How to remove oil stains from granite

Oil stains emerging from granite-based products are some of the peskiest problems you can experience in your house. At some points, you may wonder how to remove oil stains from granite.

Many types of oil stains can appear anywhere on granite surfaces. Olive, baby, canola, mineral, and coconut oils are the oil types that can stain on granites.

How to remove oil stains from granite

Fortunately, there are ways for us to eliminate those stains and prevent the same problems from happening. We’re not only giving you the instructions. Instead, we provide you the safe ways to remove oil stains from granite surfaces around your house.

However, let us look at the possibilities for oil stains and granite surfaces to impact each other before delving deeper into the how-tos. First of all, let us confirm if granite can absorb oil or not.

Does granite absorb oil

No. Unfortunately, granite’s durability becomes one of its liabilities when it comes to absorbing oil.

Oil stains, spots, and greases are the most challenging ones to clean from granite surfaces. Even if granite is less porous than onyx or quartzites, this material has a high porosity. Such characteristics contribute to the reasons why can’t they absorb oil.

At some points, the oil stains’ colors can be darker on granite surfaces when compared to those coming from other materials. Things can get worse if there are no protective seals or covers that protect the surfaces.

Such problems can drive people crazy, to the point they think about the possibilities for oil stains to damage granite. We’ll see if they are correct or not over the next point.

Does oil damage granite

Yes, those people are correct to say that oil can damage granite. The granite countertops around your kitchen or patio are the most vulnerable properties to oil stains, spots, and greases.

Such situations will be more intense if you leave them for too long. The granite stones that build your countertops won’t be able to sustain their tip-top shapes.

For example, if you cook on a granite worktop with any cooking oil, the oil can dissolve into the stones’ layers. As a result, dark stain marks will appear on the affected parts of your countertops.

These occurrences are an invitation for molds to make your granite surfaces dirtier. Ants can eventually invite their colonies and reproduce on granite surfaces with traces of oil stains on them.

Can oil stains be removed from granite

Yes, you can remove oil stains from granite. You can do this activity with the appropriate tools and materials.

Today, many companies are producing oil stain remover products that you can buy anywhere. The DuPont Stone Tech Professional’s Oil Stain Remover is a paste-based stain remover product that works well when you use them on granite surfaces.

As an alternative, you can make a natural cleaning paste by mixing baking soda and water. If paste-based products are not your taste, you can use bleaches, ammonia, acetone, or any household detergents to remove oil stains from various granite surfaces.

Next, we’ll go on by discussing the different oil stain types on granite surfaces.

Types of oil stains on granite

Even though granite surfaces in the kitchen are among the most susceptible granite properties to oil stains, cooking oils aren’t the only sources for oil stains. Another thing that you should remind yourself of is that oil stains can impact any granite-based furniture you have.

Even if you don’t use any oil while cooking, other substances can produce oil stains. For example, any milk contains some levels of oils that can spill or dissolve when you don’t clean them up for a long time.

All cosmetic products always have some degree of oil. So, if you’re dressing up in front of a granite tabletop, you are subject to the oil stains that your cosmetic products produce.

Olive, baby, canola, mineral, and coconut oil are the five most frequent oil types to produce stains and spots around your granite surfaces. We’ll start with the olive oil first.

Olive oil stain on granite

We often see olive oil in many dishes and cosmetic products. When you compare olive oil with other types of oil, you’ll see that olive oil products contain lesser fat than the others.

Lesser fat means easier times for you to clean up the residues. The cause is that the lesser the fat amounts in every substance (including olive oil), the thinner and the less sticky the residues become.

However, olive oil can still produce stains on granite if you’ve left them for a prolonged period. At some points, olive oil stains can even get to the brownish-dark colors.

Baby oil stain on granite

True to its name, we often find baby oil on baby care products.

Nonetheless, we can still own cosmetics with some percentages of baby oil in them even if there are no babies in our household. We can even replace micellar water with baby oil since most of them are environmentally friendly.

At the same time, baby oil can cause stains on your granite tabletops. The spots will get worse if you immediately place many things on top of the surfaces that you’ve “cleaned” with baby oil.

That’s why cleaning up tabletop surfaces with baby oil is not enough. Instead, ensuring the dryness of the tabletop surfaces is crucial to prevent baby oil from staining.

Canola oil stain on granite

Canola oil has almost the same characteristics as olive oil. First, we can find them in every food and cosmetic product. Second, they belong to the low-fat oil category, just like olive oil.

However, canola oil’s fat percentage is slightly higher than olive oil. More precisely, their fats are on par with other nut-based oils, such as peanut or almond oil.

The slightly high percentage of fats means canola oil stains are more challenging to wash away than olive oil stains. Furthermore, canola oil stains have a distinctive circular form. Such forms can get larger as you forget to clean them up.

Mineral oil stain on granite

People tend to mistake mineral oil with baby oil. Even though they are essentially the same oil type, mineral oil is a baby oil without any additional fragrances.

As a result, mineral oil is more present in cosmetic and skincare products for adults. These oil types belong to the hydrocarbon categories, which means they are derivatives from petrochemicals.

The oil type that we also know as paraffin is not only dangerous. When you left the oil, the mineral oil can make stains appear anywhere on your granite surfaces.

When there are mineral oil stains on your granite furniture, they can expose you to many forms of diseases.

For example, the acne on your skin will be more severe. Some people also report they suffer from more painful PMS, ovarian dysfunction, or even miscarriages.

Coconut oil stain on granite

Coconut oil is not only present in food and cosmetic products. At some points, we can even use the “heavy-toned” oil to make chocolate bars.

Anyways, pay attention to the “heavy-toned” word. It exists for a reason, and that reason is the high percentage of fats in coconut oil.

When you compare the fats in coconut oil, you’ll find that the fats are significantly higher than those in canola or olive oil. Some coconut oil producers don’t even dilute the fat well, and this awful production system can result in stickier stains.

The high percentages of fat in coconut oil make you have to do extra works to eliminate the stains. Sometimes, the sticky residues coming from the coconut oil can be the parts of your homework, too.

Is baking soda safe for granite

Yes, baking soda is safe for granite. Baking soda is one of your best friends to clean up granite surfaces no matter the stains’ bases.

If you want to clean up oil stains with baking soda, you can make a natural cleaning paste by mixing it with water.

The stickier the oil stain residues, the more percentages of baking soda against water that you need. At some points, you may want to make several cups of natural cleaning pastes by mixing one cup of cleaning paste with another.

Even if you want to clean up oil stains and residues coming from coconut oil or other “fatty” oil types, baking soda is still a safe cleaning agent that you can use.

Furthermore, baking soda can remove the unwanted odors from the oil stains and residues on your granite surfaces. This trait makes baking soda a considerable choice for cleaning up any granite-based furniture.

How to remove oil stains from granite with baking soda

Now that you know baking soda is safe to use for granites, the next thing you want to understand more about is how to use it to remove oil stains.

Here, at this point, we’re going to provide you the thing that you’ve been waiting for: The how-to guide. 

In executing the steps in this how-to guide, you need to prepare baking soda, water, rubber gloves, a sponge, a brush, a scraper, plastic wraps, some damp clothes, and a mixing bowl. Then, put on your gloves and follow the step-by-step below:

  1. Mix one part of baking soda and another one of the water in a mixing bowl to create a cleaning paste.
  2. Brush the paste all around the affected areas with a painting brush or an old toothbrush.
  3. Cover the brushed areas with plastic wraps. Let them be for at least 20 minutes.
  4. Scrape the dried and brushed parts with a scraper.
  5. Wipe the remaining areas using a damp clean cloth.
  6. Use another cloth to dip inside a natural stone cleaning product.
  7. Wipe the dipped cloth. 
  8. Use another dry cloth to dry the granite.

Can you use lysol wipes on granite too?

How to prevent oil stains on granite

Baking soda isn’t the only agent to remove oil stains from granite. In some cases, you’d want to prevent oil stains from happening even though no stains on your granite surfaces.

Here, we provide the non-baking-soda instructions to prevent oil stains from appearing on your granite furniture. “The sealing steps” is the name of these steps:

  1. Use measuring tapes and rulers to mask off areas that you don’t need to seal.
  2. Apply the sealer with a brush. Alternatively, spray the sealer while using a spraying bottle.
  3. Let the sealers be for around 15-30 minutes. Then, wipe off any excess that comes from the sealers.
  4. Repeat Step 2 and Step 3 for the second layer of your sealers.
  5. Leave the sealers on your granite surfaces for at least 24 hours.

You’ll need to find a suitable sealer for your granite furniture to do the preventive actions. Lastly, don’t hesitate to refer to this article if you want to remove oil stains from your granite furniture.

Want to learn how to remove super glue from granite too?

You may also like the below household cleaning articles