It depends on the granite. It stains mine, at least for a while. My granite is honed/leathered. If I use a product for cleaning countertops (like Method Granite Cleaner or Martha Stewart All Purpose Cleaner.....,) I am able to buff out most of the spots.

We have the same issue in our bathroom vanity. I don't think the stain is caused by the soap but by the water trapped under the dispenser. We have the same granite in our kitchen and if a wet dish is left for a while the water condensation will leave a similar stain. It usually fades within a few hours as the moisture evaporates from the stone. Sealing the granite does help with moisture absorption. We also use a cleaner now 1-2 times a week that contains a small amount of sealant. This helps with moisture absorption and we see less and less of it in the kitchen. I'm now trying the same product in the bath. I'm also rotating the placement of the dispenser to give the stone a chance to dry out.

HTH

Now I have a question. Joyce's stain showed up before her granite was sealed, but MCMespirit seems to say that a container left on the granite for a while will leave a mark. I was planning on keeping a bottle of hand soap near the sink. Will this leave a more or less permanent mark?

Suzannesl -- We sealed our granite after installation; that made it less porous but not completely non-porous. So it will still absorb water if it is left on the counter long enough (like under a dish.) However, the water stain evaporates within a few hours. So while our granite still reacts to water trapped under a dish or dispenser, the stain will disappear once the water evaporates from the stone.

Other than water, our particular granite has not reacted at all to other substances (wine, vinegar, oil etc...) None of them, even if occasionally left for hours, leaves any mark. So just because your stone can absorb water, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is more likely to be stained from other things.

Hope this makes sense.

Guess my original question got lost in translation. I was wondering if anyone knew of anyway to get this stain out. It's been there for several weeks now, and I've tried everything I can think of to get it out. I assume it's something in the soap (dye?) that made the stain. I do understand that plain water eventually evaporates and the mark disappears. This is not water.

So, does anyone have any ideas? Thanks again.

Joyce -- ahh, I understand now. I haven't encountered this, but there are several threads about using poultices to get out stains from granite. This might help.

Here is a link that might be useful: how to get stains out from granite

Sorry about the mis-direct, Joyce, but for those of us whose granite isn't in yet, but who had planned on leaving the liquid soap container out on the granite, your question set off alarms.

Here's a way to remove oil stains from granite just in case the soap had an oil in it:
How to remove oil stains

And this one has some more misc. stain removal solutions:
Other sorts of stains

some soaps have oil in them and this can cause patches in you granite surface. I have also noticed that a build up of scum occurs after using soaps for about six months and i use barkeepers friend our better still quickleen-s to remove this and then apply a polish

Here is a link that might be useful: granite polish

Ok, thanks everyone. I've got some things to try. I'll let you know what works in case anybody else has the same issue.

Thanks for the report. I've been wondering how that worked out.

My husband washed his hands using a Dial Pump liquid shop and didn’t wipe up the excess. I noticed this a few days later but the soap had already stained the new granite. After trying all of the above, we placed a new very wet sponge on the stain and left it for 2 days to completely dry out. Once the sponge was dry to the touch I lifted up the sponge and the stain was completely gone. The sponge absorbed the stain and I didn’t fret over adding more chemicals on the granite.

The wet sponge method works! I left the wet sponge on the soap stain for 3-4 days until completely dry. It removed all the soap stain from one sink and 95% from the second sink.

Soap can annihilate some granites and estones. Keep things cleaned up, please.

I would say depends on the granite. My bathroom counters tend to stain from standing water. My kitchen counters (darker) are bullet proof.

I HATE liquid soap! It's messy and always on everything, especially with children. I know - I'm a dinosaur - but give me a bar of good hard milled soap anytime! Even grocery store Yardley's Lavender is good.

A pump installed into the countertop with the tip over the sink will have spills fall into the sink instead of onto the stone. The worst thing for stone is a bottle with spilled soap on the bottom sitting on the stone in the same place again and again.

I love this site. Another thing to add to my new house must have list that I would have never thought of until it was too late.

Thank goodness someone else had the same problem I have just encountered. I had no idea that granite was so temperamental! I recently remodeled my main bath. I The vanity came with the counter and sink installed. I have no idea if it was previously sealed or not, but you would think it should have been, coming pre-assembled and all. In any case, that bathroom hasn't gotten any use as far as hand washing goes, so when my daughter visited, she more or less did the same thing cramerwvu's husband did. Going to try the new sponge thing first, since I actually have one handy. I'll save the more elaborate nail polish remover one for the possible outcome of the sponge not working.. and ditch the hand-soap in the main bath. Thanks for the tips!

Suggest putting a colorful saucer or small fruit bowl under the bottle of liquid soap. Look in thrift stores for colorful saucers/fruit bowls that will catch the overflow.

Another mishap with porcelain tile this time in our shower. My new bottle of shampoo had ink lettering on the bottom and it left a stain. I placed another wet sponge on the stain and overnight it absorbed the ink stain.

Commenting to follow thread but also wondering if gardenweb has consolidated links of useful info (like how to get stains out of granite) anywhere?

I thought about the possibility of soap dispenser issues and I bought glass candle plates, the flat glass ones you set candles on to prevent wax drips, under the soap dispenser container. It has to be big enough to catch drips from the spout. I actually found very nice heavy glass ones that have little bump feet on the bottom so it's not flat on the countertops and allows air flow. My new vanities came with the stone tops attached and I assumed they were not sealed, they will be sealed when my quartzite countertops are installed and sealed. My kitchen sink will definitely have the installed soap dispenser close enough to the edge of the sink to drip in the sink. And I have the never m t so I won't risk an over flow.

The wet sponge method worked for me on a liquid soap stain!! Left a wet sponge (do not wring out) on the stain for 3 or 4 days until the sponge was completely dried. Lifted the sponge up and the stain was gone. I tried the baking soda paste method first and that did not work. Thank goodness the sponge did!

I have a lighter cream granite with dark specks. YES. Hand soap stains granite. Cooking oil splatter next to the stove will darken granite. Oils from your skin, if you sit at the island a lot will darken granite. WHY anyone thought a porous rock would make a good countertop material is beyond me! Daily cleaners and polishers often just seal in the darkened stains. Granite is anything but maintenance free. It will drive you nuts, if you care about anything. If you do not have a maid cleaning daily, you will have stains. I'll try the sponge, but I'm not holding my breath. If I were to do things over, I wouldn't get granite.

D H said: "Granite is anything but maintenance free."

Actually, your granite is. But there are thousands of granites out there, and it is incorrect to make a blanket statement like that. I've had my granite counters for 12 years and they look like the day they were installed. Never sealed them. Never have been careful with them in my hard-working kitchen. Have spilled wine, coffee, soda, vinegar, oils, butter left sitting, you name it, and no staining. I have had a dishwashing liquid dispenser next to the kitchen faucet and have had no problems with soap staining.

"WHY anyone thought a porous rock would make a good countertop material is beyond me!" - again, depends on the granite. Many hi-rise buildings are even faced with granite entirely. Unfortunately, your granite behaves like that, but others don't. I have never heard that skin oils can darken granite, so D H's granite is unusual.

People should be educated about the granite they are considering. Granites that are more dense, with a "low absorption rate" are easy care like mine. Evidently from D H's post, D H got a granite that has a high absorption rate. Most granite names can be found on the internet with descriptions or discussions about how easy-care or not they are.

fredajune: Skin will darken granite; I've had that call, however, the rest of your post is accurate.

I am always learning something on this forum Joseph Corlett!

Thanks for this forum! I was appalled to see the black stain left on my bathroom lighter granite counter from two plastic soap bottles. The wet sponge method worked! Phew!!!

I cannot thank you enough for the comments on getting the soap ring out of granite. My daughter just bought her first house and set the bottle of blue dish soap by the faucet. Several days later she was inconsolable at the dark stain she saw. I first tried baking soda and rubbing alcohol but didn't let it sit overnight. Then I found this site and was skeptical at the success of water and sponge because everyone's experience is different. A few days later it was 75% faded. We tried again and in 2 more days it is completely gone! I cannot thank you enough.

Glad the sponge blog is still working for everyone. Congrats to your daughter on her new house.

We purchased a house with black granite countertops in the bathroom (I've never had granite before), and we were surprised to find that water left dark marks that took hours to disappear. Then one day I noticed that the liquid soap bottle had left a ring on the counter. This, unfortunately, did not disappear, even after many weeks. I am so glad I found this thread - the "sponge trick" worked for me, too. However, I didn't have to wait until the sponge dried up. I gave it about 6 hours, removed the sponge, and at that point could see a sponge-sized water stain, but no traces of the soap bottle outline. After an hour or two, the sponge water stain disappeared, and I was thrilled to find that the soap stain was gone, too! What a relief. Now, to find some good granite sealer...

Another vote of confidence for the sponge trick. Thank you all for keeping on sharing it. I found a ring under a soap dispenser while cleaning for Thanksgiving and was so sad. Then I found this thread, and 48 hours later, all was right again.

So is it the granite or the bottom of the soap container? Or both? I had 2 new soaps from bath and body (have used these for years with no issue) leave a dark stain that matches the bottom of the soap bottle. No leaking to be found.
I’m going to go buy some new sponges tomorrow- fingers crossed.

This 5' x 10' estone island was destroyed by soap trapped under the red plastic mat. Natural stone doesn't fare much better.

Does anyone know if the wet sponge method to get out stains from liquid soap will work on quartzite? The quartzite was sealed before the mishap with the liquid soap. Thanks

Do they make soap dispensers with spouts that are long enough to reliably overhang the sink? Most of the ones I see are too short and will drip soap on the countertop....

I've installed hundreds of soap dispensers; all drip into the sink.

Joseph, which ones have longer spouts? It doesn't help me much if they overhang just 1/2 inch into the sink.

You're shopping for spout length when you should be shopping for hole location. An existing hole can often be elongated and still be covered by the escutcheon.

I see, you are correct about this in general. I had a special situation where I had soapstone sinks so the setback was probably greater than with regular sinks, so spout length was important in my situation.

Hallelujah! Thanks you guys! I had read about all sort of scary potions and expensive things to buy, but it I was scared to try them and/or read they didn't work. The sponge did the trick!!!! I wet it thoroughly, placed it on the dark soap rings on my black granite. I waited 4 days until the sponge was bone dry. With trepidation, I lifted it up. Gone! The soap rings were gone!!!!

Great thread, thanks all.

I too went with the white granite without thinking much on the extra maintenance. I sealed 3 times with the Granite Gold water based sealer (red bottle) as soon as installed, but still manage to get the dark water and now soap stains (Dawn and some other essential oil soaps). I’ve tried the baking soda and nail poilish remover (acetone) twice now, both times letting it sit for 2 days before removing, but still dark spots remain. I will try the wet sponge method next and report back.

Also, I started sealing with the 511 Impregnator, solvent based, seems to be holding up better on the water test. Anyone recommend a professional grade sealant or any other helpful tips with this clearly ’high absorbtion’ granite? I have to give the previous poster support, I would not go with granite if I knew sealing it and preventing stains was going to be this much trouble.

Sponge worked, thanks again all.