What is Cultured Marble, Granite & Cultured Onyx?
Cultured, in short, means man-made. It is a precise blend of polyester resin, catalyst, fillers and pigments that is thoroughly mixed and poured into custom molds (protected with a clear gel coat). Once poured, a chemical reaction occurs, which hardens the material into one strong piece. After several hours of curing, the mass is removed from the mold and ground, trimmed and polished.
Like natural stone, cultured products vary in shade and color. Each mix has its own specific formula, depending on the color a customer chooses.
Cultured products are mainly used in bathrooms and kitchens and provide many advantages over traditional materials used in these rooms. But the real joy of using cultured is having the same look as natural stone, but with less need for care and maintenance.
Care of Cultured Products
Cultured Marble, Granite and Onyx have hard, gel-coat, non-porous surfaces that allow them to resist staining. Maintenance and clean-up is also very simple. All that’s needed is a soft sponge or cloth and a non-abrasive cleaner. (Water will not mar cultured products as it does natural ones.) Dow and Lysol aerosol foam cleaners also work great.