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How to: Clean | Seal | Restore
Honed Marble & Limestone
Sealing - Cleaning - Problem Solving - Protection - Care
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Honed finish limestone and marble.
The bottom picture with the black background is honed limestone after being sealed with Aldon S-B-S Sealer. It now looks like a "polished" marble - see below for why this is now a better product at less cost than polished marble.
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When you look at the pictures above, you see part of the confusion about these materials. You cannot tell by look or feel which is limestone and which is marble. Actually, they are the same stone called by different names according to the sellers. The cleaning and sealing characteristics are the same under either name. |
There is no need for confusion or problems brought about by misidentification of a surface type, yet it happens all too often. If you would like to see why this is the case and how to properly identify a surfacing material .....
Click here
If you are concerned about doing it yourself - consider that the satisfaction of a project is directly related to your knowledge of what needs to be done and how. Who actually does the work is less important. We estimate that 25% of the usage of Aldon products is by "do it yourself" homeowners and we know they are happy because we hear from them.
| MATERIAL DESCRIPTION - With Identifying Characteristics
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- Wide range of colors and vein patterns.
- A fairly hard stone that typically has a "soft" feel on the "honed" face.
- Reflects light, but the reflection tends toward the "soft and fuzzy", not mirror like.
- Some "honed" stones are actually polished so finely that they approach or are in the "polished" category. See the page on polished marble for more information on the highly polished stones.
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ADVANTAGES TO THIS MATERIAL
- A stone that can be made durable with the correct sealer, yet retain a "soft" feel.
- The great variety of colors, veining patterns, and finish smoothness allow for a wide spectrum of design options.
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CONSIDERATIONS (All Are Preventable!)
(Click links for Aldon's solutions to these issues!)
- These stones are very sensitive to acidic liquids (i.e. fruit juice, wine, vinegar). These liquids will dull, or even etch the finish, depending on strength and length of time of contact. The finish can be restored from this etching effect, as well as scratches, with Aldon
Fine Stone Restoration
- Cement residue from grouting is difficult to clean from the surface without using an acid cleaner. Acid cleaners can ruin the finish. The reasons to not use a sealer as a grout barrier (pre-seal) are
here.
To prevent grout smears, surface scratching and keep grout residue out of surface texture by coating with Aldon
Grout Easy before grouting. "Grout Easy" is a water soluble coating that comes off easily while grout is being cleaned up with water and a sponge.
- Efflorescence (subsurface originating white powdery stains) can occur. This is
easily cleaned , but be very cautious if you decide an acidic cleaner is necessary.
- Efflorescence
can be stopped by sealing with the appropriate Aldon sealer.
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Following are recommendations for products you may need (in sequence of use ) for whichever of the categories applies to you. Please review each and mark your printed
worksheet accordingly.
Layed, But Not Grouted
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 Grout Easy
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 Efflorescence Treatment
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 Grout Residue
Remover
(should not be needed after using Grout Easy)
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Grouted, But Not Sealed
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Grout Residue
Remover
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Efflorescence Treatment
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.............Sealer ( see below )
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 Lifeguard
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Care ...........
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Sealer Has Been Applied
Important! - First -
Click here!
 Premium Stripper- ...........Cleaners ?
- ...........Sealer ( see below )
- Lifeguard
- Care ..........
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Regarding The Sealer Results Shown Below:
An Aldon sealer does far more than just bead water and look pretty! To see what that is
click here.
Your results may vary somewhat from these pictures due to variations in computer display and the surface materials themselves. Nevertheless, you will be able to see the differences well enough to make good choices.
Different areas of the same piece are used as much as possible to minimize raw material variations.
Of all the sealers Aldon manufactures, the ones shown are recommended as best suited to this surface type.
(Important: If your project has had any sealer applied in the past, it must be evaluated differently. To see why,
Click here!)
"Fine Stone Sealer"
Water Based - Coating Type
Recommended for finishes
that have little or no absorption.
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Picture is marble with no absorption
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Sealed in one application
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No change to gloss
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No change to color
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Red arrow shows water drop spreading on unsealed left side
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Yellow arrow shows water drop maintaining a high bead on the sealed side
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"S-B-S Sealer"
Solvent Based - Penetrating Type
Picture is honed limestone of low to medium absorption:
- Sealed in two applications
- Low (matte) gloss
- Color enhanced
- Finished with "Lifeguard"
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Note: On a very low absorption surface like this, the best visual results are usually achieved with a spray application. S-B-S Sealer is available in spray cans for small projects. For large projects, see information on spray equipment
here
You can see a video of this process here:
Video: Spraying a tabletop with S-B-S Sealer
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* Note: will add another level of gloss to any of the above sealed surfaces.
It also prevents traffic wear to the sealers finish.
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