NO. First of all, they are kitchen counters, they're going to get wiped often enough that dust isn't going to build up fast enough to be noticeable. Hard water stains are annoying (if water isn't wiped up on not only our counters, but in our white fireclay/porcelain bathroom sinks, they leave behind mineral deposit rings), but a quick buff/swipe with a piece of 000 or 0000 steel wool on the granite eliminates those quickly enough. DH often stands with his hands right on the counters, so smudges are inevitable when he does so. These are easily wiped off, my annoyance level depends on how annoyed I am with him at the moment (said tongue in cheek!).

Our kitchen/granite has been installed since spring of '07 and we still love it and would still use it had we the choice again.

HTH!

It depends. Which granite do you mean? Absolute Black WILL show every speck of dust, as well as water marks. It will also reflect glare from the overhead lights. If you hone the black counters (instead of a polished finish), that will help to hide dust, water marks, etc. If you get a more grayish-black granite, like Virginia Mist, it will not show the dust. If you get a dark counter that nevertheless has a lot of movement and veins, that will show NOTHING. In fact, some people complain, LOL, that their dark counters with a lot of movement hide the dirt so well, they can't tell when it's dirty.

So, please be more specific what you mean by "dark granite". People have different perceptions of what "dark" means. And as I mentioned, if it is a solid color granite, that is more of a problem with showing dirt, water marks, dust, and glare - think a black car. You have provided enough information for us to answer your question accurately.

I meant to say you "haven't" provided enough information (not you "have" provided enough information) - I typed too fast.

I'm considering Tan Brown or Sapphire Brown. Thoughts on those two? Sorry...I definitely should be have been more specific.

First of all, it depends on what you term "excessive". That's a wide span of personal judgement there.

If you mean will Absolute Black look like a mirror and amplify every little spec 5 minutes after you've wiped the counter, then the answer is "YES"! The upside to that is that it makes it easier to know when the counters are really dirty and need to be cleaned. Some of the "dirt" colored counters will look clean no matter how much yuck is on them----which might be a positive or negative to you, based on your own aesthetics. ;)

Any granite with a pattern rather than a single color will camoflauge dirt and dust to a degree, dark granites included. Even Uba Tuba doesn't show as "dusty" most of the time, because although it's a very dark green, it has crystals of black, white, gold, and clear in it. Those camoflauge quite a bit. The two colors you are considering are busy enough in pattern to do the same.

I am not a clean freak...I already live with the dust from cats and dogs, so my personal level of tolerance is pretty good. I know I'm asking for personal opinions and judgement in the question and I'm expecting a wide range of responses. If a bunch of you respond and say it bugs the you know what out of you, then that would lead me to re-consider. I'm thinking the pattern in the granite will conceal the worst of it, but the voices of experience are most helpful in making an informed decision. So, keep the opinions coming...I really appreciate the feedback.

I have polished emerald pearl (dark green) and I can't see anything on it. Only if I bend my head down so the light is reflecting just right can I then see crumbs etc. But I wipe them every day. My DH will go make a sandwich without using a paper towel or plate and leave crumbs that I may not see until the next day (grrrr!)

Before this I had white laminate which showed everything. Well maybe not dust.

I don't know where you live and how dusty it is there, but really - unless you only wipe them once/week, you won't have dust.

I just looked online for the Tan Brown granite and the Sapphire Brown granite you mentioned. Although the photos online vary a lot in the coloration of those two granites, they consistently show plenty of pattern, and aren't a solid color at all. So your family member may not be aware that the "dark granite" you are considering does have a lot of pattern in it, and isn't a solid dark color. I doubt the two granites you mentioned will show dust and crumbs, given their patterns.

With ANY granites you are considering, it's best to take samples home with you. You can test the samples by leaving wine drops on them, or tomato sauce, or scatter crumbs on them, and see how the granites look after doing that. The samples will also help to judge which color would work best in your kitchen. Granite will look different in the warehouse or showroom than they will look in your home.

We have polished AB (Premium) counters and...

• did you end up hating it?...Absolutely not! We love our counters and would put them in again!

Were dust, crumbs and other stuff too much to keep up with?...No.

Will they show? Larger crumbs show, but that's OK...they need to be cleaned up! Small crumbs only show if there are a lot of them or if I go looking for them.

Dust is not an issue. All our counters are wiped daily and we've not had an issue with dust. I wonder if people who do have a problem w/dust wipe all their counters, even those that may not appear to need it (we do).

The only time I've noticed dust is when we've been gone for a week or two...but the dust isn't much, probably b/c no one is home to stir it up! I tried a test once to see if a couple of days of no wiping would matter. The dust was there, but not noticeable until I started to wipe them down.
Water...water spots are noticeable while they're wet. Once they've dried, though, they're not noticeable unless you look for them.

If I do another kitchen, I would not hesitate to use polished AB again...unless I could use soapstone (& convince my DH).

HTH!

I had a butterfly verde (or labador verde-can't remember the name)that was a dark granite, very similar to uba tuba, and it was a pain to keep clean. We had hard water, and the faucet had a constant ring of white around it. The water marks were the worst!

The dirt would show, as well as any smudy fingerprints. I thought it was a little too high maintence for me.

I do like the look of dark granites. If I had my heart set on dark, I would get something like the others said & get something with a lot of movement/patterns in it like "Espresso" or "Tropical Brown".

We are getting a much lighter granite this time.

I put tan brown in my kitchen last year in order to make my house more marketable this year. Before that I had a light laminate. There isn't any chance for dust to build up because they're used every day. It's hard for me to see if there are leftover crumbs after I wipe it off, though, and occasionally I'll run my hand over it for some reason and feel something sticky that I missed. Wiping it with water and a little detergent leaves a film, so we clean that film off with Method Granite cleaner and then it looks clean. Our next kitchen (being planned right now) will have a lighter granite.

I had tropical brown (or brown tropic?) in my last kitchen. I never noticed any dirt on it. I wiped them frequently (with glass cleaner) and they always looked great. They "hid" crumbs and coffee grounds.

I have polished absolute black in my kitchen- Unfortunately, I do see every spec of dust even minutes after I wipe them down which is an annoyance for me. But I think with the granites you are looking it won't be such an obvious and annoying issue- i am planning on having my countertops honed down the road (unless we re-place them but chances are that will never happen since we just had them done a year ago), because of those reasons above- Good luck with your granite decision!

GillyLily...I wonder why you see dust immediately after wiping but we don't. While ours is very close to true black, there are some silver inclusions sprinkled throughout as well as some very dark gray mottling...so maybe they hide the dust on our counters????

I have Verde Butterfly (like jillsee) we don't have hard water so, no waterspotting.

I LOVE it! It hides everything!

I have had both and the dark definitely showed more in my kitchen. When I had an opportunity to choose again, I went light. But it depends upon whether you love the dark counters enough to maybe have a little extra work in exchange.

I am a huge believer in getting what I absolutely love and just dealing with any extra work that comes with my choice. I went with dark hardwoods throughout my whole house even though everyone told me that they would show more dust and dog hair than a light finish. Do they? Yes. But I love them and gladly trade a little extra housekeeping once or twice a week for all of the enjoyment they have give me every day.

It's all trade offs :-)

A Microfiber cloth is what you need. If I clean and then polish/buff with it and Method Daily Granite, our counters shine like a mirror. No dust ever shows. But I wipe our counters daily because we use them daily.

We have polished Antique Brown (a premium granite) which is a lot like polished Absolute Black in terms of darkness and the lack of movement (the movement..even though there's very little and what there is is tone-on-tone is under the surface). DH *swears* our counters are black when in fact they're really a deep brown. You can tell if you look at them next to our black rangetop.

Anyway, we are getting ready to build a new house and I do not plan on doing dark solid-ish polished granite counters again even though our counters are gorgeous. I'm just tired of having to buff/shine them after I wipe them clean. I'd love to have a counter I can spray and wipe with a regular towel and cleaner and be done. I put a lot of elbow grease into these counters.

What has me tired isn't dust (that would never even occur to me). It's the drips, the water marks, the fingerprints, the soup drips...everything looks smudgy and crusty. Then if you just wipe it with a paper towel (even a damp one) then dry it with one, it leaves a big dried smudge across the counter so you then have to buff the counter with the microfiber towel and buff. My nickname should be Buffy. LOL!

I have polished Uba Tuba. It is very forgiving. The only thing I really see if water "smudges" if I forgot to use a microfiber cloth.

The only time I've seen dust is when I've been sick and the kitchen didn't get much use!

I had saphire blue granite, sometimes i found it annoying but not most times. mainly due to water rings and the odd handprint. they didn't show dust, they didn't show coffee grinds, they showed nothing food related really. My wife hated that I spilled coffee all over the counter and didn't see any of it..