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Danger: Using Natural Cleaning Products Can Ruin Your Granite Worktop or Marble Floor

By on Feb 20, 2008 in Cleaning, Granite, Natural Stone, Problem Solving, Stain Removal, Worktops

I have been asked this question on more than one occasion, by several house-holders. Even more alarmingly, I have also been asked the same and similar questions by people in the industry. It is easy to see why; there are numerous TV shows, magazine articles and on-line DIY sites that recommend all manor of traditional remedies for all sorts of situations. Vinegar, lemon juice and many other household chemicals are frequently presented as wonder cleaners.

So is it all nonsense? Well, no, recently I saw the wonderful Kim and Aggie (How Clean Is Your House TV show in the UK) using a variety of home-made concoctions with great success. But, Kim and Aggie no-doubt know their stuff and that means knowing where not to use something as well. The danger is that substances like vinegar etc are pretty potent acids and they will quickly attack any acid-sensitive material.

Only recently, a very distraught person came to me with a stained marble floor. I was able to advise what to do remove the stains, but then he noticed some dull patches. These are etch-marks, caused by the action of an acid (orange juice, red wine etc). The acid in the contaminant has actually burned away the ‘polish’ in the stone. On closer inspection, the entire floor was dull, matt and with a yellow hue to its surface. On enquiring what had happened, I learned that after removing the stains, he had washed the whole floor with lemon juice! The citric acid had etched the whole surface, but as well as rendering the floor completely dull and lifeless, it also effectively increased the porosity of the stone at the surface, allowing the yellow colour of the lemon to get in and stain the floor.

The lesson here is to make sure you know and understand the type of cleaner you are using and also, know your stone. Unless you are an expert, never, use any form of acid on an acid-sensitive stone. So how do you know if your stone is acid-sensitive? Well stones made up of or containing calcium are usually acid-sensitive, the following is a general (but by no means exhaustive) list of popular materials that are high in calcium and therefore subject to attack by acidic cleaners:

· Marble

· Limestone

· Travertine

· Terrazzo

· Conglomerate Marble

· Grout and Cement-based concrete slabs and tiles

Having said this, there are always exceptions to the rules; it is generally considered that granite is not acid sensitive; hence granite is the usual choice for kitchen work tops rather than marble. However, these days you cannot take this as a given. With the explosion of imported stone from all over the world we are now seeing some stones that do not conform to the norm. There are some types of granites that do contain a tiny amount of calcium in the matrix (the fine grained material around the bigger crystals). There are also a number of stones that look and feel like granite that, geologically speaking are not strictly granite at all. We have seen a lot of so-called black granite that can have quite a violent reaction to even mild acidic compounds and unlike polished marble, it is not so easy to re-polish the etch out again.

So be warned and be careful, if you are in any doubt at all then find an off-cut or an inconspicuous area and test any cleaner for such reactions before you proceed.

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RSS Feed for This Post6 Comment(s)

  1. Cathy | Apr 30, 2010 | Reply

    How about for a ceramic tile floor? We have a new one in the kitchen & I have been using vinegar and water on it. Is that ok?

  2. Ian Taylor | May 18, 2010 | Reply

    Very sorry, I thought I had answered this. Vinegar and water? – can’t really see a need, it should not harm the ceramic tiles (unless they are a metalic glaze and even then, not all metalic glazes are susceptible to acids). However it will do some thing to the grout, over time it will etch some of the cement, whether it is strong enough to do real damage is debateable but really the best advice is to use a neutral cleaner for reguloar or routine maintenance. And a stronger alkaline one for occasiona deep claning or cuting through grease.

    Ian

  3. Eva | Oct 18, 2011 | Reply

    Hi.we are living in rented house and have black stone worktop in the kitchen,we always cleaned it with fairy liquid only,but when we tried to clean a limescale around the tab the product we used left slightly lighter stains! In feels like polish came of the stone.is there anything we can do to restore the colour and shine? Thank you

  4. Ian Taylor | Oct 24, 2011 | Reply

    Hi Eva,

    I am afraid this sounds like Acid Etching. First of all, you do not say what the black stone is but I am going to make an assumption that it is a black ‘granite’ and that it is polished. I say this as most black work-tops are polished and granite. The granite is in inverted commas because there are a variety of granite-like stones being sold as granite but they can be other stones, such as basalt, particularly from China. Why? Well it is much cheaper than ‘real’ black granite, it is just as nice to look at, can be worked exactly the same and can produce the high shine when polished, it is also a perfeclty good stone except in some cases for one thing – and that is that unlike real granite, it is sensitive to acid. (There are also some real grantites that have a small degre of acid sensitivity).

    The problem is that the black crystals are probably no damaged by acid, but the finer matrix that is present between them may contain a high degree of calcium and it is this that has reacted with the acid that was undoubtedly present in the limescale remover.

    If I have accurately described your situation, then I am afraid there is not a great deal you can do, you may be able to bring some colour back by using an enhancing sealer, but I have found this to be hit and miss. As far as the shine goes, some stone has been physically removed by the etching process, so to correct it properly the entire slab would need professionally refinishing, this can be done but it is going to involve a pro with the right tools and several grades of diamond pads – so is a time consuming and costly process.

    if you can get some colour back with an enhancer, you may be able to use a counter top wax type polish that gives some shine back but it wil be a bit like putting boot polish in scuffed shoes.

    If however, it is a black marble (not too popular for kitchen work tops as it is so easily etched) – then ironically, you may have a better chance with a localized application of a repolishing cream

    Sorry that may not be what you want to hear, if I can help any more or if you want any more infomration o professional restoration please do not hesitate to ask

    hope this helps

    Ian

  5. nicola de-haan | Jan 7, 2012 | Reply

    hi, can i use vinager & water to clean my black granite floor tiles? they are very dull and nothing i use seems to be working.
    thanks

  6. Ian Taylor | Jan 16, 2012 | Reply

    Hi Nicola,

    Your issue could just be a build up of dirt, and/ or detergenet resiidue. Often dull tiles come about due to lack of rinsing with detergents and over time it builds up a patina and dulls the surface, a good deep clean with a high alkaline cleaner would normally resolve this.

    I would strongly recommend that you DO NOT use vinegar in any form. There is strong possibility that your ‘black granite’ is actually basalt or some other similar stone. In fact, many geologists will tell you that there is no such thing as a true black granite, what you have is an igneous stone, formed in the same way and with very similar characteristics but not technically granite. There is no problem with this, the stone industry is allowed to describe such material as granite as it meets many of the criteria for that stone type.

    The main thing to be careful of is acidic etching, quite a lot of the so called black granites are susceptible to acid etching, in fact, this may be the reason that your stone has gone dull in the first place. If any of the black colour has turned greyish, that is another indication of etching. Unfortunately, there is liitle that can be dine to bring back the shine on this type of stone if this is what has happened, it may be that you need to seek the help of a professional stone restoration company (like Marblelife Ltd. for example) who may be able to re-grind and polish the stone back to its former glory – but, if this was possible then it it quite a costly process.

    Try the alkaline deep clean first,

    Hope this helps

    Ian

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