Sealing of Tropical Brown - Negative effects?

Several of your responses to other questions indicate not to seal tropical brown granite as it is too nonporous to take a sealer. Can you please elaborate as to what the negative effects of sealing tropical brown granite are, if one does seal it? In our case, the fabricator applied a cream-like sealer and told us to let it sit without wiping it off for 24 hours. The granite has seemed a bit cloudy and greasy since.

 

Dear Janet:

If you apply an impregnator (a.k.a. sealer) to a stone that will not absorb it, you won't be able to seal it, because an impregnator must be absorbed by the stone to work. On the other hand, if a stone won't absorb the impregnator, it won't absorb any staining agent, either, if not under extreme circumstances; in which case the stone would get stained even if it were actually sealed, for no impregnator can guarantee 100% sealing effect.

The negative effects of applying an impregnator nonetheless are:

 

1. The only feature that you would be getting from the product is helping its manufacturer and his distributor to put their kids through college. If you're so interested at doing that, you could achieve the very same noble scope by throwing the unopened bottle in the garbage bin. In that way you would at least save yourself the time and aggravation of pretending to seal a stone that can't be sealed.
2. If the impregnator happens to be sensitive to acidic substances (and many are) the (very) possible invisible film that could be left behind sitting on the stone surface will start developing mysterious “ghost stains” that are very hard to get rid of, assuming that you know how. (Of course, if you threw the unopened bottle in the garbage instead, then that possibility won't occur!... J )

 

All that said, I have not the slightest idea what kind of product your fabricator applied on your stone. One thing is for sure: it ain't no impregnator or any other sealer for stone that I can think of! All sealers for stone are liquid and thin to boot, not certainly creamy.

To rectify your situation you should call back the “genius” who applied that junk on your otherwise very enjoyable countertop and demand him to get completely rid of it. They may have to use some nasty solvent to do that.

If not, let me know and I will try to help you out even if, under the circumstances, I would be kinda fishing in the dark not knowing exactly what garbage they put on your stone surface.

And remember, no matter what, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is far more important than its sealing (if and when possible and/or advisable) and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about it from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/helpful-hints.htm, you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay-per-download format in our Educational Literature section at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/literature.htm.  

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Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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