My kitchen and master bath have matching, black, Corian countertops. I guess whomever had the house built in 2004 thought this was a good idea (same person who thought black pedestal sinks, jet tub and toilets were fashionable...I've got some of that replaced with more to go).
My wife and I hate Corian and that is putting it nicely. Using whatever Corian polish products available at Lowes makes it looks okay (and greasy) but it doesn’t last long. These counters, especially in the kitchen, look awful. The island is by far the worst. Scratches and swirls everywhere. We bought this as a bank owned home and it wasn’t in mint shape when we got it by any stretch.
I want to eliminate the scratches and swirls. We have a large amount of countertop space, so replacing with a natural stone would be big bucks (at least 10k). I’m not willing to part with that kind of money on some countertops yet, so I want to restore these as best I can. Any suggestions/methods?
You need to use power sanders and polishers with increasingly finer grits until you achieve the desired finish. You can't do it with polish and a rag.
Corian is plastic and it's soft, it scratches pretty easily. You're going to have a hard time removing the scratches and then keeping them away.
Furd outlined the process to get rid of the scratches. You have to grind/sand/polish away the surface until you get below the depth of the scratches. If they are deep you could have to remove a lot of material to completely remove them. And, they will return unless you are quite careful.
Personally I'd use the simple polishes like you are to minimize their appearance and start saving up to replace the counters. I just don't think it's worth the effort money to polish out scratches.
Any company the sells and installs Corian would be able to refinish your countertops and make them look like new. I'd contact one of them if I were you and get an estimate.
Tags: scratches, swirls, corian, countertops
