How to Maintain Natural Stones?
Marble & Granite are natural stone materials. It should be taken care with proper maintenance procedures for preserving the quality and life of these stones.
Cleaning Procedures
Dust should be removed with clean rayon mops. Use neutral stone cleaners for everyday routine cleaning of stone and grout surfaces. In situations where periodic heavy duty cleaning is needed, use an alkaline (high PH) cleaner. These are excellent de-greasers, working well on grout and most stone without chemically damaging these surfaces. It is recommended that whatever cleaner is used of fine polished marble that is always first tested to insure that it does not dull the polished surface.
Don’t use acidic cleaners for routine stone maintenance. Although many stone are acid resistant, there are many stones (most noteworthy - Marble), which are sensitive to acids. Even light solutions of vinegar and water will quickly etch and dull polished marble surfaces. It is also important to note that acidic cleaners do not function as de-greasers, but work by chemically attacking cement and calcium found in grout and some varieties of stone, thus damaging the structural integrity of the grout and stone.
Maintenance Procedure
Do sealer yearly to protect the interior of the stone with a penetrating sealer on your stone and grout installation to improve the stain resistance and ease the ongoing maintenance. It is very important that the proper sealer be use based on the type of stone, surface finish and location. A good rule of thumb is that with denser stone, including polished surfaces, that is only penetrating - type sealers should be used. If you have a stone with a very porous (absorbent) or textured surface such as slate or sandstone, then you have an option of using a “coating” or surface sealer that will generally provide a degree of surface sheen or a penetrating - type sealer that will leave a completely natural look. Be careful when selecting coating - type sealers on exterior areas as many of the coating - type sealers currently available do not work well in exposed exterior environments.