What You Should Know Before Wiping Your Stone Countertops With Paper Towels

Although the completion of a big, expensive kitchen renovation comes as a huge relief, the work does not end once you've chosen the best stone countertops for your kitchen. Once you've allocated the time and what was probably a considerable amount of cash to those gleaming expanses, your reward is a lifetime of care and cleaning. And you really want to get it right. You've probably already brushed up on the perils of using things like lemon to clean your precious surfaces, but the maintenance rabbit hole doesn't end there. Some sources intimate that good, old paper towels might even pose a threat. So Chowhound asked Paul Dore, managing director at County Stone Ltd., for some more polished answers.

Paper towels are just fine, Dore says, with one caveat: You're better off avoiding the cheapest rolls. "Lower-grade paper towels can be slightly more abrasive than high-quality ones and may leave lint behind. Over time, repeated use of rough, low-quality towels could contribute to very fine micro-scratches, particularly on darker or highly polished surfaces, which can take the edge off the shine," Dore says. He's been in the stone business for decades, and he and his team regularly use high-quality paper towels when installing countertops. So skip the crinkly, public bathroom-grade stuff, and spring for the quilted varieties instead.

In addition to the possibility of light damage down the road, however remote, paper towels are obviously also one of the least eco-friendly ways to keep your home clean. They can literally go from their plastic encasement to the trash in seconds flat. Paul Dore recommends cleaning with soft, reusable cloths for anyone who'd rather avoid paper towels. Something like Aldi's Swedish dish cloths approximate the utility of paper towels with the added bonus of better sustainability. You can wring them out under the tap and air dry after each use, or toss in the washing machine as needed.

We also like to repurpose old clothes that are past the point of mending or donating for this very purpose. Take those old T-shirts taking up space in your closet, cut them into rags, and you have both a DIY duster and incrementally more space around the house. The same also goes for any towels or linens that are past their prime, for use in or outside of the kitchen. Pillowcases, for example, can capture ceiling fan grime as well as any product you might otherwise add to your cart.