Care & Maintenance

The natural stone you have purchased through us is an investment that will give you many years of elegance and beauty. Simple care and maintenance of the stone will help preserve the beauty for many generations to come.

General Precautions

• Use coasters under all glasses.
• Take particular caution with alcohol and acidic juices.
• Do not place extremely hot items on the stone directly. Use placemats under hot pots/pans/dishes.
• Immediately wipe up any spills. Spills may eventually seep through the stone sealer that has been applied.
• Do not clean with scouring powders or creams.

Cleaning

Natural stone can be classified into two general composition categories- Siliceous stone & Calcareous stone.

• Siliceous stone is comprised of silica and quartz-like particles. It is generally very durable and easy to clean with mild acidic cleaning products. A few types of siliceous stones include granite, slate, sandstone, quartzite, & bluestone.
• Calcareous stone is comprised mainly of calcium carbonate. It is extremely sensitive to acidic cleaning products. An exaggerated example of combining the two is similar to combining baking soda with vinegar (a true elementary school chemistry class experiment). A few types of calcareous stones include marble, limestone, travertine, and onyx.

We recommend cleaning your stone surfaces with mild soap and warm water. If you wish to use a stronger cleaner, Windex ® with ammonia is acceptable. However, this will strip the stone sealer from your stone surface much faster and will need to be reapplied more often. Again, never use products that contain lemon, vinegar, or other acids on marble, travertine, limestone, or other calcareous stones. Never use scouring powders or creams. These products contain abrasives that may scratch the stone.

Care

The natural stone you have purchased through us has been sealed before delivery and then again after final installation. With proper cleaning, you may not need to reapply sealer for some time. After a period of time, you will need to reapply a stone sealer. This may be purchased through us or at a home improvement store. Before applying a sealer, take care in cleaning the stone surface thoroughly. It is important to have a clean surface to avoid sealing dirt within the stone. Application of a sealer is comparable to applying a car polish. You simply apply the sealer to a soft cloth and wipe on generously. Let the sealer penetrate the stone for 5-10 minutes and buff off with a clean soft cloth. This may be repeated 3 times. The frequency of applying the stone sealer depends on the type of cleaning solution you use periodically. The stronger the solution (ex. Windex®) the more often you will need to reapply the sealer.

Feel free to contact us with any questions regarding care and maintenance.