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(OT) Stonegirl...re cleaning & sealing a honed limestone counter

nomorebluekitchen

15 years ago

Stonegirl,

I posted over on bathrooms and Bill V suggested I hunt for you over here.

When we bought our house 6 years ago the master had a honed counter, either limestone or travertine. (someone told me once but I don't remember - how can I tell what it is?)

Anyway, it has some staining from kids' toothpaste, coffee, and a bit of my hair dye among other things. I have known for a long time that I needed to seal it but i never could find good information about how to clean it first.

Can you make any recommendations about a good cleaner and sealer? Will it depend on exactly what the material is? I can post a pic tomorrow if that will help.

Thanks

Anita

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Comment (1)

stonegirl
15 years ago
Limestone and travertine essentially have the same chemical composition, but the way they were formed is totally different.

Travertine is formed by the percolating action of water - water moves through rock or soil and then deposits minerals that got dissolved in the water during its' journey. Travertine will have striations (layers) and voids (holes) and could have a billowy, cloud-like pattern. It is overall, typically harder than limestone. It can have areas of fill and is a very dense stone good for use in a wet environment.

Ivory Travertine:

{{!gwi}}>

Limestone is a sedimentary rock formed of the exoskeletons of crustaceans, corals, plants and shells. Limestones could have fossils in it and has a more even coloring that travertine. Layers are not always as evident. You do get some really nice compact limestones (a lot of them come from France) that are very hard and could be suitable for heavy traffic areas (like Beauharnais)

{{!gwi}}>

Jerusalem Limestone (note the fossils)

{{!gwi}}>

When you mention "staining", are these ares lighter or darker? Lighter areas are etches (most personal hygiene products contain some acid and are able to etch calciferous stones)

As far as the coffee and hair dye stains: You could try to poultice them out with a peroxide poultice (use beauty shop strength peroxide - not the stuff you buy in Walgreens as a disinfectant.)

The best advice I could give you, though , is to get a stone restoration professional in there to have a look at it. They are specialized in cleaning and restoring stone surfaces and they will be able to deep clean and also grind out the etches to give you a brand new looking bathroom top. The resto guy will also be able to seal with a high quality sealer.

Miracle's 511 Porous Plus would be a good sealer, but If it were me, I really would get a pro in there - if not for a restoration, at least just for a look-see and some first-hand advice.
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