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ph of daily cleaner

Article Number: 9 | Rating: Unrated | Last Updated: Tue, May 1, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Hello, I was so reassured by your dedication to consumers of natural stone products that I bought two of your cleaners without blinking an eye. One of the products I bought was MB5 daily cleaner for my counter tops, and used it for the first time today. First of all it did a beautiful job, my countertops are less than a week old and I really want to maintain them well. I noticed a slight amonia smell when using the product and I see that the ph level is 9 rather than the 7 I've always heard to be the correct level (everything I've read suggests a cleaner with a neutral ph). I was wondering if you could give me a brief, simplified (as in 'stone care for dummies', simplified)explination of what I should be looking for in a daily cleaner? I hope I'm not imposing, I can see by your website that you are a very busy man so you information and insight are most appreciated. Thank you Wendi Shier

Dear Shier:

I'm busy alright, but part of my schedule is to answer queries like yours.

The popular and "easy" recommendation is to use pH neutral cleaning products when dealing with stone. It's a myth.

I could give you samples of pH neutral product that will affect stones like marble and limestone and more! On the other hand, I can give you a product with a pH of 9 - like MB-5 which is safe on all natural stones.

What's the story?

It's quite simple:

In formulating a cleaning product there's much more than simply putting several ingredients in a pot and then stirs them with wooden spoon!

Say that you mix an acid with a base (a.k.a. alkali). You can balance them to reach a pH value of 7 – dead neutral. However, if you don't stabili z e the formula in a way that the two ingredients are properly bonded, certain stones will dissociate them and react with acidic part of the compound!

On the other hand, if a chemical is formulated properly, even if its pH value is on the alkaline side (above 7), it will be safe on natural stone.

(Of course, nothing below 7 (acidic) could be safe on stone – no matter how you try to “fix” the formula.)

In formulating our MB-5 the manufacturer chose an alkaline product because it's supposed to be used on kitchen countertops – among other uses. pH neutral cleaners don't have enough muscle to deal with residue of grease that could be found on a kitchen countertop.

I hope I was able to explain the “mystery” of chemistry in a few sentences…

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli