Clean Your Granite Tops With Hydrogen peroxide

Yikes! It's the mother of all kitchen nightmares!

Cleaning on a Sunday is a usual routine in the family. Today, I decided to clean the back of the oven and I was appalled with what  I saw – some parts of the granite counter are covered with grime, grease and I do not know what else. Apparently, granite tiles are porous and if they are not properly cleaned, they end up absorbing stains from food and other liquids left on the counter for a long time. In my case, the side of the kitchen counter has absorbed cooking oil that may have seeped down from the counter.  

The OC in me decided to apply a generous amount of kitchen cleanser to the marble slab but to no avail. I also tried bleach but it did little good aside from making my kitchen reek with the nauseous liquid. I have searched online and websites such as eHow and CounterTopSpecialty and most of them recommend Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) to clean heavy stains that have stayed in the granite counter. There are also many uses of Hydrogen peroxide but for this article, I will be discussing how you can use it to clean your granite counters.

Hydrogen peroxide is a clear and colorless liquid which is commonly used to disinfect wounds. Also called agua oxigenada in the Philippines, it  is one of the cheapest cleaning agents that I have ever known. I documented how I cleaned my granite top with Hydrogen peroxide below. To clean your counter top using Hydrogen peroxide, you will need the following:

Materials

* Hydrogen peroxide

* Plastic gloves
* Cotton

* Ceram wrap or plastic cellophane

1.) For the purpose of demonstrating the procedure, I made two boxes on the surface of the granite wall using masking tapes. 2.) Soak the cotton with Hydrogen peroxide. 3.) Place the cotton inside the box and spread evenly to cover the entire surface. 4.) Cover the entire area with plastic cellophane to prevent the cotton from easily drying out. Let it soak for 24 to 48 hours. 5.) After 24 or 48 hours, remove the cotton. 6.) See how clean it is?

The best thing about using Hydrogen peroxide is that it is not only effective in cleaning the stain from your countertop but it is also very safe for the health as well as to the environment.  In fact, all living air-breathing organisms posses catalase peroxidase that breaks down Hydrogen peroxide to water and Oxygen thus you do not have to fear about toxicity. Hydrogen peroxide is simply an effective, safe and practical way to clean and disinfect your granite counters. I don’t have to buy expensive cleansers next time.