There are of course many different materials from which one can construct a kitchen worktop. Not so many of them, though, that will retain their original good looks and functionality over years of abuse. Kitchens are full of mess almost all the time – food in preparation, food being eaten, food that’s done with but still lying around on plates and in pots, and of course the washing up, which splashes water and junk all over the place on a daily basis. Granite kitchen worktops are one of the only fittings that can be guaranteed to hold their looks as well as their function over long periods of time.
Granite, after all, has spent millions of years turning into granite before it gets made into a beautiful worktop. It is one of the most hard wearing stones in common usage – it’s easy to quarry, but once it is finished and polished, it can be hit with a hammer and very little will happen to its body. The immense heat and pressure of something like 60,000,000 years spent under a volcano has already sealed granite into an almost impregnable solidity: granite kitchen worktops are easily capable of withstanding a little splash back from an over heated pan of tomatoes.
Let’s contrast granite with wood – that way you’ll see exactly what we’re talking about here. Granite is hard and polished, which means liquids sit on top of it. They don’t stain it, and they are not absorbed by it. So: imagine pouring a tin of tomatoes onto a granite surface. It’s messy but it’s easy to clean up. 10 minutes later no-one would know the tomatoes had ever been there. Now – imagine the same thing on a wooden surface. Nightmare: tomato juice sinking rapidly into the wood, stain spreading everywhere and abrasive cleaning products out of the question. Granite kitchen worktops – no stain; wooden kitchen surfaces – blotched red and smelly within days of being installed.
That’s not to say that wood doesn’t have a place in the kitchen – wood is a very nice material in its own right and can deliver an excellent feel to a cooking area. It’s just not suitable for work surfaces. Chopping boards yes, worktops no.
Granite looks amazing, too, which doesn’t hurt – and it comes in a range of colours, according to the saturation of non quartz parts in its makeup. You can get granite – and, therefore, granite kitchen worktops – in just about any shade, from obsidian all the way through to pale rose. A kitchen can be colour coded with its work surfaces, when granite is used. Wood is, well, wood. It’s brown, or thereabouts – and if it’s any darker than that you can’t see the stains in it until they start to smell.
Wood also gets scratched easily – and scratches are ideal homes for all kinds of stink and-or semi lethal bacteria. Having a wooden worktop is a recipe for food poisoning. If you want to scratch granite kitchen worktops you’d need to do it with a roadside drill. For strength, beauty and durability – it’s granite all the way.
Granite, after all, has spent millions of years turning into granite before it gets made into a beautiful worktop. It is one of the most hard wearing stones in common usage – it’s easy to quarry, but once it is finished and polished, it can be hit with a hammer and very little will happen to its body. The immense heat and pressure of something like 60,000,000 years spent under a volcano has already sealed granite into an almost impregnable solidity: granite kitchen worktops are easily capable of withstanding a little splash back from an over heated pan of tomatoes.
Let’s contrast granite with wood – that way you’ll see exactly what we’re talking about here. Granite is hard and polished, which means liquids sit on top of it. They don’t stain it, and they are not absorbed by it. So: imagine pouring a tin of tomatoes onto a granite surface. It’s messy but it’s easy to clean up. 10 minutes later no-one would know the tomatoes had ever been there. Now – imagine the same thing on a wooden surface. Nightmare: tomato juice sinking rapidly into the wood, stain spreading everywhere and abrasive cleaning products out of the question. Granite kitchen worktops – no stain; wooden kitchen surfaces – blotched red and smelly within days of being installed.
That’s not to say that wood doesn’t have a place in the kitchen – wood is a very nice material in its own right and can deliver an excellent feel to a cooking area. It’s just not suitable for work surfaces. Chopping boards yes, worktops no.
Granite looks amazing, too, which doesn’t hurt – and it comes in a range of colours, according to the saturation of non quartz parts in its makeup. You can get granite – and, therefore, granite kitchen worktops – in just about any shade, from obsidian all the way through to pale rose. A kitchen can be colour coded with its work surfaces, when granite is used. Wood is, well, wood. It’s brown, or thereabouts – and if it’s any darker than that you can’t see the stains in it until they start to smell.
Wood also gets scratched easily – and scratches are ideal homes for all kinds of stink and-or semi lethal bacteria. Having a wooden worktop is a recipe for food poisoning. If you want to scratch granite kitchen worktops you’d need to do it with a roadside drill. For strength, beauty and durability – it’s granite all the way.
