Cleaning. Day to day, warm water, a soft cloth or a clean mop and a neutral to mildly alkaline pH cleaner are enough. Soapy engineered-stone cleaners, mild all-purpose cleaners, mild washing-up foam and special engineered quartz care products are suitable. Caesarstone recommends its own care products (Caesarstone Cleaner) – these are not essential, but well matched. Wipe up spilled liquids – wine, coffee, juices, oil – promptly in everyday use.
Do not use. Concentrated acids (sulphuric, hydrochloric, nitric acid), cement and rust removers, paint strippers, oven cleaners, acetone, petrol, thinners, nitro cleaners and very strongly alkaline industrial cleaners are off limits – they can attack the polyester resin. Also avoid chlorine-based bleaches in high concentration – on the black slab, local lightening becomes especially conspicuous. Do without abrasive pads (steel wool, green scouring pads); scratching is undesirable on the polished surface, and on the black slab fine scuffs are clearly visible as lighter lines.
Impregnation. A classic natural stone impregnation is not required – engineered quartz is dense and free of pores in itself, water absorption is below 0.05 %. A sealer would tend to show up on the surface as a haze.
Dark slabs – particular care notes. On a black slab, water marks, limescale spots, fingerprints and dull scuff marks become especially clearly visible as lighter shadows. We recommend prompt drying off with a soft microfibre cloth after every use; on the polished version in particular this pays off. The honed C400 version clearly reduces the visibility problem – water droplets dry off less smoothly and fingerprints are less noticeable.
Kitchen. 3100 Jet Black is a classic kitchen material. Despite its high material hardness and acid resistance the rule is: use chopping boards (knife marks can gradually leave the polyester resin dull, and on the black slab the lines are doubly conspicuous), use trivets for hot pots and pans – direct point heat can cause local discolouration. On direct contact with a hot baking tray (above roughly 150 °C) there is a risk of stress cracks. The dishwasher must not be built in directly against the underside of the slab with full contact – heat protection is standard practice.
Bathroom. In the bathroom, Jet Black can be used as a vanity top, wall cladding, bath surround and shower. Do not use anti-limescale sprays and limescale-dissolving sanitary cleaners in high concentration; in the shower area wipe standing water away promptly so that no limescale film builds up – on a black slab, limescale rings are especially clearly visible as pale traces. On the C400 version, water droplets are less noticeable than on a polished high gloss.
Outdoors and frost. Not suitable for exterior construction. The polyester binder yellows under UV radiation, and freeze-thaw cycles can cause micro defects. Nor is it to be recommended permanently in fully sunlit conservatories or open loggias – Caesarstone explicitly excludes exterior use and fully sunlit interior surfaces from the warranty.
Guarantee and repair. In residential use Caesarstone grants a lifetime warranty on material and fabrication defects (“Caesarstone Forever”), on condition of fabrication and care to standard by certified specialist firms. The surface finishes available from stock are listed in the »Finishes« block further down.
