Maurizio - I just purchased your "No-nonsense Guidelines to Stain Removal." Great advice at a reasonable price, thanks. I could use a bit of clarification before launching off to try it. I want to remove a stain left by a red candle sitting for some time on a Luna Pearl counter top. I suspect the dye used is inorganic, but would guess a candle is oily. Should I treat this as an inorganic stain or oily stain?

 

Dear Mike:

That's a very good question, which indicates an analytical mind!

Yes, of course, the red is inorganic. And yes, the wax is oily.

However, it is difficult to imagine that any of the wax was absorbed by the stone: even when liquefied it's too thick to go in. But then, there are all those little tiny pits on the surface of your granite (BTW, just is cas e you care to know, Luna Pearl – a.k.a. Bianco Sardo – is true geological granite; actually it is THE granite, because it was the first ever to be quarried – by the Romans – who else! It's its granular structure that made them call it “granito”, and hence the species) and it is reasonable to assume that they've got filled with the wax.

What I would do, I would first thoroughly rub the surface of the stain with a paint stripper based on Methylene Chloride (available at any paint store. Follow all precautionary direction printed on the can: that stuff is pretty nasty!) using a natural-fiber laundry brush (don't use a plastic one: the MC will melt the bristles in no time and create a real mess!), and then poultice the stain out according to the directions for inorganic stains.

May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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