by James Bowe

 I hate mixing proprietary cleaners.  But, I don’t have special surfaces in my kitchen.  I like the flexibility of choosing my solvent based on my mood.  But if you have granite, marble, tile/grout as your countertops, you have limited options for safe cleaners.  But the good news is, you have limited options.  You don’t have to worry about all the different DIY mixes for all your surface.   Use this cleaner for EVERYTHING in your house.

The Principle

Fussy surfaces are picky about cleaners.  Low maintenance surfaces aren’t.

So, when you’re mixing up your DIY cleaners, go with the fussiest predominate surface and use that cleaner for the ones that don’t care too.  If you have granite and can’t use certain cleaners, there’s no reason to mix up separate cleaners for your metal stovetop.  Metal doesn’t care.  Granite cares.  Use your DIY granite cleaner on your stove. Acid(vin) cleans a stove, bases (soda), alcohol (granite cleaner) cleans a stove, peroxide works too.  But, why mix up another bottle if you don’t HAVE to?

Why Rocks Are Fussy

Grout, granite, and the like are porous.  They must be sealed if you don’t want everything soaking into them and staining.  That seal must be protected. Acid cleaners eat away at the surface. Peroxide cleaners bleach the surface.  Soda scouring cleaners wear off the seal.  Out goes most of the cleaners you know.    but if you turn over your bottle of proprietary granite cleaner and decifer the chemical names, you find five things:  water, alcohol, synthetic detergent, preservative, fragrance.

Recipe

All-Purpose Cleaner for the Granite/Marble/Tile Dominated House

2 cups water
1/2 cup 70% alcohol
5 drops of Dawn (or some soap shavings if you’re crazy like me)
(optional) a few drops of essential oil if you hate the alcohol smell

  • Put it in a spray bottle and use it on almost everything:  counters, floors, appliances.