I've tried the commercial brands and all left streaks on my black granite. A 50/50 alcohol/water combo in a spray bottle does the job beautifully.

Jodi-

My granite is very geologically similar to yours and I've been using hot water with small amounts of dish soap and elbow grease as necessary. I'm very skeptical of different cleaners for different surfaces that Mad Ave seems to want us to buy.

And BTW, I'm jealous of your Meyer lemon! My tree died in a frost a couple of years ago and the replacement hasn't done much. I am drowning in limes, though, so if you want to trade....

Beware of strawberry juice, which is the only thing that's affected the granite so far.

Yeah, I'm not too keen on the commercial cleaners myself. I do like to use something to polish the counters, though.

The irony with that tree is that Mom and Dad have been complaining about their "sour oranges" for quite some time. I tried one this year and realized what they had. Seems someone switched labels at the nursery where they got it. They thought they were getting a navel orange tree.

Oh man, I'd love some limes. So would Hubby (and probably the rest of the family).

I use Method non-toxic granite cleaner with a microfiber cloth. There are no chemicals in it and it works beautifully, no streaks and it smells good enough to eat! like coconut. I get mine at either lowes or target but here is a link to their website.

Here is a link that might be useful: method

I found that Perfect Kitchen from BB&B works great on our granite (better than SCI's countertop cleaner). I'd gotten PK for my Wolf range's black enamel burner pans last winter, but it said on the bottle that it's great on granite, so I gave it a try. Been using it ever since.

I have been using clorox greenworks on my granite and it seems to be great so far. My granite is dark though so it the streaks may be less apparant.

cat mom-
Would that work for the cooktop surface of a gas range too (I think it is enamel). I am looking for something that can get burned on oil off of my new stove.

streaks?? My granite is so busy there could be a glop of cookie dough sitting on it for two days and I wouldn't even see it without running my hands over it (ask me how I know this...lol). I use a soft scrubby and warm soapy dish water to clean mine. And my hands to find what still needs to be cleaned.

Cindy

I use a little dish soap, water & sponge (or dishrag) for the big slops (I, too have found big messes left for days on my dark granite - oops). for a nice shine/polish I really like Method that dd70 already mentioned, with microfiber cloth.

microfibers. Sheesh. I have forgotten about that part. Sigh.

Cindy - I have to do that touch test for dirt, too. I only really see the streaks if I do the "at an angle" look (see previous thread about Hubby and his need to have everything look shiny and new all the time...). But streaks mean there's still dirt there so I want it gone. This is also the counter that's right underneath our two 100 watt peninsula lights, so there's substantial glare/shine.

Our range is gas, so I would think it would be ok. I really only use it on the burner pans for a quick wipe or touch-up cleaning.

To clean greasy messes though, or if I haven't done a thorough cleaning in awhile, I take the grates and pans off the range and clean them in the sink with a blue scrub sponge and dish soap or BKF w/ a little dish soap. For really messy pans (lots of grease or food splatters, and/or burnt on stuff), I'll spray the pans with Dawn Power Dissolving Gel, and let them sit for about 15 minutes before scrubbing/washing them in the sink--learned that trick here!

If your top doesn't have removable pans, you can use any or all of the above, you'll just have to rinse and wring out the sponge (rags, paper towels...) at the sink a few times to remove all the gunk.

Here's another thumbs up for "Method Daily Granite" used with a microfiber cloth. It's non-toxic, eco-friendly and shines my granite up beautifully. I bought it at Target.

No Soap: no windex: no retail brands: I bought methods for my hands & for the first time: cleaned the little area around my black galaxy desk at same time. OH NO: looks terrible: I know better!
Go on Ebay if you are serious:
or look up Hard Rock tools on the web: for store in your area. They sell stone pro. they have a website: and sell on ebay. I love their products: I have granite all over my house: so I can say that I use the daily and the polisher and it's the best: from experience:
www.stoneproonline.com

also: I have heard that simple green is very safe.

Retail brands that say safe: NO false advertising. If you want to keep your granite shinny and looking great: use the correct cleaners. Commercial brand vs. retial.
My best advise!

for example: daily cleaner has ph of 4.5; and if you buy bottle that you dillute: it's states only use distilled water! when mixing. Grout same way: when mixing grout: should use distilled water: Mapei states that too!
It's all about chemical reaction.

Polisher is awesome. that is all that I can say!

www.countertopspecialty.com

found this a year ago: agree with almost everything on there regarding: granite care:
I print this and give to people weekly:

Care Cleaning

sealing

cleaning

DOs & Don't
http://www.countertopspecialty.com/granite-counter-top-care.html

they mention simple green on there and I personally have never used.

My methods: bamboo lavander hand wipes streaked my granite bad: smell good!

Usually just soapy water, but when I really want to wipe everything down I use Caldrea. Williams Sonoma is having a sale on some of their Caldrea line right now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Caldrea

I use the cheap baby wipes from costco to clean just about everything, including my granite. They do great, and they're cheap!

I use a little soap/hot water for grease spots, but then to clean off all the counters, I use Simple Green stone cleaner, then microfiber. Works wonderfully. Simple Green also makes a stainless cleaner that I use on the appliances.

I use Dawn dish soap and just dry it with a towel if I'm being picky. Once in a blue moon, I use car wax or car polish. I've done that three times in 4 1/2 years.