Countertop Care
| February 2, 2012 | Posted by Jessie under Kitchen, Tips and Tricks |
When we made our concrete countertops last July, we had researched ways to finish them off and settled on some carnauba wax for the glossy, sealed finish. It worked well, but in some of the creases and cracks the yellow color of the wax never completely disappeared. After finding a great deal on a power buffer on Craigslist, Mike started researching around to see if there were other wax options out there for concrete countertops. He ended up finding some through this website. I decided to finally re-wax the counters this week and try out the buffer and new wax. It is recommended to wax every 3-6 months to help keep your counters stain-resistant. I followed the directions on the bottle and began by getting a damp cloth to wipe the wax on with.
Pour some wax on the counters…
And start wiping in a circular motion.
You can feel a tackiness on the counters after you wipe the wax on-the buffer will take care of this. I turned our power buffer on and went back over the wax in a circular motion, making sure to cover the whole counter.
And that’s it! It’s hard to tell much difference in appearance, but the counters are nice, shiny, and protected.
We also took some time to rejuvenate our butcher block counter on the island. We used food-safe mineral oil, which you can order online inexpensively, to richen, disinfect, and clean our counter. Grab a rag and just wipe it down with the oil.
It takes about 25 minutes to do both countertop surfaces. These tips may not be applicable to everyone, but I wanted to give you all the updates on products/techniques we are using to preserve all our hard work in case you decide to go this route or already have similar counters. And if you wondering, we love the concrete counters even more than the day they we installed them:) Easy to clean and take care of and oh, so pretty.
[...] I started off the month by sharing how we now care for our butcher block countertop and our DIY concrete counters. [...]
I have been waiting to put an island in our kitchen when we remodel it this summer/fall (of course if I find that perfect dinning room set I am hunting). I might just make use of our current table as our top to our island (it wont be a very large island due to space in kitchen, I am knocking down one wall to have room for it and more space) I might actually make use of the entire table for the island…. just framing up inside the legs and adding breadboard! oh Love the inspiration you have giving me!! thanks!!
[...] Countertop Care [...]
[...] I updated how we currently care for our counters here. [...]
We’ve just sealed our concrete counters, but they stain with water. Our countertops our black, and when they get wet, the water leaves grayish spots. The spots go away, but I’m wondering if this is normal. We haven’t waxed them yet. Do we have a problem with the sealer or will the wax take care of this staining problem? Any advice is appreciated!
Hi Laurie,
We haven’t had any issues with water staining our counters. I would say go ahead and add the wax if you can. The additional layer of protection may do the trick for you. Good luck!
Jessie
Hi, I live in Paris and am hesitating between moulding the tops the way you did or pouring them “in place”. I know the surface will be smoother if I go your way. I was wondering if you made a corner mold fir the part of the counter that has a corner or if you just have a “seam”. If so, how did you join the pieces and what kind of filler did you use? Thank you for your tutorial, it’s so helpful to have non professionnals post their experience!