How to Seal Granite

You have spent a lot of money on your granite countertops so it's important that you take care of them. Every year you should check your granite to see if it needs resealing.

The purpose of a granite sealer is to keep liquids from penetrating the granite. It's important to seal your granite because liquids other than water can soak into your stone. This can lead to hard to remove stains as well as germs and bacteria growth.

To test your granite, take a soak white paper towel (be sure there is no printing on it). Place thee water-soaked towel on your granite counter and wait 5 minutes. After the wait, pull up the paper towel and examine the granite that was under it. If the area is dark or discolored from the water soaking into the granite, then your granite needs to be resealed.

To seal your granite you need to pick up a quality sealant. You don't want to skimp, trying to save a few dollars by picking up a bargain sealant. After all, you spent thousands of dollars on the granite. Before applying the sealant, you need to clean off the granite surface and give it a good cleaning. Granite is porous, so clean the area with a low PH cleaner and allow it to dry completely before sealing. Depending on the thickness and quality of your granite, it may need to dry overnight. I like to follow up the PH cleaning with a damp white wash cloth). You also want to make sure the granite is completely dry before proceeding.

To apply the sealant, use a clean white cotton rag. If you want you could use a brush instead of a rag but that's a bit overkill. Pour some sealant onto the rag and then uniformly apply the sealer to your granite. You want to be sure that you let the sealer absorb into the granite for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Please read your sealants directions as different sealants have different wait times.

When the applied sealer is almost dry, re-apply a little more sealer onto your granite and rub it in with a new dry clean white rag. Be sure not to rush the job. Do one section of the countertop at a time. If you desire to add a second application of sealer, wait at least 3 hours (depending on the type of sealer you are using).

Once you are done, you need to check if the granite is correctly sealed. The best way to do this is by repeating the wet paper towel test. If the granite does not darken, your counter top is sufficiently sealed.

Remember that you should check your granite ever six months to a year. This little bit of maintenance will keep your granite looking great for many, many years.