Kitchen worktops

me too...how clebber as my 4 year old (GD) would say

Where 'natural' materials have it over laminates is, of course, when you have to cut it on a curve. We had a very good kitchen fitter who made a good job of it, so I am happy with it, but it will never look as good as a natural wood, granite or similar material. I tried to post a picture but it came out upside down!

I've a grey granite flecked with other colours and Carrara marble backs.
I've no trouble with maintenance and am very pleased with it. It was all done by a local stonemason who are a family firm. They restore old classical buildings. And are real professionals

Forgot to say when I made my original post, when we had our new kitchen installed, we had a fitted dresser built in as part of it and that has a solid wood surface, which I also love but we don't use it for food preparation, just the rest of the surfaces which are a speckled quartz.

I've had black granite for about 12 years now, still love it. Yes it does show up smears, but that's as much to do with how the lighting above is positioned as it is to do with being granite. The occasional squirt and polish with glass cleaner brings it up lovely.

Unexpected bonus of granite - I'd read that it can be as good as marble for making pastry as it keeps cool; I hadn't realised that the same properties would mean that frozen food would defrost faster if left directly on it!

I moved to a house with black granite worktops and was very unsure of them when I arrived. I love them now. I thought they would be too dark, but hadn't realised how much they reflect light. The trick to easy maintenance, and I love easy, is to use microfibre cloths. One smooth one to use wet and a fluffier one to dry. No chemicals needed and no more difficult than wiping laminate.

I can't understand why people like black granite work tops, they are so funereal. I have thick textured formica tops in a cream colour which I bleach when they get stained, and they look as good as new. Pseudo wood surfaces are so dishonest.

Why?

We intended granite but ran out of money and had Formica. That was ten years ago and of course we just got used to it and never changed it. It's functional but not beautiful.

Exactly MOnica . I certainly don't pretend our wood effect is real but it looks good! Mostly!

'Pseudo wood is so dishonest'. What a very silly statement.

I have a beautiful blue/black starry granite. Don't polish very often and don'f find it any more difficult than previous black laminate. In fact easier as I just put hot things down straight from oven. I have to be very careful and DinL house as want to put hot things down on laminate work surface, luckily haven't actually done it yet. I have broken a couple of things on it but no more than before when I had ceramic tiled floor. I now have Kardeen which is wonderful.

Pseudo wood surfaces are so dishonest.
I am sitting in our dishonest study, just as well I am untidy so I can't see the pseudo wood work surface. It keeps saying 'you need to clean me' but I don't believe it.

I hope you are ashamed of yourself roseq!

Mine is a black speckled laminate type worktop. DS set a hot pan on it and it left a pale ring. It isn't very noticeable, but I know it's there. As for chopping boards, I have a glass one and a wooden one. Going back to DS. I have two lovely trivets on either side of the hob, there was no need to put the pan down on the worktop!!!!!

Our kitchen has dark brown/black mottled granite worktops. They cost an absolute fortune (seen the bills) but we didn't pay for them, they were already installed by the previous owners. Well, I wish they had not bothered. The only good thing about them is that you can put a hot pan down anywhere without any damage, but they are very cold and in the winter they act as a cold radiator and give off quite a chill. I have to use Viakal to clean off the water marks around the tap and where the washing up drains. I don't bother with polishing them much as our house is old and the kitchen is quite dark so it doesn't show. If I could start again I would have everything light - light units, light formica worktops. I recently advised a friend against having granite in her new kitchen but she had it anyway and she likes it. I think the new granite worktops might be different to the older ones, like mine.

No, kittylester I told it that it has to wait its turn, it may get a duster waved around before Christmas!

Well, all I can say is that you have very posh kitchens.

Disgruntled now.

'Pseudo wood' never pretends to be wood, so cannot possibly be dishonest. What a snobbish attitude. And oh dear, I also have a laminate floor in the kitchen. I wonder what that says about me.

Well I asked the original question because I had wood and it wasn't my preferred option when I have my kitchen 'reinstated'. I've decided to go with a good quality laminate after listening to this thread, talking to a friend who had her kitchen re-done a couple of years ago and looking at show kitchen.

My original wood was Wenge and I've had some lovely samples of 'pseudo' wood laminate sent in dark colours which will complement my 'pseudo' wood Kardean floor which has also to be 'reinstated'

I really think for value and looks laminate can't be beaten, and it is easy to keep nice with care. And now a question, is laminate the same as the Formica we all had years ago?
My "pseudo" Karndean is a joy both in looks and effort to keep immaculate, I wish I had discovered it years ago.

Inasmuch as they are both man-made polycarbons Ann I'd have to say yes, but an updated and upgraded version.

As far as I know, Formica is a brand name for a laminated product, probably the first one that came to anyone's attention. Some modern laminates are produced with a slightly textured finish. What I know as Formica was always smooth and shiny. My mother had a kitchen table with a Formica top (it was horrible but she thought it was very modern). Purely as an aside, I was reading recently a book about the Falklands conflict recently and apparently, after the war, the Navy replaced all the Formica surfaces in their ships galleys with stainless steel, after seeing the horrendous injuries and deaths caused by shards of flying Formica when a ship suffered blast damage in those areas.

I've just bought some 'Work Top Wonder' from Lakeland to use on my laminate worktops as they stain really badly. Not sure yet how effective it has been.

I have Corian worktops and splash backs, right up to the extractor behind the hob. I chose white with grey and black flecks, the sink is moulded into the worktop and is very easy to keep clean. It was the best decision we have ever made.