Dear Maurizio, I just had River Gold Granite installed in the kitchen (very light cream with grey and gold veins, and burgundy specs). The installer said he put an "excellent seal" on it. On first use I left a box of raspberries on the counter for several hours and there's now a stain (in the shape of the outline of the box). Not knowing any better (:-) I used put softscrub with bleach around the outline of the stain for a few hours, the stain is now ligher, but not much. I have 3 questions: 1. how to get rid of the stain? 2. do I need to now re-seal the granite? 3. Do I really need to use coasters, etc? I previously had Santa Cecilia Granite that held up to all kinds of abuse (oil, beets, red wine, etc.), is this granite different? Thanks a lot! Dina

 

Dear Dina:

Several hours of raspberry sitting on the same spot is a bit too much to take for “granites” like River Gold. I would put Santa Cecilia in the list, too, but probably your slab of Santa Cecilia had been resined by the factory, which represents an excellent permanent seal. And… maybe you never had an experience like this one with your previous countertop.

Now you have to remove the stain.

It won't be difficult, but how?

When it comes to stain removal, either you buy one of those expensive “Professional kits” (that true professionals seldom use!) at a stone retailer near you, or you can spend less money and get our comprehensive guidelines on how to remove stains by using inexpensive and far more effective means that you may already have in your household! Such impressive piece of literature will also tell you how to tell stains apart from “stains”, and what to do about the latter! It does carry a small price tag, and you can order it by logging on at:   http://www.mbstone.com/literature/literature.htm.   It's available in pay-per-download format and it's much cheaper than any kit on the market! Not to mention the little and much needed support you'd be giving to the cause – your cause - since every single penny of the cost of the article will be used to support it. And probably you will need to apply some more impregnator in the area that you will treat for the removal of the stain. Don't change brand: use the very same that was originally applied.

Also, will you please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose by logging on at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm? By spreading the word about this valuable site among your friend & family and the stone trades' people you've been dealing with, you will be rendering everybody a valuable service!

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri zio Bertoli

 

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