How to Clean Bamboo Kitchen Countertops?

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Nowadays, there are many materials to apply in our kitchen, although not all of them are recommended since they must resist shocks, cuts, and vapors. In addition, cleaning bamboo kitchen countertops, for example, as well as marble, granite, and other materials, is very complex and will require you to pay attention at all times.

When choosing a material for our kitchen countertop, you can see that the number of options never ends. At the same time, we must consider many factors, including durability, appearance, ease of cleaning, maintenance, and more.

If you’re in this process and have chosen a bamboo countertop, congratulations! You have selected a type of countertop material of the most outstanding quality and appearance and one of the most eco-friendly and environmentally friendly materials.

Now, do you have any idea how to clean bamboo kitchen countertops? If your answer is no, there’s no problem; we’ll show you step by step how to do it, as well as how to maintain it properly and, finally, a list of pros and cons of having this material in the kitchen. Keep reading this post until the end, and don’t miss anything.

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How to Clean Bamboo Countertops in 4 Easy Ways

First of all, you should know that cleaning bamboo countertops isn’t at all simple, and although it may seem so, the maintenance of this cleaning is the most challenging part. You’ll need to spend at least one to three hours cleaning bamboo countertops, especially if you want to leave a flawless finish.

Step 1: Dusting

The first thing you’ll need to do is remove any excess dust on the countertop’s surface, either by using a dry cloth or a feather duster. This is mainly so that you don’t get an ugly-looking paste when you apply the water and detergent.

Step 2: Apply detergent

Once the countertop’s surface is ready, free of any dust that may complicate the cleaning process, you should apply a mild kitchen detergent, the same one you use to wash the dishes, diluted with a bit of water. Read Here: Cleaning a Bamboo Cutting Board: Everything You Need to Know

In case you see areas with a lot of stains, pour a little salt on those stains and then add a few drops of water; when the stains have come off the surface, you can apply the detergent.

Step 3: Scrubbing the bamboo countertop

Once you’ve coated the countertop with detergent, it’s time to scrub, using a non-abrasive scrub sponge to avoid scratching the countertop surface. This will be the most time-consuming part, as you will have to apply more effort to the stained areas. Then, when you have scrubbed the entire surface, rinse with plenty of water using another clean sponge, preferably soft, so you can remove the remaining dirt more easily.

Step 4: Dry it

Finally, you should dry the surface with a clean, dry cloth, ensuring that all areas are perfectly dry. Otherwise, if there’s still moisture on the surface, the bamboo could absorb it and generate fungus that would be very difficult to treat and will ruin your countertop. Read Here: Top 5 Best Oil for Bamboo Cutting Board: A Complete Guide

What if the stains don’t come out of the bamboo countertops?

If the stains haven’t disappeared with the use of salt and detergent, we’ll have to use stronger products. We recommend you use a mixture of three tablespoons of ammonia in a half gallon of water, repeating steps 3 and 4. After this, it’s almost impossible for stains to persist on the surface of your bamboo countertop.

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How to properly maintain bamboo kitchen countertops?

If you have just bought a bamboo countertop, you must sand it, especially if it’s an already used countertop; in case it’s new, you can skip this step since you won’t have to sand it again.

If it’s previously used, we’ll try to sand the entire surface with 120, 150, or 180-grit sandpaper, which will remove all the imperfections of our countertop. Something to keep in mind when it comes to the maintenance (not cleaning) of a bamboo countertop is the type of coating that

we’ll choose for it; generally, many people use an oil-based coating since it’s the one that best treats this kind of material, besides being ideal for surfaces in kitchen areas, with high water resistance.

In particular, we recommend a natural, non-toxic solvent along with a linseed oil mixture. This is a great option, much better, for example, than olive or canola oil.

Other people also recommend a varnish coating, but we don’t usually recommend this, as it’s not the best choice for a kitchen surface constantly exposed to steam, moisture, water, and knife cuts.

Once you have properly applied the coating, of which we recommend adding three full coats to protect the entire surface of the countertop, you’ll only need to wipe off the excess oil.

Pros and Cons of a Bamboo Countertop

As you can imagine, bamboo isn’t the perfect material for a countertop (in fact, there’s no such thing as the perfect material), although it’s highly recommended. Bamboo has very clear pros and cons that you’ll need to consider when buying your new kitchen countertop, and here we tell you in detail what they are.

Pros

Affordability: Bamboo isn’t a very expensive material; in fact, it’s much cheaper than other countertop materials.
Durability: With good care, maintenance and cleaning, it can last for many years.
Cleaning: Cleaning, as you’ve seen, isn’t very complex, although it will take time.
Eco-friendly: Bamboo is a natural, environmentally friendly material.
Aesthetic: A bamboo countertop gives splendid results in the kitchen.
Hardness and Resistance: Although it may not look like it, bamboo is a very hard and shock-resistant material

Cons

● Water and Stain Resistance: Despite being a tough material, without a proper coating, bamboo can be ruined by water or oil and grease stains
● Visible Seams: If you want a totally uninterrupted look, i.e., no visible seams at the joints of various countertop cuts, bamboo isn’t the material for you.
● Maintenance: It will require quite extensive maintenance, especially at the beginning.
● Heat Resistance: Bamboo isn’t heat resistant; heat marks are permanent, so placing hot materials on the surface isn’t recommended.
● Kitchen Adaptability: Perhaps not the most suitable material for the kitchen, especially because of the cuts that a knife can cause; however, with a good coating, this shouldn’t be an inconvenience.

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Conclusion

As you may already know by now, how to clean bamboo kitchen countertops is relatively simple, and although it can take you quite some time, especially with scrubbing, it’s something you must do to keep your new countertop in perfect condition. We hope this post has been helpful and you’ve learned everything you need to know about how to clean bamboo kitchen countertops.

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