Kitchen decoration is the most important place for every family when decorating, and the kitchen countertop is the top priority of kitchen decoration, so it is particularly important to choose high-quality kitchen countertops. A good countertop can not only make the kitchen beautiful and durable, but also In the process of cooking and subsequent cleaning in the kitchen, it can also make the cook feel less worried and labor-intensive. In recent years, with the popularity of quartz slabs and marble, the most mainstream countertop material in the building materials market is naturally marble, as well as quartz stone, which has always been favored by consumers.
So, which material is better to choose, quartz stone or marble? Today, MINGSHANG will give you a good analysis from five aspects.
First of all, we need to understand the composition of the two materials. Quartz stone is a new type of stone artificially synthesized by more than 90% of quartz crystal plus resin and other trace elements. The marble slab is a super-sized new material made of natural stone powder, felsic and other natural raw materials, pressed by a press with a capacity of more than 36,000 tons, and then fired at a high temperature above 1200°C. Both belong to man-made panels, but due to differences in raw materials, production environments and processes, the performance of the two is also slightly different.
For a high-quality kitchen countertop, there are five aspects that need to be considered: appearance, high temperature resistance, stain resistance, scratch resistance and durability. Therefore, we will analyze these two materials in detail from these five points, and see whether marble slabs or quartz stones are better for kitchen countertops.
Appearance:
From the perspective of appearance, there is no doubt that marble slabs win between the two. It is not for nothing that marble has become the "sweet pastry" in the building materials market in recent years. Marble not only has rich patterns and colors, but also its texture and texture are very realistic to the simulation of various natural materials, which will bring people a sense of nobility and elegance.
In contrast, the appearance of quartz stone countertops is particularly ordinary. The graininess is too heavy, and sometimes the sample is quite good, but the Calacatta quartz stone is still very good, the stripes are not much different from the marble stripes, and the workmanship is also good.
Therefore, if you are a person who pays attention to appearance, then marble slab and Calacatta quartz stone must be the first choice.
High temperature resistance:
Sometimes when we serve the dishes, the tableware will be very hot. If the countertop cannot withstand high temperature, it is likely to crack directly. The raw material of quartz stone is a material with a high melting point. Under normal circumstances, even if the red-hot pot bottom is placed on the countertop for a short while, there will be no traces. But if you buy inferior quartz stone, it is not only easy to deform and crack, but also has the risk of excessive heavy metals.
As for the high temperature resistance of marble, it goes without saying. Materials such as marble slabs are fired at a high temperature of 1600 degrees Celsius, and there is no need to worry about deformation, discoloration or even cracking when directly touching high-temperature objects.
Antifouling:
Many friends reported that when using quartz stone countertops, it is easy to bleed. In fact, the reason for this situation is mostly because of buying inferior quartz stone or shoddy products with granite. There are many fake quartz stones on the market. If you are greedy for cheap, it is easy to buy the wrong one. Real quartz stone countertops are not only not easy to scratch, but also not easy to seep water. Because the water absorption rate of quartz stone itself is very low, unless it is tea water, there may be bleeding, because the tea polyphenols in tea are easily soluble in water and fat, and the raw material of quartz stone is resin. But as long as it is cleaned up in time, it is basically no problem.
Good marble is also excellent in antifouling. Because this material is pressed by a 10,000-ton press, its own structure is very dense, so it has super anti-fouling and anti-permeability. Therefore, as long as the material is selected well and maintained correctly, basically there is no need to worry about its anti-fouling property.
Scratch and abrasion resistance:
In fact, whether it is marble or quartz stone, both of them have relatively high hardness and are relatively scratch-resistant and wear-resistant. Scratching the surface of the product with iron wire and hard objects basically does not cause any scratches. However, if you have to make a comparison, quartzite will be inferior to slate. The raw material of quartz stone is quartz sand, and its Mohs hardness reaches 7, but because other raw materials are added together to make the countertop, the Mohs hardness of qualified quartz stone countertops (quartz stone content must reach at least 93%) is generally Around 5-6. If the purchased product has low quartz stone content, then the hardness will be lower.
The Mohs hardness of marble countertops is generally around 6-7, and high-quality ones may be even higher. Someone has done an experiment, using a key and a steel ruler to scrape the surfaces of these two materials respectively. The experimental results show that scratching the quartz stone countertop and rock slab with a key will not leave scratches on the countertop. But if you use a steel ruler, the quartz stone is not as durable as the rock slab, and there are slight scratches, especially for dark quartz stone countertops, the scratches will be more obvious. Even so, the scratch and wear resistance of quartz stone is enough. After all, no one will cut vegetables and meat directly on the countertop with a knife all day long.
Durability:
I have praised marble a lot in front, but I have to say that it has a fatal weakness, that is, it is brittle. Many friends around me have suffered. For example, the slate dining table purchased was directly broken into two halves during the handling process. So if you want to use rock slab countertops, you need to add backing boards. In the future, you should also pay attention to the operation, because sometimes it is likely to collapse a corner when it is hit by an external force. Some people even said that the glass seasoning bottle fell over, and a hole was directly knocked off the table. So in terms of durability, quartz stone will be better.
In general, both quartz countertops and marble countertops have their own advantages. The former is cost-effective, but it is easy to buy inferior products. The latter has good performance in all aspects and high value, but it is expensive, and you must be careful when using it, so that the countertop cannot be subjected to too much force, let alone cut large bones, so as not to break the marble. Of course, which material to choose as the countertop, we all need to take good care of it in our daily life, so that the countertop can be used for a longer time. Even the best materials can be prone to problems if not properly maintained.
