Quartz countertops are cleaned with warm water, a few drops of mild washing-up liquid and a soft cloth. That handles around 95% of everyday cleaning, and because quartz is non-porous (it does not absorb liquids) it never needs sealing - unlike granite and marble, which do. The rest of this guide is about the few things that genuinely damage quartz - and it is almost never dirt. It is the cleaning product. Both are sold as countertops across Northern Europe and as worktops in the UK; the material is the same either way.
Videa Stone supplies, fabricates and installs stone countertops, so we usually see a surface twice: on the day it is templated, cut and installed, and years later when someone asks whether a dull patch can be brought back.
Everyday cleaning, step by step
- Brush crumbs and grit off dry first, so you are not dragging them across the surface.
- Mix warm water with a few drops of mild washing-up liquid.
- Wipe with a soft cloth or the soft side of a non-abrasive sponge.
- Rinse with clean water so no detergent film is left behind.
- Dry the surface with a clean cloth.
Drying is the step most people skip, and in a hard water area it is the one that matters: water left to evaporate around the tap leaves pale mineral marks that look like staining but are only deposit. The routine is the same whether you call them countertops or worktops.
Because quartz is non-porous, spills sit on the surface instead of soaking in, so you are not racing the clock the way you would with a porous stone. Wine, coffee and oil wipe off. What you clean up the next morning is dried food, not a stain in the material, and every slab in our quartz countertops range behaves the same way.
There is no sealer, no impregnator and no annual top-up product for quartz. If one is being sold to you, it belongs on a different material.
Dried-on marks and the awkward spills
For anything baked on, the method is soften first, lift second. Lay a warm damp cloth over the mark, give it a few minutes, then work it off with a plastic scraper held at a shallow angle, or with the soft side of a non-abrasive sponge. Dried pastry dough, candle wax and burnt-on food come away this way without anything stronger.
Greasy film near the hob is the one case where a household degreaser earns its place. Use one that is not bleach-based, keep the contact time short, rinse thoroughly and dry. Test it out of sight first: behind the tap, under an overhang, or on an offcut if your fitter left you one. That test costs a minute and saves the whole countertop.
The rule for anything stronger than washing-up liquid: short contact, generous rinse, never left to dry on the surface. Contact time does more damage than the product.
What not to use on quartz countertops
This is the section worth reading twice. Quartz is crushed stone bound with resin, and the resin is the vulnerable part. Almost every ruined countertop we are called to look at was ruined in one afternoon, by something kept under the sink.
| Never use | What it does |
|---|---|
| Bleach and bleach-based cleaners | Attacks the resin. Leaves a dull, blotchy patch that washing will not remove. |
| Oven cleaner and drain cleaner | Strongly alkaline, high-pH formulas dull the finish on contact. Overspray that lands on the countertop and dries there does the damage before anyone notices. |
| Acetone, nail varnish remover, paint stripper, thinners | Solvents soften and cloud the resin: not a stain on the surface, a change in the surface. |
| Abrasive powders, gritty cream cleaners, steel wool, green scouring pads | Micro-scratches. Each is invisible alone; together they read as a hazy patch under a downlight. |
| A hot pan straight off the hob | The stone is not the weak link, the resin is. Use a trivet, every time. |
| Cutting directly on the surface | Mostly for your knives, which blunt far faster on stone than on a board. Heavy chopping near an edge can chip it. |
| Leaving anything aggressive to sit | A splash wiped in seconds is usually nothing. The same splash left overnight is a repair job. |
None of this is repairable at home: the surface itself has changed rather than being covered by something, so no cream cleaner or household polish will bring it back. If an aggressive product does land on the countertop, do not wipe it around - flood it with clean water, rinse, then dry.
How quartz care differs from natural stone
Quartz is engineered: crushed quartz, pigment and resin, pressed into a slab. The resin closes the surface, so nothing soaks in and there is nothing to seal. The trade-off is that the resin does not like heat or strong chemicals.
Natural stone is the opposite trade. Granite, marble and quartzite are porous, so they are sealed when they are installed and resealed periodically. Oil and wine soak in if they are left sitting, and marble also etches: an acid such as lemon juice leaves a dull mark that is chemistry rather than dirt. Our natural stone range is the porous side of that decision, and it needs a routine that quartz never will.
Ceramic and sintered (pressed-and-fired mineral) surfaces sit closer to quartz: non-porous, never sealed, and with no resin in the mix they tolerate heat far better. The daily routine is identical - warm water, mild detergent, rinse, dry.
| Material | Porous | Needs sealing | Main thing to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quartz | No | Never | Heat and strong chemicals, because of the resin |
| Granite, marble, quartzite | Yes | On installation, and again over time | Oil and wine soaking in, acid etching on marble |
| Ceramic and sintered | No | Never | Very little - treat the finish as you would quartz |
Finish, colour and the silicone joint
Polished, dark, plain colours are the least forgiving surface in a kitchen: fingerprints show, water spots show, and the fine scratch pattern from a scouring pad shows under a downlight. Matt, honed, suede and patterned slabs hide all three. That is optics rather than quality, and it is worth knowing while you are still choosing.
The silicone bead where the countertop meets the wall and runs around the sink is a consumable part. It discolours, picks up mould in a corner that stays wet, and eventually gets cut out and replaced. That is routine maintenance on any stone countertop, not a fault and not a failed installation.
If the gloss has already been dulled by a chemical, be realistic: no home product brings it back. Restoring it means professional re-polishing on site.
Who makes and fits these surfaces
Videa Stone fabricates finished countertops in its own workshop in Latvia and delivers them across Sweden, Denmark and the rest of Northern Europe. Because we fit these surfaces and see them again years later, the advice above comes from what actually holds up in a working kitchen rather than from a care leaflet. The slab material itself comes from Cosentino (Silestone, Dekton and Sensa), TechniStone, Laminam and Nuovo Corso; the cutting, the edge profile and the fitting are ours.
Frequently asked questions
Do quartz countertops need sealing?
No. Quartz is non-porous, so there is nothing for a sealer to soak into - not on installation day, not annually, not ever. That is the main practical difference from granite and marble, which are porous, are sealed when they are fitted and are resealed periodically. If a product is sold to you as a sealer for quartz, you do not need it.
How do you remove stains from a quartz countertop?
Most marks on quartz are dried residue sitting on top of the surface rather than a stain inside it. Soften the mark with a warm damp cloth, then lift it with a plastic scraper or the soft side of a non-abrasive sponge. For greasy films, use a household degreaser that is not bleach-based, tested out of sight first.
What should you never use on quartz?
Bleach, oven cleaner, drain cleaner, acetone, paint stripper and strongly alkaline cleaners. They attack the resin that binds the quartz and leave a dull patch that will not wash out and cannot be fixed at home. Also avoid abrasive powders and steel wool, which leave micro-scratches, and never stand a hot pan straight from the hob on the surface.
Can a dull or scratched quartz countertop be repaired?
Sometimes, but not with anything from a cupboard. Once the gloss has been chemically dulled or scratched, the surface itself has changed, so no cleaner or polish will restore it. It needs professional re-polishing with the correct pads and machine, usually done on site. Before assuming the worst, photograph the area and note what was spilled.
Videa Stone supplies the material, fabricates it and fits it, working from Latvia across Northern Europe. If you have a mark you are unsure about, or a surface that has gone dull in one spot, send us a photo and tell us what was spilled on it.
