When decorating cabinets, for stone countertops, many people will avoid natural stone and choose quartz countertops, because those who understand will understand that although natural stone has the advantages of rich colors, soft texture, diverse textures, and good wear resistance, it is not What is denied is that its shortcomings are also obvious. First of all, the length of natural stone is limited, and cabinet countertops cannot be integrated. If spliced, there will be defects; secondly, more or less radiation is the most worrying problem for people because it will endanger human health. In addition, the price of high-quality natural stone is not cheap, and there are very few people who use it as cabinet countertops.
Although quartz stone countertops are not 100% perfect and have their shortcomings, in reality, they are the most popular among all kinds of cabinet countertop materials. The stainless steel countertops are often mentioned for comparison. Is it better to have quartz countertops or stainless steel countertops? The answer is different.
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1. Quartz stone countertops
It is made of broken glass and quartz sand. Quartz stone is a new type of stone artificially synthesized by more than 90% of quartz crystals plus resin and other trace elements.
advantage:
1. High hardness, no scratching;
2. No pollution, vacuum manufacturing, compact and non-porous;
3. It is not damaged when burned, and can withstand a high temperature of 300 degrees instantaneously;
4. Not old, 30 polishing processes, no maintenance;
5. Non-toxic, non-radiative, free of heavy metals, which can be in direct contact with food, quartz stone countertops do not contain radioactive elements harmful to the human body;
6. The ignition point is high, the ignition point is 1300 degrees;
7. Acid and alkali resistance, corrosion resistance, and no penetration.
High-quality quartz stone countertops are destined not to be cheap, and most of the “good quality and cheap” quartz stones on the market are fake granites. So how to distinguish true and false quartz stones, mainly from these aspects:
1. Look
The back of the regular quartz stone will have the code of the stone company; there should be lines on the back, because the hardness of the quartz stone is very hard, so there should be cut lines
2. Scrape
The simple method is to scratch with a steel knife. After the inferior quartz stone is scraped with a knife, there will be powder; the high-quality quartz stone is hard, there will be no powder after scraping, and the metal color of the knife will remain on the quartz stone.
3. Rub
It is very important to judge the quality of quartz stone in the finish because the finish represents stain resistance. Use a marker to draw on the quartz stone to see if it can be wiped off. If it can be wiped off, it means the stain resistance is strong. If it can’t be wiped off, it means the stain resistance is poor. It is recommended not to buy it.
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4. Bubble
Soak in strong acids, such as white vinegar. Bubbles will appear around the poor quality quartz stone after soaking in strong acid because the calcium carbonate in the fake quartz stone will chemically react with white vinegar; high-quality quartz stone will not foam after being soaked in a strong acid Bubble.
5. Burn
Press the lit cigarette butt on the countertop, or burn it directly with a lighter. The one with no trace is high-quality quartz stone, and the one with black marks is inferior. Because of the high-temperature resistance of quartz stone, it is not prone to deformation and scorching.
Two, stainless steel countertops
Stainless steel is a traditional manufacturing raw material used for home cabinets and kitchen workbenches, and it is also a manufacturing raw material for many large hotels’ special cabinet facilities. The conception and formation of stainless steel cabinets were later than that of wooden cabinets, and it was probably formed in the late 1990s.
advantage:
1. Integrity: the countertop will not crack;
2. Environmental protection: stainless steel is not synthesized with epoxy resin, and there is no radiation from natural granite;
3. Cleanliness: The overall feeling is very good, and there are no gaps, and it is not easy to breed bacteria;
4. Heat resistance: fireproof and not afraid of heat;
5. Anti-permeability: Sprinkle the seasoning soup on the countertop when cooking, wipe it gently and never leave a trace;
6. Robustness: stainless steel has good impact resistance and strong hardness;
7. Easy to clean and not easy to fade: just use a damp cloth dipped in detergent and simply scrub it to make the stainless steel countertop as bright as new;
8. Recyclability: Recycling value when replaced twice.
insufficient:
1. The visual sense is hard, giving people a cold feeling, and the grade style is not high enough;
2. Once the countertop is scratched by a sharp tool, it will leave irreparable marks, and it is easy to hide dirty things in the fine scratches;
3. The corners and joints of the cabinet countertops also lack reasonable and effective treatment methods;
4. At present, most of the domestic stainless steel countertops are prone to oxidation, which is far behind imported similar products;
5. If soy sauce, various paints, and cleaning agents are dripped on it, they will corrode it.
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Development: Before 1995, stainless steel countertops occupied a major share of the cabinet market, but their visual effects lacked intimacy and were not easy to change. In recent years, due to the increasing demand for personalized products, some manufacturers have carried out research and development on the process of traditional stainless steel countertops and adopted a new manufacturing process of aluminum alloy edge banding and stainless steel combination, which has improved the aesthetics of the countertops to a certain extent. , With a strong sense of modernity, it is generally used to strengthen the “cool” sense of the cabinet. The disadvantage is that the large R-angle conversion interface and joint parts of the cabinet countertop obviously lack reasonable and effective technical aesthetic treatment methods, which are not suitable for the special requirements of the modern living room and kitchen pipe crossing. Only under certain conditions can the overall effect and use of the countertop be guaranteed. performance.
Compared with stainless steel countertops, quartz countertops have strong corrosion resistance and oil stains will not penetrate into the interior. Generally, they can be directly scrubbed with water or detergent. When necessary, you can also use a blade to scrape off the dirt on the surface. And the colors and patterns are diverse, the choice space is large, and the environmental protection performance is even higher than that of the stainless steel countertop.
