In this cover photo, we have displayed a kitchen that uses our beautiful Carrara Niagara Quartz for both the worktop and the upstand, in addition to a dark granite island.
The idea here is beautiful, because the contrast in colours between the island and the worktop allows them both to stand out in their own ways, so that the kitchen does not look dull with one colour all along.

Furthermore, choosing to have a subtle worktop and a vibrant island ensures that the kitchen does not look too busy. The worktop will still look fantastic, but the stone chosen for the island will show off its true beauty, as the island is a big clear piece of stone, with no cuts and edges.

Quartz slabs come in two main thicknesses – 20mm and 30mm. It might only be a centimetre difference, and the price difference might be insignificant, but it can make a huge difference.

As can be seen above, the Marquina (left hand side) worktop displayed is a 20mm, whilst the Roma (right hand side) worktop displayed is a 30mm.

20mm usually looks more modern and sleek, but the 30mm looks chunky and it is more eye-catching. Therefore, this always leads to a dilemma with customers…’should we go for 20mm or 30mm?’

The ultimate answer to this question of course is that it always depends on personal preference. However, the sales patterns show that customers who have got a more traditional styled kitchen tend to go for the 30mm, whilst a handless more modern kitchen would better suit a 20mm worktop.

Quartz is a natural mineral stone, and it is one of the most abundant natural materials on Earth. Chemically, it is formed from a Silicone atom bound to 2 Oxygens (SiO2), which happens as Magma cools following a volcanic eruption, allowing for small crystals to form, as shown in the picture on the left.

Once these crystals are collected, Quartz stone is ground to form dust. This dust is then mixed with some resin and polymers, which hold the dust particles together, and form the durable Quartz slabs that we use.

The colours and designs we see in Quartz slabs originate from the various pigments that are also added to the stone during the process, and some design features may also include adding recycled glass or metal pieces, to give the stone small shiny specs.

Usually, Quartz slabs are made up of around 90% Quartz dust, and 10% of the other materials, however at NobleStone, our Quartz slabs are all composed of 93% Quartz dust and 7% resin, giving the stone a much nicer feel and look.

When it comes to deciding which countertop you would like for your kitchen, there are so many options that confuse you. Even if it is stone that you would like to go for, you have got option for Dekton, Granite, Porcelain, Quartz, Limestone, etc. However, it is proven that the worktop is the hotspot for microbial transfer and growth in the kitchen, and this is because it is used for many types of activities and equipment. Quartz is a stone that is relatively antimicrobial though, and this is for many reasons which we will go through in this short passage.

Of course as we explained last week, Quartz is man-made, and we mentioned that Quartz contains quite a lot of resin to join the dust particles. As a result, Quartz is non-porous, meaning that because the particles are sealed tightly together, they barely allow for any gaps between each other, and so neither liquids can pass through, nor microbes can grow within. In contrary, using a Granite worktop will allow for microbes to cultivate within the small pores, and even when the surface is wiped, some microbes may remain within these pores and transfer onto the food being prepared on that worktop.

In addition, some antimicrobial agents can also be added within the quartz mixture when manufacturing the slabs, such as Microban, and these substances work to kill off any microbes that may potentially cultivate on the stone surface. Therefore, we can see that in terms of being healthy and safe for food preparation, Quartz worktops are marginally better than other materials used to serve the same purpose.

Quartz and Porcelain are both man-made stones. The main difference is that Porcelain, in simple terms, is a print of a picture onto a stone base, whereas Quartz is a mixture of natural stone, resin and pigments, cooked to become a very sturdy stone.

As a result, Porcelain can boast off much more visually appealing designs, especially if the manufacturer can achieve a premium finish. However, what this also means is that Quartz, while also being stunning to look at, is much more sturdy than Porcelain.

Worktops are prone to all sorts of hot pans and trays, prone to all sorts of foods being placed on them, prone to all kinds of knocking and bashing caused by utensils, pots and so on. Therefore, the most important feature of a worktop is that it must be as strong and durable as possible.

Therefore, many more people will choose to go for Quartz as their kitchen worktop rather than Porcelain for this reason. In addition, the design of the Quartz slabs continues round the edges, as Quartz is made like a cake – the ingredients are placed into a template and baked. Therefore, even if something really hard does hit the worktop at extremely high strength, the slab will remain the same colour under the chipped piece.

On the other hand, we mentioned that Porcelain is a print on a stone, and so the design does not drop all the way through the stone. Resultingly, if a Porcelain slab chips (which is more likely to happen compared to Quartz), then the colour of the worktop underneath the chipped piece will be of a different colour, and so it will really stand out as a chip!

Working with lots of Quartz slabs, you may have noticed that if a slab is from a different batch to another slab of the same colour, it would most probably vary ever so slightly in colour…especially the background colour. The difference is very minor, and it would not be noticeable unless the slabs are put right next to each other with no gap in between.

As a result of the difference being very small, it would be perfectly fine to use a slab of a different batch for a new island as an example, as there is quite a large gap between the island and the worktop, so the different shade would not be obvious.

However, assuming that a customer wants to extend their kitchen and so extend their worktop too, we will be faced with a problem. This is due to the fact that even if they go for the same colour as their old worktop, their new worktop is probably going to be formed from a Quartz slab of a different batch, and so the difference in colour becomes very noticeable.

As we have mentioned previously, quartz is made from mixing quartz crystals, resin, and pigments (these are the main ingredients but not the only ones). Therefore, as humans, it is near impossible for us to mix the exact proportion of ingredients each and every time we make slabs, therefore each batch will vary very slightly in colour to the next and the previous ones.

If you are considering having a stunning Quartz worktop installed into your beautiful new kitchen, then you should know that your worktop will be the result of either a volcanic eruption or the barometer effect. As we mentioned before, Quartz slabs are mainly made up of Quartz crystals, ground into Quartz dust. Therefore ideally, we should know where these crystals come from.

As volcanos erupt, they cause havoc, and spill their lava everywhere, and we all know this since primary school when we were being bored out by Geography. But little did we know, that volcanos are part of our homes today! As this magma (containing mainly igneous rocks and silicon) cools down, the silicone within starts reacting with the surrounding Oxygen, forming beautiful Silicone Dioxide crystals, which we mine out of rocks only to call it Quartz.

Quartz however can also be made during a much less vigorous and frightening process. Silicone is an element that can dissolve in water, but only at high pressures. Therefore, high air pressure above the sea will cause the silicone in the sea to start dissolving into the water, along with Oxygen from the air around (this process is named the barometer effect before you start asking), and this allows the two elements to start reacting and bonding together, so that again, they may form lovely crystals underwater, which we can collect to convert into worktops.

Surprisingly, Quartz is not actually as rare as people think, and it is believed to be the second most abundant mineral across the globe. But Quartz has many useful properties for human kind, that it is widely used in various applications, and so Quartz as a stone is still relatively expensive compared to plastic, laminate, wood and other materials, so it is also used within jewellery.

Previously, we discussed the composition of Quartz, and the formation of natural Quartz crystals. Quartz crystals are very strong and highly resistant to scratching or damage, and this is because they are formed as a result of high pressure bonding of elements.

Quartz slabs are formed of around 93% quartz crystals, ground into dust. Therefore, as you can imagine, Quartz worktops and surfaces are extremely durable, and do not scratch easily. Moreover, because the crystals are ground into Quartz dust, each dust particle does not have much of a surface area exposed, and so it is extremely hard to scratch them.

Even though Granite also consists of quartz crystals, and also results from magma cooling down, it contains many other minerals such as feldspar, mica, amphiboles and many more. These other minerals have much less strength, and so they make Granite a little more prone to scratching compared to Quartz. In addition, Granite is formed from whole minerals and crystals, rather than dust particles, and so due to their large exposed surface area, they are more prone to scratching.

Knowing all of this, it would seem like Quartz is completely anti-scratch. However unfortunately, it is not completely scratch resistant, and this is because Quartz also contains around 7% resin, pigments, adhesives and other materials, which are not as strong as Quartz dust particles, and so they are much more prone to scratching. Consequently, it is these parts of Quartz that scratch if they are scraped at very high strength with a very sharp object.

However, generally speaking, Quartz is still amongst the most scratch resistant stones that can be used as a worktop, and it is becoming more common across the market due to its strength, durability, attractiveness and price.

Porosity refers to the how much liquid is able to pass through the stone. This is a very important aspect to consider when thinking about a worktop or a stone surface, because the only way that they can stain is if they allow the liquid spillage to leak through, and remain inside, therefore leaving a mark.

Man-made materials such as Quartz, porcelain and Dekton are highly non-porous. This is because they consist of materials such as Quartz dust, resin, or clay-like substances. They are also compressed at very high pressures and extreme temperatures.

As a result, they have not got any gaps in between their particles, and so they barely allow any liquids to pass through their surface, and so they are highly resistant to staining. Regrading quartz, as long as it is cleaned every day, then even if there is a large spillage of a staining substance, the work surface will not stain at all.

On the other hand, Granite is a natural stone, and so because it is forged naturally, it still consists of small gaps between its particles. Therefore, if something spills on Granite, the liquids will be able to leak through into the stone relatively easily, and possibly stain the surface a little, all because Granite is quite porous. It is recommended that Granite is sealed twice a year roughly, and that it is wiped very regularly, in order to prevent any possible staining.

Porosity is one of the main reasons why Quartz worksurfaces are becoming increasingly more popular – they require less maintenance and are less prone to staining!

Many Quartz colours contain a Gold vein running across. This Gold vein is obviously not made up of real Gold (the precious metal used in jewellery), because if that was the case, then Quartz slabs will shoot up in cost and value!

Many different minerals can be used to form the vein pigments, such as Cerrusite, Augelite, Calcopyrite and many others. However, another very common way of producing a Gold vein pigment in Quartz is to use Pyrite – which is also known as Fool’s Gold, because it looks like the expensive Gold metal, but it is in fact not a precious mineral. Chemically, Pyrite is formed of Iron Sulphide; the Iron atoms give it a metallic shiny effect whilst the Sulphur contents cause the yellowish pigmentation.

When this Pyrite is added into Quartz, it gives off a very elegant and lustrous look to the stone, and this explains why some of our colours such as Calacatta Gold, Volga, Rio, Tala, Statuario Tigris and a few more are very common and preferred amongst customers…because of that perfect Golden vein that strikes across.

Finely ground Quartz dust

Quartz is a fantastic material to use, and it can be used for a wide variety of applications, and this is due to many reasons that make Quartz stone suitable for use in many different environments. For instance, our quartz is made up of around 93% natural Quartz stone, ground into fine powder, and mixed in thoroughly with a few types of recycled materials, resins and pigments, in order to not only create a stunning design on the Quartz surface, but it also ensures that the background looks very smooth and silky, as the Quartz grains are ground into very small and soft particles, allowing the colours on the stone to really stand out, and creating a very elegant effect on the stone. In addition, this fine powder is really difficult to scratch, as the exposed surface area of each one is very minute, therefore making Quartz a very scratch resistant type of material.

Appealing features of Quartz

To be a little more technical also, this kind of Quartz mixture results in a very strong bond between the Quartz dust specs, and so consequently, this prevents any small pores from forming on the surface of the stone during the firing process of manufacturing Quartz (unlike natural stone which has many small pores spread across the surface), so in turn, Quartz is very stain resistant too, as liquids cannot get through the surface and decolourise the stone. With regards to durability, impact resistance and strength, Quartz stone is amongst the best, because unlike other types of stone such as porcelain or Dekton, which feature a glaze on a stone base that can be chipped off when under high impact, Quartz is purely made out of a mix of strong ingredients that are fired at high temperatures so that they bond very tightly.

Safety and Hygiene

There are so many other fantastic features that Quartz carries, which make it very popular within the market, and allow for Quartz to be used as work surfaces, wall cladding, driveway patching, fence building and so many other kinds of uses. However, one thing which is not often spoken about with regards to stone is the safety. Safety is an essential factor to consider always, and especially before starting large projects such as renovations and construction. Hygiene and safety behind the application of Quartz is vital to look into, especially if the stone is being used as a work surface where food is prepared, or chemicals are used (such as make-up or hair products), and especially if it is being installed indoors, as the air indoors tends to be four times more polluted than the air outdoors.

Anti-Microbial Quartz

As mentioned above, Quartz does not have any small pores on its surface, due to the way that it is manufactured and the materials that it is composed of. Small pores on natural stone may act as habitats for microbes and germs to enter and start growing, making it not very suitable for food to be kept on for a while. However, with Quartz, food, chemicals, and other products can be left on the surface with no worry at all about any infections or any hygiene concerns.

Greenguard

Even more significant than the hygiene of Quartz, UK imports of Quartz feature the Greenguard Gold certification, which comes from the Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI), whereby they measure the volatile organic compound emissions (VOCE), and ensure that the product they are testing has very low levels of certain materials and fumes, so that they can reassure the customer that the product is safe to use. This is especially important for the vulnerable, such as children, pregnant women or the elderly, to ensure that they are inhaling air that is as clean and as less polluted with hazardous substances as possible. In addition to the health concerns, it also ensures that the stone is very environmentally friendly, not only when it is installed, but also during the manufacturing process, and so therefore you can rest assured that you are not doing much damage to the environment at all when buying a Quartz surface with a Greenguard certification.

Because our Quartz is Greenguard certified, you can rest assured that when installing NobleStone Quartz indoors, the stone will barely pollute the environment within the house. In addition, if the Quartz stone is being used as a work surface whereby chemicals and food products are placed on top, then there is no fear of any harmful contamination or infection, as the Quartz surface is very hygienic and safe to use.