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18|February 2020 Got Data?
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The Thunder White and Absolute Black granites, Dekton Trillium sintered surface, and Caesarstone Eggshell engineered quartz did not have any visible ef- fects from the Soft ScrubTM.
Concrete became visibly dulled after using Soft ScrubTM. It appeared that the satin shine from the applied sealer was re- moved, and the effect was easily noticeable.
Bar Keepers FriendTM is a more robust abrasive cleanser contain- ing feldspar, which has a Mohs hardness around 6. Thirty seconds of scrubbing with Bar Keepers FriendTM left distinct hazy areas on both of the engineered quartz samples. The Dekton and natural stone samples were unaffected. The concrete was significantly dulled from the Bar Keepers FriendTM, and in fact I could feel the material becoming rough and abraded as I scrubbed.
Heat Resistance
Heat impacts surfaces in a few different ways. The thermal shock of sudden heating of a cool sur- face has been known to break slabs. Furthermore, heat can scorch or discolor materials that have low melting temperatures. Kitchen countertops are exposed to heat in several ways, from being adjacent to stoves and dish- washers, to the potential for hav- ing hot pans placed directly on top of them. It’s important to note that quartz manufacturers specifically warn against putting hot pans di- rectly on their surfaces, and thus,
Slippery rock Gazette
the precaution of “don’t try this at home” applies to this test.
I tested heat resistance in two different ways. I placed a very hot cast iron skillet on top of the sam- ples and let it sit for 10 minutes. The skillet weighed 3.5 pounds and had a footprint of 6.5 inches where it contacted the slabs, and was heated to about 570 degrees Fahrenheit.
The hot, dry skillet test left a temporary, light colored mark on the Sequel Pure Black sample, but the mark wiped off. No other test sample surface showed visible ef- fects from that test.
Then, I took it up a notch with the hot, oily skillet test. This is a tough one: the surface of each of the slabs was first sprinkled with Mongolian Fire Oil and Texas Pete brand hot sauce, and the hot skillet was placed on top of the oily surface. This test represents a worst-case scenario where a hot pan is placed on a dirty countertop. While it is certainly not recommended to treat one’s countertop this way, it’s easily within the range of possibility – homeowners, guests, renters, or contractors are not always famil- iar with the exact properties of a countertop, and errant moves with hot pans do happen.
Dekton’s Trillium sintered sur- face showed no effects from this test, but every other material had some sort of noticeable change. Thunder White granite showed a slight stain from the hot oil, but the stain faded over 24 hours, to the point where it was invisible. Absolute Black granite exhibited a very subtle darkening of the sur- face in the area where the skillet
had been sitting. This change was so slight that observers could not see it unless I pointed it out.
The Caesarstone Eggshell engi- neered quartz sample was stained by the hot oil, and initially there was a curved stain in the shape of the skillet, as well as a stain in the center of the area where the skillet had been. By the next day, the curved stain had faded, but the other stain remained. Over the course of several days, the stain lightened further, to the point where it was no longer visible.
The finish of Sequel Pure Black engineered quartz became slightly hazed and lighter in color in the area where the skillet had been sitting. The mark remained permanent.
Concrete was severely stained by the hot, oily skillet test. The stain covered most of the area that had been underneath the skillet, and while the stain faded slightly overnight, it was still large and prominent.
TL; DR – The Quick Summary
Two materials exited the tests looking the same way they came in: Thunder White Granite and Dekton’s Trillium sintered sur- face. Thunder White shrugged off SharpieTM marker better than any other material, but the stone’s light color revealed slight, tem- porary staining from hot oil and turmeric. No permanent stains persisted after cleaning, and nei- ther heat nor abrasives affected the stone’s brightly polished surface.
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Above, Top: Hot, oily skillet test underway on concrete. The skillet was heated to 575 degrees F, and placed on the slab for 10 minutes.
Above, Center: The setup for hot, oily skillet test on Caesarstone Eggshell manufactured quartz. Mongolian Fire Oil is on the left, Texas Pete hot sauce on the right.
Below: Concrete was damaged by all but one of the tests. The sample was pretty beat up by the end of the analysis.