I think the point here for Caesarstone to take away is that you are misleading customers to believe that your product is as maintenance free as it is, and it definitely is NOT maintenance free. We are builders and will no longer recommend Pure White Caesarstone to our clients as it is a maintenance nightmare. We are hesitant to recommend any of the light/white/marble looks at this point and give a stern warning to any client who leans that way and here's why:
I have had so many clients who want to use pure white Caesarstone countertops and then marble on their backsplash because they love the marble look but don't want the maintenance. I have to steer them far away from this. When you have to use a special product and leave it on your countertop in every single place where a drop of something colored has touched it to get the stains out NIGHTLY, you have actually more maintenance than you have for marble. Marble can actually be sealed to the point that you won't see stains if you seal it regularly, you will see etches, but you shouldn't see stains. The natural beauty and inconsistency of marble lends itself to these marks, you don't expect absolute perfection with marble, you expect natural beauty and that's what you get. If you do get stains, guess what you do? You create a paste and use a special brush to buff them out - not so different what you have to do with Caesarstone (they recommend leaving Soft Scrub gel from the green bottle, not the white bottle, and letting it stand then wiping with a cloth.)
But with Caesarstone, you expect perfection. You expect that your kid can watercolor paint on it if they want to you and you will just come after and wipe off the counter. NOT. SO. Caesarstone claims no sealant is required (and recommend NOT to seal) and yet their quartz quickly absorbs stains (like immediately, unlike sealed marble) which then requires a burdensome application and wait process to remove (cleaning products like bar keepers friend and soft scrub does work, but that doesn't mean its not a pain), that's a fact. Additionally, if you catch the end of a knife or fork or any metal object on Pure White you will see PROMINENT gray scratch lines. Can they be buffed out? Yes they can. Is that what most customers want to be doing with their time who buy Caesarstone? No, not at all. They are often busy families looking for care-free surfaces.
My point is this: tell the truth about your product. So many families are choosing your product because they are short on time and don't want to deal with stains and then are massively disappointed when they install and see how much time it takes to actually maintain the pure white or perfect state of it. Almost all of our clients want white or marble look-a-likes, because that is the story they are told, that Caesarstone can mimic the look of marble or the cleanness of white countertops without the maintenance, but it's a lie.
We do not have much experience with Cambria or other quartz manufacturers so I can't speak to them. We are simply hesitant to work with light/white/marble look-a-like quartz products based on so many customer reports that they "just wish they would have installed marble because it can't be any harder to maintain." And they are 100% right, marble is actually easier to maintain because you won't notice the imperfections of marble the way you do in a "perfect" surface like Pure White. Pure White gets the worst of the reviews, but I have never had a client who just "loved" their Caesarstone light countertop, they all are surprised by the upkeep of this "virtually care-free surface" they were sold.
So that's what we know based on our experiences, and we know it's not the information that is out there (but read this thread!) which is very confusing for home owners who are renovating and afraid of making mistakes. It should be noted that we have large scale Caesarstone samples and they do NOT perform like the actual installed stone. I can pour food coloring onto it and it will not stain. Same test done in an actual client's home and it goes straight in and requires an application of Bar Keepers Clean and waiting process to remove. Not sure what that's about. So yes, buyer beware, it's a very expensive and disappointing mistake to make that you will just live with because the cost to replace will be more than most can stomach.
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If you have installed Pure White Caesarstone and have to live with it, here is the list of products and uses that we were given for our clients from our Caesarstone rep:
- Windex (general wiping)
- Soft Scrub (gel from green bottle, not white bottle) - leave it to sit on stains for several minutes then wipe away with paper towel. Do not use any abrasive brush, scrubber, etc... just elbow grease.
**We have had Caesarstone reps out to our clients homes to receive demos on how to clean the stains and the REPS do not use the Caesarstone approved products on the tough stains. AGAIN, this is very misleading. You will have to use products that they tell you not to use in some instances and here they are:
1) Bar Keepers Friend - ONLY for scratch marks they emphasized. It is considered an abrasive product. Website says "special use for spot cleaning" but reps say for scratch marks
2) Soft Scrub in the White Bottle - Let it sit on the stains/gray marks/discolorations and then gently wipe off after several minutes. Use multiple applications if necessary. Depending on the mark it may work. If it doesn't, Bar Keepers Friend is what to try next.
The website care document says to use Barkeepers Friend for any spot cleaning, but this runs contrary to what the reps say. So there's a little more confusion for you. Our clients tell us that Barkeepers Friend generally can get most everything out but it is motion activated and is most effective when used to scrub (which the website tells you not to do.) They hate that they have to use a product all the time that they thought they would only have to use on a rare occasion and worry about long term damage of their countertops for needing to use a "spot" abrasive product on the daily.
http://www.caesarstoneus.com/media/34059/caesarstone_countertop_care.pdf
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