Lucastone Quartz is the material to beat in 2018, especially in busy households and businesses. It is an ideal material for kitchens that are actually used for cooking and eating. It's also installed in highly visited baths, powder rooms, mudrooms and even higher-end laundry rooms. Lucastone Quartz is great for commercial spaces such as reception areas and even medical facilities.
Lucastone Quartz has the luminous beauty of quartz and is even stronger in many respects. This is because Lucastone Quartz products are engineered stone. They are made of quartz that is pulverized into an aggregate and mixed with resin and pigment. The batch is then poured into forms and cured. The resulting slab is then cut to order with a wet cutter or a diamond blade, just as natural stone would be. Floor and wall tiles, tub surrounds, backsplashes, counters and vanities can be made of Lucastone Quartz.
Another advantage that Lucastone Quartz has over natural quartz is that it is nonporous and does not to need to be sealed or treated the way natural stone does. This non-porosity resists bacteria and other pathogens, which makes Lucastone Quartz perfect for medical facilities and laboratories. In fact, Lucastone Quartz must not be sealed because sealing will cause the shine of the piece to cloud.
Lucastone Quartz resists etching, scratches and stains and can bear up even when pots and pans right from the oven are put upon it, though it is best to put hot items on trivets. Unlike natural stone, a cook can prepare food on a Lucastone Quartz counter or island, but it is not recommended. Lucastone Quartz is so hard that it will quickly dull knives. It rates a 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, with 10 being diamond, the hardest substance known.
Exact amounts of pigment are placed in the resin and quartz mix, so Lucastone Quartz can come in an array of beautiful colors and patterns that are usually not seen in natural quartz. If for some reason a Lucastone Quartz piece is cracked, chipped, stained or otherwise damaged, it can be replaced by a new piece in the exact color and texture. This would not be possible for natural stone, which has irregularities in texture and pigment all through it. With Lucastone Quartz, color and texture are consistent throughout the piece. Colors include pearl, aluminum, frost white, platinum, silver white and gold coast.
Cleaning Lucastone Quartz is easy. It should simply be swabbed daily with a cloth dipped in some mild cleanser and warm water. A solution of half-vinegar and half water can be used on Lucastone Quartz (which is not recommended on other natural stone surfaces, because even a diluted, weak acid like vinegar can lead to etching). After the Lucastone Quartz is washed, it should be rinsed with clear water then dried with a soft, new cloth. One caveat about Lucastone Quartz is that it shouldn’t be washed with bleach, because that can mar the color.
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