The Cleaning Essentials That Easily Remove Coffee Stains From Granite Countertops

If coffee is as integral to your morning (or afternoon/evening) routine as brushing your teeth, showering, or getting dressed, then chances are you've had a few spills or coffee rings show up on your countertops. On many surfaces, these marks are easily wiped away with soap and water or a spray cleaner, but if you have granite, you might find a coffee ring that is determined to stick around. Granite is a porous material at its rawest state, and while countertops are sealed when they are installed, this sealant can wear off each year and requires maintenance. If you have a stain that won't go away, all you need is a little hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to remove annoying marks.

Hydrogen peroxide is tough enough to save your moldy basement walls but gentle enough to use as an antiseptic on your skin, so while the acidity can be bad for granite in large amounts or through regular contact and can even strip off the sealant, it is effective for removing coffee stains when combined with baking soda in a smaller amount.

It's important to remember that hydrogen peroxide, while safe to use on many stubborn household stains, needs to be applied cautiously on granite. There are pockets and fissures present that can absorb liquids like hydrogen peroxide in small amounts — even these trace amounts can cause acid etching, which will break down the stone's interior over time. Think of dents, cracks, and weak patches that could be even more easily damaged by daily interactions. For day-to-day cleaning, stick with mild soap and water, but when a coffee stain needs something stronger, grab a bottle and some baking soda.

On its own, baking soda is a great cleaning product. The abrasive texture and alkali compound can remove stuck-on dirt, marks, and stains fairly easily from a variety of surfaces, including your granite, but sometimes you need a little extra "oomph" to get a coffee ring out. By combining hydrogen peroxide with baking soda, you're creating a tough paste that will dissolve the coffee remnants through the acidity and alkali found in the powder.

For the best results, mix 1 cup of both hydrogen peroxide and baking soda (equal parts) in a small bowl. You can go down to ½ cup of each if your stain is small and you don't require as much of the poultice. Mix it until the consistency becomes thick like paste, then spread your cleaner onto the affected area(s). Leaving the solution to soak into your granite is imperative, so ideally allow it to do so for up to 24 hours. To keep people from getting the paste on themselves or removing it, lay some Saran Wrap over the section you're cleaning.

You can keep the edges of the cling film down with heavy objects or tape. After it's had a chance to absorb, use a fresh cloth that's been dampened with water to remove the paste. From there, you can use gentle dish soap to wash away the remnants and clean the area. Pat dry, and you should find your coffee stains gone! To further protect granite from stains, always ensure that the sealant has been maintained, and clean up spills immediately. Leaving substances to sit on these surfaces can actually lead to more staining, which is why waiting to clean is one thing you should never do with granite countertops.