day to day, I mostly just use water to clean my non-polished granite.

(If meat products are involved, that is a different story. I will use any spray that is on hand that my allergies can handle. My granite isn't sealed, I guess, since it takes any type of abuse I throw at it.)

My fabricator gave my some super fine steel wood to use. He said you can use it as much as you want to clean grease or any grunge. Said it would not affect the sealer. I haven't tried it as both my granites clean easily with just water (maybe a little dw liquid) and a microfiber cloth.

Linelle, I don't consider that OT at all. You, and those who are thinking about using alcohol and detergent, might try Method glass and surface cleaner. It has detergent and alcohol in it, but no ammonia. I am bothered by a lot of scents, but its mint scent doesn't bother me.

A lot of my "stains" are caused by hard water, so I keep a spray bottle of vinegar around. I spray a little on the hard water spots, then wipe up with a little dish soap (probably Method but I don't remember) on a wet cloth or sponge.

I don't know if my Method granite cleaner is old or new, but it isn't magical on my leathered dark granite.

My quartz isn't sealed, supposedly one of its selling points. :) It's not supposed to etch or stain. Because it's a dark gray with taupe-y mottling, it basically shows nothing. So, imagine my perplexity when I detected a faint ghost of an image of the bottom of a wine bottle when the sun fell on my peninsula. I wiped and wiped--plenty of Dawn--and it remained. It really didn't show, but it wasn't supposed to happen. Perplexing.

Soon, totally unrelated, I used a Pledge wipe on some wood furniture in the living room. About to throw away the spent wipe, I noticed the packaging said you could use it on a lot of surfaces, including granite. I figure quartz should also qualify. So I ran it over all my counters. Amazing! Not only did the wine bottle ghost disappear, but my counters felt smooth and clean like never before, and the grunge doesn't return immediately. I suspect I have never really gotten them clean before this. I only do this every couple of months now with water + Dawn for the daily wipe(s).

I use diluted all purpose Mrs. Meyers and it works beautifully. Also smells great!

buehl, I am always adding to my existing bottle(s), so it's never an exact am't or proportion each time. I generally go by sense of smell (enough alcohol and enough lavender so I can smell both, but not enough that I am choking on the scent! LOL And, I also go by evaporation, or dispersion of the spray--if it forms a bunch of little droplets, vs a single puddle of liquid when I spray it, tells me whether I have enough alcohol or not. Too much water and it ends up smearing more when I wipe it dry.

Roughly I aim for somewhere around 40-50% alcohol (anywhere between 30-50% alcohol to water is about right to get the cleaning results I want). Lavender oil; I add somewhere around 20 drops, though that will depend on the size of your spray bottle. I use an old Mrs. Meyer's spray bottle. I like the trigger sprayer on them!

With all this talk about cleaning granite I decided to give my island a good cleaning. I having guests tomorrow and usually everyone is at the island.

First I wiped it down with water and a microfiber cloth. Then scrubbed with super fine steel wool as the fabricator had recommended. Followed that with another water microfiber wipe. Well the cloth was very dirty. Decided to do a wipe with the alcohol water mix which the fab. had recommened not using very often. More dirt came off. I then went over with method cleaner (old formula). Finally the cloth was clean. Amazingly it feels cleaner. With White diamond granite there is a certain amount texture to the surface but I really can feel the difference.

Lessons learned, soap and water just aren't cutting it and I don't just wipe I always scrub the surface. Need to find a safe cleaner since my old method is almost gone.

debra, I agree that soap and water aren't cutting it, at least not with the amount of soap I'm using (a few drops as recommended by GW). I also use a microfiber cloth. I think it's fine as a quick daily wipe or between prep stages. But I don't think it's really releasing the dirt completely.

I had quartz installed last year, and the fabricator gave me a bottle of Dupont StoneTech Revitalizer, Cleaner, and Protectant. It's water, alcohol, and an acrylic copolymer. He uses it for granite and quartz, and the bottle says it's for marble too. Either Oldryder or srosen (can't remember which), GW's fabricator members, recommends it too. It has a light cucumber scent.

Cat_mom: Great tip on figuring out how much alcohol to use in the recipe. I'm going to have to try it out. I made some earlier today before reading this and I think, by your description, I may have too much water in my mixture.

Thanks!

rkb21, I know some people use as little as 10% alcohol (an EPA or CDC doctor, I forget which, told me that as little as 10% alcohol to water would kill germs), and some use a straight 50-50 mix. I just know that if I use too much I start to cough and choke when I'm using it, and too little leaves my granite all smudge-y and smeary looking. Some of my SS is pickier than others with regards to smearing. For example, our GE microwave could be wiped down with a damp, used paper towel, and look spotless!

Also, a drier microfiber cloth, used with the spray, will usually give you better results than one that is wetter. The granite on our tabletop has a slightly higher sheen than the rest of our granite (the fabricator had to repolish that piece to remove some surface scratches before installing it). It's a little more persnickety with regards to cleaning without smearing, so I try to wipe that section first when cleaning up so it gets" first crack" at the microfiber cloth. LOL

Buehl, is this the link you were referring to?

This is a great one !

Here is a link that might be useful: cleaning your kitchen

This post was edited by la_jan on Sat, Jul 27, 13 at 4:40