If you want your kitchen worktops to last and look as good as they did when you first had them you need give them some tender loving care. A little bit every day will make the task easier and prevent your counter top looking worn. The most common work surface apart from standard melamine is granite. Although granite is a form of stone, granite is susceptible to chipping and scratching so always use a chopping board never cut directly onto the surface. Granite can also be porous so wipe up any spills straight away using a soft cloth and never use abrasive pads or harsh chemical cleaners to clean the worktop. To clean your granite worktop wipe with soapy water and dry with a soft cloth. Close to granite is marble, another popular worktop material. Again never cut onto the surface and always wipe up spills straight away. To clean the mable surface use a PH neutral cleaner or one recommended for marble surfaces, always using soft cloths. Again although both marble and granite are stone, they are not heat resistant, so hot pans etc will mark the surface or cause damage. Hardwood worktops are becoming more popular especially in farmhouse style kitchens. These require daily and monthly / bi-monthly care to maintain their looks. Daily, clean with a damp cloth, not soaking wet, and a warm soapy solution. You can remove stains by using citric juice eg lemon (not citric cleaners as these have other chemicals in too) and rubbing gently with a cloth. On a monthly / bi-monthly basis, oil your worktop with Danish, Linseed or Tung oil. Every six months apply a coat and allow to soak in, then rub the surface with fine sandpaper or wire wool before applying a second coat. Small marks, cuts and scratches are be removed by rubbing by a fine sandpaper and then re-oiling the area. If the blemish is on the top you will need to apply 3 to 4 coats to restore, sides and underneath 2 coats should be enough. Finally, a material that is gaining popularity is Stainless Steel. Resistant to heat, stainless steel is easy to clean. Use a micro fibre cloth (best known is the e-cloth), and a stainless steel cleaner. Do not use abrasive pads or cleaner as this will sctarch your surface. Franke have a sink cleaner that is expecially formulated for cleaning stainless steel which is ideal for stainless steel worktops.