How to Keep Your Kitchen Beautiful

A guide to keeping your cabinets, granite and stainless steel appliances shiny, forever.Your new kitchen is pristine, quite possibly the kitchen of your dreams and you want to protect and care for your investment; to keep your kitchen beautiful, forever.Our experts at Marvel are happy to offer advice in cabinet care and we’ve reached out to our friends in the industry to offer a comprehensive guide to taking care of the rest of your kitchen.CABINETRYA soft cotton cloth dampened with warm water is ideal to clean your cabinets and avoid harming the finish. If more thorough cleaning is required, a fresh solution of mild dishwashing liquid mixed with warm water will work well. After cleaning, wipe all surfaces with a clean, damp cloth.– Marvel CabinetryCOUNTERTOPSClean stone surfaces with a few drops of neutral cleaner, stone soap (available at hardware stores or from your stone dealer), or a mild liquid dishwashing detergent and warm water. Use a clean soft cloth for best results. Too much cleaner or soap may leave a film and cause streaks. Do not use products that contain lemon, vinegar, or other acids on marble or limestone. Rinse the surface thoroughly after washing with the soap solution and dry with a soft cloth. Do not use scouring powders or creams; these products contain abrasives that may scratch the surface.In order to select the appropriate cleaning product, it is critical to know what type of stone you have selected for fabrication. Natural stone is generally classified into two general categories, based on its composition: Siliceous or Calcareous stone.

1. Siliceous Stone: Includes granite, slate, sandstone and quartzite. Siliceous stone consists primarily of silica or quartz particles. It is extremely durable and easy to clean with mild acidic cleaning solutions.

1. Calcareous Stone: Includes marble, travertine, limestone and onyx. This type of stone is comprised primarily of calcium carbonate, and tends to be sensitive to acidic cleaning products, requiring different cleaning procedures than siliceous stone.

Source: Laporte Custom StoneSTAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCESMany stainless steel appliance owners will try to tell you that stainless steel is never really ‘stainless’. That’s because no matter what they do, fingerprints and splashes never seem to leave their appliances alone. But having clean and polished stainless steel appliances, like what you see inside appliance stores, can actually be very simple and easy. In fact, most of what you need are just regular household items that you already have at home. In 3 simple steps, we’ll show you how to clean and polish the stainless steel appliances in your kitchen, making them look like they just came straight from the Coast Appliance showroom floor. We’ll then give you a quick tip to help you keep those pesky fingerprints off your appliances.But first things first, here’s what you’ll need:– At least two non-abrasive, 100% cotton cleaning rags– Dish-washing soap– Baby oil or Mineral oilStep 1: Find the Direction of the GrainLook closely at the surface of your stainless steel appliances and you’ll notice that, just like wood, stainless steel also has grain flowing in a certain direction. When you’re wiping stainless steel appliances, always wipe in the direction that the grain of the panel is going in. This will help make it easier to clean and give your appliances that “showroom shine”. Do not wipe perpendicular to the grain or in a circular motion. You’re not going to damage the surface if you do, but you will be pushing any grime or cleaning residue deeper into the grain, thus making it harder to clean.Always remember: go with the grain.Step 2: CleanAdd a very small amount of soap onto a cleaning rag and rinse with just a little bit of water, only enough to make it damp. Wipe along the grain of the panel, then immediately dry any excess water with a separate dry rag. Did you know your dish-washing soap can also be used as your dishwasher soap too? Dishwashing soap is great for getting rid of oils like fingerprints and grease off your stainless steel panels. Other sites may suggest using vinegar, Windex, or other commercial products, but we found that mineral or baby oil works just as well and is much cheaper than some of the store bought cleaners.Step 3: PolishDrop a small amount of mineral or baby oil onto one corner of a dry rag. You don’t need much at all, just a couple of drops will do. Once again, wipe the surface in the direction of the grain on your stainless steel. Use There shouldn’t be any excess oil when you wipe the surface, and if there is, that means you’ve put too much oil. Added benefit: polishing your stainless steel with mineral or baby oil has an added benefit – the thin layer of oil actually helps to prevent fingerprints from sticking to the surface.The ResultPolishing your stainless steel this way will give you maximum shine and actually helps to prevent fingerprints from showing – but only for a short time.BONUS TIP: Keep the rag with oil drops handy in a sealed Ziploc bag. Use this to polish spots that you may have missed and to wipe off any fingerprints as you discover them. Source: a guest post by Marcus Molina of scrubbi.com and  Coast Appliances