I heard from several salespeople at different reputable shops that having a matte finish would void the warranty. Manufacturer's policy, and not just Cambria.

What do you mean April Showers? Why would it void the warranty?

I guess that answered it...

Design Outside the Lines, have you heard if they show smudges or rings more than the glossy version? I'm not sure I could live with that, if that's the case. But I love the look of them! Which one are you using? The matte Ella looks more realistic but I like the light reflection on the glossy one. Plus I feel like the matte one is softer looking and has a more real texture/feel to it.

No matte estone, please, unless you like the look of sand glued together.

Joseph Corlett, LLC, have you seen them in person yet? The Cambria Matte ones?

In Arizona, the Matte slabs have not come in yet. So I have not been able to use it yet. The project we are using it on is a new build that is just framing now. So we are about 6 months away from install.

"Joseph Corlett, LLC, have you seen them in person yet? The Cambria Matte ones?"

No, but I've made matte finish estone and it looks and feels like sand glued together. Maybe because that's what it is. Brand doesn't matter.

Cambria, can you comment on the warranty, and any potential differences other than the gloss? Does it leave rings, smudges? Is it harder to clean than the glossy version? Does it have the same warranty? Pros/cons? We are looking at Ella. Need to know everything we can before we decide. We don't want any problems down the road. What were the initial problems you had with the matte, before it was taken off the market? Were these issued fixed? Thanks.

Hi, we're excited you are interested in Cambria Matte™. OurLifetime Limited Warranty still applies, in full, to our designs in matte. It also cleans just as easily, and has all the same benefits of our high gloss finish. We released Cambria Matte™ in March of this year and it has been available ever since. As with any design, we recommend you view samples of Ella Matte™, if that is what you are interested in. We hope this helps! Please let us know if you have anymore questions and feel free to call our Customer Care Team at 866-226-2742 with questions, too.

RHM, did you decide to go with the Ella Matte? We are thinking of going with this one too. If you did, do you like it or do you wish you would have gone another route? Thank you.

I have a Cambria matte finish in my newly remodeled kitchen and am extremely disappointed. After only six months of use I have many permanent water stains in the perimeter of my sink. I have not used any unapproved products on this stone. Not sure how they can sell a product that they know will be permanently stained when exposed to water. I called and spoke with a Cambria rep yesterday and he offered no solutions, stated that the matte finish is prone to staining. I plan to make this known on every home website I can find, my $13,000.00 investment is down the drain so to speak😡

I have a rep coming here today because of the water marks I have. Supposedly coming over with an advanced cleaner. Whatever that means.

Linda Giardina, what is the name of your quartz design?

Wendy Singer, we went with Torquay matte.

So this is what I learned about my Britannia matte finish. Do not use dish soap on the counters. It causes a film to build up. The rep said to use Simple Green foaming cleaner and follow up with windex multi cleaner. Many of the marks are gone and the counters look much brighter. For everyday use the Windex multi-cleaner. I was not told about the maintenance problems with this finish. Wish I would have gone with the gloss. Hides the imperfections better. I would never buy this product again. More expensive and not worth it.

Agree with the first comment, I would NEVER purchase this product again (I’ve only had mine 6 months, I’m very clean it’s just me and my husband using our kitchen)Simple Green is all I’ve used on mine and it’s worthless in removing simple water stains. If you use your kitchen sink at all I would not recommend this finish! I’ve talked to Cambria snd they’re comment was the matte finish is prone to staining, would’ve been nice if my designer (who insisted on this finish) had told us😡you can see the stains if you zoom in on the photos

Extremely disappointed with our Cambria Smithfield in matte.  We chose it over marble because we didn't want the maintenance of marble nor any etching or staining.  After less than a week of light use, there are multiple (too many to count!) shiny and dull smudges all over the countertop.  Pretty much exactly like the pic another commenter posted.  Cambria sent a technician to evaluate who kept saying the matte finish requires elbow grease to clean (to which I'm thinking but that's not dirt on my counters ..) and that cleaning agents leave a residue (to which I'm thinking but all I used is diluted Simply Green per Cambria's recommendation!).  This technician then used a stepwise approach to wipe the counters- dish soap, then Simply Green, then acetone, then a commercial grade 3M adhesive remover.  None of these removed the shiny and dull spots.  Now they're sending a "Level 2" technician out.  I will update if issue gets resolved but I am not optimistic.  It really seems to be a defect in the product.  Cambria has multiple complaints against them on the BBB website, so it will be interesting to see if they honor their warranty on our counters if they can't explain nor fix the patchy finish.

We had the same problem with our Torquay. The technician came out and was wonderful. He did everything you've described but he used alcohol as well. The alcohol did the trick. He cleaned my entire kitchen with alcohol and they looked better than they did even when they were first installed. He told me if I wanted them to look their best at all times to clean them off with straight alcohol 70%, not anything higher than that. They always look amazing now! He also said if I'd gone with the gloss, I would eventually have the opposite issue. The quartz would start to have dull matte spots instead of the shiny and those are harder to get rid of. In the end, I'm glad I got the matte because the alcohol did the trick. I just put alcohol in a pretty spray bottle and we clean every day with it, multiple times a day. Just wanted to let you guys know. Even if you call them in customer service, they will tell you and can email a list of approved cleaners. It's been updated to include the alcohol since Covid.

@RHM. Thanks for sharing that alcohol did the trick!  I forgot to include alcohol on my list but the tech tried that on ours as well and it did not work, unfortunately.  The tech also had a device that measured the light refraction, I think, between the shiny and dull spots.  Our countertops were really patchy with a significant difference between the shiny and dull areas, further proving how uneven the surface finish is.  I will keep updating once the level 2 tech comes out.

We had a blackpool matte counter installed in July of 2021 and have had a technician here 4 times since for cleaning. Every time they come it takes at least an hour, and once it took 2 1/2 hours, to get the counter about 90% clean. Our counter stains so easily that we can't even put a glass down on it and we have to keep coasters all over our countertops. Every time they come for cleaning the counter stains even more easily for the next week or so. It also seems that they remove some of the finish and our counter is now more speckled then it was when we got it. A higher up from Cambria Canada came with the technician on the third visit to see the problems for himself. I kept quoting the website and all their written materials about how Cambria counters are "maintenance free" and "clean easily with soap and water". Every time I did I was told that it is because our counter is black and matte. I said that there are no disclaimers on their website stating all these great things followed by "except for black and matte". I was also told repeatedly that our counter "functions as it should". I said that if that means that when we put a glass down it doesn't fall to the floor, then yes it does. After that third visit Cambria agreed to replace our counter but only with a polished one. I don't like the Cambria Black as it is very sparkly and speckled but the company would also not agree that if they do any damage to our cabinetry our backsplash during the removal and installation of a new counter that they would cover the cost of repairs or replacement. I have never been more disappointed in a product or a company. My husband wrote to the head of Cambria 3 weeks ago and has yet to receive a response. The sales rep never told us that matte black would be an issue yet we were told that we should have known. We have always had dark counters and have never had a problem in the past.

The first picture is self explanatory. The second picture is 4 days after someone put two glasses on the counter. This picture was taken after at least a dozen attempts at cleaning.

Update to my comment posted in January:. Level 2 technician came out.  Repeated exactly the same steps as the first tech and took more pictures and fed me the same lines about the matte finish.  The counters look the same, with no improvement in the patchy shiny/dull spots.  Moreover, now there are water rings on the counters from drinking glasses.  Absolutely no way quartz should require coasters.  I am convinced that this Cambria product has manufacturing defects that's allowing this to happen.  They had absolutely no explanation for why this was occurring and they acknowledge that this issue (blotchy finish with patchy shiny and dull spots, water rings, etc.) should not be there.  However, I told them we'd like them to honor their warranty and either refund or replace the countertop.  I haven't heard from them since that conversation 3 weeks ago.  We will continue to follow-up (I mean, warranties are not just lip service, right?), but after reading the multiple complaints about Cambria on the Better Business Bureau website plus @adelelaist experience above, I am not optimistic...

I wish I would have read the comments before we spent $35k on Cambia Black Matte countertops. I have requested a technician come out and show us how to clean the countertops. I've tried everything online about cleaning them. No matter what you do, you will have streaks, swirls, stains, cup rings, finger prints, smudges. It's the bane of my existence. It's very discouraging on a daily basis. Don't by Cambria black matte. You will be very sorry.

Any more comments from Cambria on the matte finishes? I'm considering going matte on the Cambria Brittanica Gold for my massive kitchen. I've heard mixed messages on whether the matte is as durable and care free as the standard. And certainly, I see lots of reports of problems here but no real reports of success. Cambria--please give us a solid comment! Any more updates or comments from others are also appreciated.

Which is better matte finish or high glossy. This is my first experience with countertops?

No resolution from Cambria, I will NEVER purchase a matte finish again. It shows EVERYTHING, mine was permanently stained in the first few months. Cambria rep was here twice, blamed it on my “water”. We have since installed a very high tech water softener without any improvement in our staining problem. Awful product considering I spent $13,000.00 on my countertops!

Maybe we should consider a class action lawsuit!

My Cambria black matte countertops are affecting my life. It’s a constant drain everyday. I went to the Cambria store in Palm Desert several months back and the sales person said they would never sell the black matte to anyone. The problem is I don’t have the energy to put up a fight right now, but may in the future. Horrible product!

You spent a lot more than I did😫😫😫 I can’t believe they are still in business😡

Wow, this thread is very informative! I was excited to get the Britannica in matte finish, but after reading all this and viewing the complaints against Cambria on the BB website I am reconsidering. I see someone mentioned that they pulled the matte finished products off the market, what was the issue?

I have Cambria Hadley which is a dark blue in the matte finish. After having it deep cleaned by Cambria and continue to get spots on it I decided to try a few things. First any water spots I use paper towels soaked with 50/50 vinegar and mix. Rinse vinegar after tge spots are gone. For daily cleaning windex original with ammonia (cuts grease). Finally I do my own deep cleaning using baking soda and water with a dobie scrubber then rinse well. This resolves all staining and usually I need to do it twice. All of these methods dont harm the finish. Use for matte finish only. Cambria was completely unhelpful only wanting to send someone out. I love my counters again!

HU-677752045 So crazy considering they cost so much more! I am thankful for everyone's feedback. I am going to look at Quartzite as an alternative. not sure of price compared to Cambria, but I don't want to constantly be pissed off about my countertops!

Adellaist- We have just built our house and had Blackpool matte installed on our island and we are having the same issues. We have lived here a week and a half and have rings and marks that will not come off. You put anything on the counter at all and there are scratches all over. It’s unbelievable. The installers are coming back to try and clean it and we’ve reached out to Cambria but my question is did they ever honor the warranty? No one said anything to us either about this and I would have never picked it but on the site it says how they are scratch proof and stain proof. Thats bs. Did they ever honor the warranty?

Also, we have tried all of the suggestions that were mentioned and nothing comes off. These are horrible!

Read up further on the thread, there was someone who filed a claim, the offer was ridiculous………

I am sure glad I found this thread. My hubby really wanted Cambria matte finish, I knew that I had seen major issues with it. Such a shame they are still sellimg it We will get the glossy funish.

Thank you all for sharing your experience with Cambria matte. My wife and I are redoing our kitchen and settled on Cambria b/c of their designs and manufacturing process. We liked matte for the low gloss finish and look of honed marble (we are doing Everleigh Inverness) but it sounds like polished is the way to go. I love soapstone my wife does not.

I also fell in love with the everleigh Inverness in the matte when i saw a large piece at a fabricator. It looked gorgeous with my cabinet samples. Now having second thoughts. It’s a shame because the matte finish on the countertop made the veining pop.

rk, we did go with it (Everleigh Inverness) in polished instead of matte. I figured I could always give it a matte finish in ten years if I really wanted. 🤣

I’ll have to post some pics after we get it installed. Currently my kitchen has a dirt floor… 🥹

We had a terrible experience with Paperstone in Slate with a matte finish. Despite all of the bad comments I decided to gamble and replace them with Cambria Blackpool Matte for double the price because our kitchen design is built around black matte and I felt I had no other good choices. We’ve had them a couple of weeks and they look amazing but are definitely higher maintenance than what you normally think of for quartz. We have a large island with seating around and a sink, and while it’s in use it can get pretty messy looking with all the spots and rings - even the natural oils from your hands and elbows make splotches and shiny marks at the edges. What I learned from having the paper stone, is that a dishcloth with dish soap on it will cause buildup so instead I do a light spray with windex all purpose to cut all of the grease followed by a soft cloth with only water on it otherwise the windex leaves streaks. Then just let it dry or wipe with a microfiber. I don’t know this for sure but another thing I think I learned with the paperstone is the more that a technician comes out and messes with it and puts chemicals on it the harder it is to keep it clean because you no longer have the original surface. In the end this is exactly the look I wanted so I am happy with it but it is annoyingly precious to maintain.

Nice look there, Jen. Bold and beautifully elegant.