I had placed a rubber non-skid underlay beneath my dog's cage on my slate floor. When I removed the underlay, the rubber stuck to the slate floor. I have tried to remove it with water and a mild soap, but no luck. Is there anything that you could suggest that will remove the rubber marks that it has left? Hope you have some good news for me.. Thank you.

 

Dear Carol:

I hope to have some good news, too.

There are two possibilities:

1.     Some of the rubber is actually sticking to your stone surface. In this case, rubbing it with acetone or some other potent solvent (that you can find at any paint store) will do the trick. (Do follow all precautionary directions printed on the can of the solvent! And, BTW, no solvent ever damages stone.)

2.     That there's no rubber stuck onto the stone, but it only appears to be. Several rubber compounds used under carpets are acidic in nature and when are activated by moisture they actually etch the surface of stone, making marks of corrosions that look as if some of the rubber is still stuck on the surface of the stone. (Several slates are sensitive to acidic substances.) In such case, since it would be an actual chemical surface damage, opposed to some physical buildup, the solvent wouldn't do the first thing.

What to do to find out?

Try to see is you're able to remove even a little bit of the alleged build up of rubber with your fingernail or – unsing it very gently – a razor blade. If so, try the acetone first. If that won't work you will know that the real story is.

Any solution to etching?

Not really with slate: the natural cleft finish slate comes typically in makes so that restoration is virtually impossible on the count of the rippled surface, and – even more importantly – the fact that the finish was not manmade in a factory, but strictly Mother Nature's kitchen.

However, if by wetting it with water the etching (temporarily) disappear from sight, then the application of a good quality stone color enhancer like MB-6 will give you the same wet-look (without any sheen) permanently.

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 zio Bertoli

 

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