I have multiple chemical sensitivites. That is part of the reason I would like to use a natural product like stone. I would like to install honed travertine as flooring and marble for the kitchen countertops. I would like the counter tops from red jade marble tile from china. Would the products needed to seal and maintain these products as flooring and as a kitchen counter top cause fumes or off gasing during application and/or afterward and for how long? Is there a more natural route that I could take? . I appriciate you maintaining this site for the un or ill-informed. Thank you for your help

 

Dear Michelle:

First off, sealing stone is not mandatory. I mean, do you know of any law that forces you to try pushing some resin inside stone?...

That said, travertine seldom needs to be sealed, even in its hone-finished state. And even if you will get an (highly improbable) occasional stain, removing it is child play. So, let's not get paranoid about this seal-a-mania, for the only protection that an impregnator (a.k.a. sealer) can offer to stone is to reduce (never eliminate) the possibility of staining on very porous stones, which is a list where travertine and marble do not belong in.

That said, your idea of using polished marble as a kitchen countertop simply takes my breath away!!

Do this: get a piece of scrap of the marble that you have in mind, take it home and then spill on it the following: vinegar, lemon juice, orange juice, tomato sauce, a drink… Let all those liquid sit on the surface of the stone for 15 seconds or so, and then wipe it dry. All the “stains” that you will see are not stains at all, but mark of corrosion that any acidic substance will inflict on marble surfaces. And if you think about sealing it… forget about it: there's no sealer in the entire galaxy that will do anything to prevent those surface damages from occurring.

As for the specialty cleaning products that are recommended to maintain natural stone with, I'm no doctor and, due to your reported condition, I will refrain myself from recommending anything specific.

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

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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