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Gray areas in honed black granite

7 years ago

We have honed absolute black granite and over the last several days we had a dish drainer sitting on top of an absorbent pad on top of the counter. When I removed the pad, there was a large area of hash marked gray and black as if the water that went through the the pad had somehow removed the black surface in the same pattern as the pad. See the attached photos. Is this etching or damage to the sealer

just from water? We do have hard water that goes through a water softener and filter. Is there anything I can do to fix this? It looks awful!

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Comments (5)

friedajune
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Two things come to mind. One is that your Absolute Black ("AB") was inappropriately sealed. AB is extremely dense and should not be sealed. Some granite fabricators seal everything by habit. But AB should not be sealed because the sealant will not absorb, and will just sit on top of the stone, causing marks and haze. If this is the case, you should remove the sealant with plain acetone (from hardware store, not nail polish remover) (google this process, as there are a number of articles on it), and then leave it alone, i.e. not seal it.

A second cause might be, unfortunately, that some AB granite sold as AB, is actually not. Just from your photos, I can't know if that is the case with yours, but there have been reports of rampant doctoring or dying of granites to make them look like AB when they aren't. True Absolute Black is the most dense granite there is. It will not etch or stain.

When cleaning, do not use Windex or vinegar or Lysol or other chemicals. A mix of 25% rubbing alcohol, two or three drops of blue Dawn and 75% water in a spray bottle works best, is cheap, and will not leave streaks. Some people add lavender essential oil to make the mix smell nice. Another recommended cleaner is Method Granite Cleaner, sold at Target.

Article about Absolute Black
eklocke thanked friedajune
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
7 years ago
Water will wash away "Absolute Black" granite color. Visit the Amtrack Station in Chicago at midnight when they shut the fountain off:
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Black ab honed or polished is one of my favorite stones-polished is acid resistant,virtually non porous and easy to deal with.Yes it must be a good quality slab as there are lesser quality (not true black ab)coming from china and india that have been doctored (dyed) to look blacker. There are methods to test this such as a simple lemon juice test.Anyway-I like honed as well. I think if the right cleaning products are used the stone will be easy to maintain. By right I mean products that are no rinse and contain no wax and or sealers to make the surface slimy and greasey which in most cases the fingermark complaints come from. Color enhancer works well too and will darken the stone quite a bit. It is a topical coating as the black absolute is non porous and the color enhancer just sits on the surface-it will wear so from time to time it will need to be refeshed. Misty grey can be porous so test for porousity and seal correctly-it will be fine. Stu Rosen www.mbstonecare.com www.stoneshine.com
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you know I have a positive review! I don't have a problem with prints and I use Method (but I imagine any other granite cleaner would also be fine). Water also seems to be fine. We did not have it sealed, but I think the fabricator cleaned it or treated it before installation with something that really caused fingerprints for the first few days. After that substance was gone, we haven't had any problems. Actually, we DO have a problem if my DH wipes it with a very soapy cloth - then it looks streaky until it's wiped with water (or Method). I'm trying to be completely honest, so I will also say this - I wipe it down frequently because I loooooove how it looks when there are no crumbs, etc. And my kids make a lot of messes, so I have to clean all the time anyway. Maybe if you didn't wipe it very often, it would look yucky. But what wouldn't? The look is so quiet and simple and beautiful. I am so happy with it. And I love gardenweb for these kinds of questions!! No one in my real life wants to hear me talk about my granite any more! Or my cabinets! Or my pulls! I'm so TKO...
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If you're having problems "with ring marks and other stuff coming through", are you sure you have true AB and not a dyed/doctored stone made to look like AB? I would test it b/f you do anything else. If you hone it and it's dyed/doctored, I don't know what you'll end up with. Have you checked to see if a sealer was inappropriately applied? If so, it can cause all kinds of problems b/c it's sitting on the surface and was never absorbed like it's supposed to be. If so, you need to remove the sealer...then see how things are. True AB should be impervious to rings, etc. I think you should first test your granite b/f you do anything else. You don't want to make things worse. (I also have AB polished and have no problems with rings, etc.) Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Stone Information and Advice (& Checklists)
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Frey - My current granite is polished. I have been super happy with it the past 10 years. Initially we were going to keep the granite and just paint the cabinets, but then the project morphed into something bigger. So we are doing all new countertops. Funnily enough, in my search for an alternative to soapstone, I came across Virginia Mist and Raven - both a honed granite. Here are photos of the slabs from our stone supplier: http://www.tmsupply.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=660 http://www.tmsupply.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=2831 We are going to the showroom Friday to look at these and compare to the Diresco Velvet Quartz. I wouldn't be surprised if we went back to the granite for the perimeter and quartz for the island. Here is the quartz for the island: http://www.tmsupply.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=7186 What color cabinetry are you doing?
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Bunny
7 years ago
Why *blue* Dawn?
friedajune
7 years ago
Linelle - because the blue Dawn is the original formula. Other-colored Dawn formulas have additional ingredients that may be acidic. The other colors of Dawn claim to be antibacterial, or have "oxi" added to them, or "lemon" scented. So my advice is to stick with a few drops of the original Dawn formula of dishwashing liquid.
Bunny
7 years ago
Hmmm. I once bought the original blue Dawn and didn't like the smell, so I always buy New Zealand Springs. It doesn't say "oxi" or "lemon" or "antibacterial" anywhere. It is sans sulfates, so that's a yay. I've been using it for 4 years--a few drops in water--on quartz, marble, and painted cabs with no discernible ill effects.

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