Short answer? A quartz worktop is made from natural quartz that’s been ground into a fine powder, then mixed with resin and colour pigment, pressed into a slab, cured and polished.
So it starts life in the ground, just like granite. The difference is what happens next.
On our Kitchen Design Podcast I asked Katie Stone from Cosentino how a quartz worktop is made. Here’s what she told me.
- It starts as natural stone. Quartz comes out of the ground in small clumps of different colours, from greens and pinks to blues, clears and yellows.
- It’s ground right down. That raw quartz is refined into an almost powdery dust.
- Then it’s baked, a bit like a cake. Resin and colour pigment are added, everything’s mixed, flattened, cured in big ovens and polished. Katie’s comparison, and she says the machines really do look like giant cakes.
- That’s where the choice comes from. At the time, Cosentino’s Silestone range came in more than 90 colours, three finishes and three thicknesses, which is why quartz can look so consistent and so varied at the same time.
Here’s the thing though… because quartz contains resin, it behaves differently to natural stone, especially with heat. Worth knowing before you put a hot pan down.
Get in touch, we’re always happy to help.
