First of all, as a general guideline, all natural stone countertops should have some type of a sealer applied to them first thing before use–if you haven’t done this yet I personally recommend StoneTech BulletProof Stone Sealer
I’ve got a short and simple video here where you’ll learn how to get out difficult stains such red wine, marker, and coffee, among other things–it just requires some simple household items like bleach, flour, and nail polish remover (they use acetone–FYI, regular nail polish remover is almost pure acetone, it will work nicely for this). First a few tips:
- Clean up liquids as soon as they spill–if you do this they won’t have a chance to stain and then you won’t have to worry about it later.
- Use cutting boards: I know it’s tempting to just cut on the granite, but not only can it chip your beautiful granite countertop but it will also dull your knives much quicker than if you used a proper cutting board.
- Don’t sit on your countertop–granite won’t flex and it doesn’t have any kind of plywood support underneath it like many other surfaces often do, so this is a good way to crack it.
- Don’t use pure bleach, ammonia, or any kind of abrasive on your granite countertop as it can ruin the sealer.
- If you really want to give your countertop the best care possible and not have to worry about getting the right bleach-to-water ratio, etc., then I personally recommend the Stone Care International countertop care kit
, which is specially designed to the job in question and it comes with its own sealer so you don’t have to buy one separately.
Alright, here’s the video:
Additional Resources and Further Reading
Here are some excellent additional tips from eHow.com on how to clean and care for granite countertops.