At Our Core, It's About Helping You Care for Your Stone Surfaces

The Gold Standard blog is typically meant to share thoughts and advice to help you care for and maintain your stone surfaces – more importantly, avoid costly repair and replacement. It’s not only the purpose of our blog, but also the very core of Granite Gold® dating back to when we started 10 years ago. Before there was Granite Gold, we were in the family businesses manufacturing, installing and restoring stone surfaces, and time and again, our customers would ask “What should I use to clean my stone?” There really wasn’t anything in the market we could recommend with confidence. Common household cleaners will damage natural stone, and anything marketed specifically for use on stone either left streaks and fingerprints or wasn’t readily available for our customers to easily purchase. Mild dish soap and water was all we’d recommend, and it still wasn’t the best answer We began experimenting in the late 1990s to find an answer to customers’ questions, and a few years later came up with solution that was safe on all stone surfaces and would not streak or leave fingerprints. With the answer in hand – a granite cleaner and a granite polish that can be used on all natural-stone surfaces. We were filling bottles and handwriting “Cleaner” or “Polish” on them, giving them away after we finished restoration and installation projects. That soon led to customers returning, asking for more of the magic. Granite Gold Inc. was formed in 2003, and in 2004 we set out to bring Granite Gold brand stone-care products to a mass consumer audience. We started small with local distribution in the San Diego area and going on the road with how-to demonstrations at regional home and garden shows and in Costco club stores. Then, in 2005, we led a national consumer awareness campaign on the dangers common household cleaners pose to natural stone surfaces. That catapulted word of mouth and online sales in Granite Gold’s early days, and today Granite Gold brand stone-care products are available in grocery, hardware, mass merchant and specialty store channels throughout the U.S. and internationally. As we get a little nostalgic on our 10^th anniversary, we celebrate not just our history but, more so, our customers for supporting Granite Gold and helping us share the importance of proper stone care. And, of course, we have to share some advice: It’s spring cleaning season and many of us plan on giving our homes an annual deep cleaning, including disinfecting areas known to be thriving places for common household germs. Common disinfectants will harm natural stone surfaces. With a safe-on-sealed stone disinfectant, be sure to let it sit on a surface for at least five minutes for it to properly take effect. Also, disinfectants aren’t meant for cleaning and will leave streaks on stone surfaces. After letting the disinfectant dry, rinse with Granite Gold Daily Cleaner®. Don’t polish your stone until you rinse and clean the disinfected area; otherwise, streaking will occur.