Homemade Granite Cleaner really works!

I know, I know....GRANITE CLEANER???? What does that have to do with a book blog? The way I see it, if I can clean the kitchen fast and make the granite look good AND save a ton of money in the process...more time reading and more money for books!

 Waaaaay back in 2008, here at the House of Unlimited Potential, you may remember the Hubs and I tore out our kitchen and redid the whole danged thing. When we got to the countertops, I cheapied out and didn't want to spring for slab granite. (And yes...much  much regret now.....) So we used 12" square granite tiles and have a granite tile countertop. All the durability of granite with the pain in the ass grout lines of tile. What WAS I thinking???? And, because I couldn't decide what color to chose, being a quilter, I went with the light, medium, dark rule. The floor is light colored tile, the cabinets are a medium oak, so I went with black Ubatuba granite. Again...WHAT WAS I THINKING???!!!  It all looks so awesome when it's shiny, dust free and streak free. For those 30 seconds after its all wiped down with $8 a bottle granite cleaner. Then the dust starts showing. Place a glass of water on in...bingo...moisture leaves a smear. Place your hand on the counter...finger smudges...ARRRRRGH!!!  And I'm sick of shelling out 8 damn dollars for a bottle of cleaner...even at TJ Maxx, it's $6.

Pinterest to the rescue! I found a homemade granite cleaner recipe, and thought, "What the hell, it's not like I don't have an empty Method granite cleaner bottle under the sink!" Here's how I mixed it for the 28 ounce Method bottle.

1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol
About 8 drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid
About 20 drops of lemon essential oil (from a little set of three essential oils I found at TJ Maxx, lemon, rosemary and peppermint, for 4 bucks. They're going to last me a long time! Although I'm a little skeptical about rosemary scented granite cleaner....)
Water to fill.

I put the alcohol, Dawn and lemon oil in the spray bottle, filled it up  the rest of the way with water and.......TA DA!!!! 

Ohhh.......shiny........!!!!    (It's hard to take a good picture of shiny granite!)

And yes, I'm yearning for slab granite, and one of those splotchy beigy colors where you can't even see if you  have toast crumbs on it.

My rating for homemade granite cleaner:

Thank you Chuck Norris. (Dodge Ball reference....because of its important life lessons: If you can dodge a wrench. You can dodge a ball.)  Love that movie...it's dumb but hilarious!!