Hi- Against my better judgment, I listened to someone who told me to seal my uba tuba countertop, and now it's all smudged and I can't get the haze off of it. What can I used to remove the sealant and get it back to normal? Now I realize you definitely are not supposed to seal uba tuba but it's to late........

 

Dear Louise:

Just to set the record straight, the most important phase of the application of a sealer to a stone is to make sure that every residue of the product is thoroughly removed from the surface of the stone before it has any chance to dry on it, so that at the end of the sealing procedure the surface of the stone is as bare as it was before sealing it.

Consequently, of you leave a film of sealer on the surface of a countertop, it doesn't really matter if it is Ubatuba or any other stone: it's just a lousy sealing job, period!

The reason why you're not supposed to seal a stone like Ubatuba is because it is too inherently dense to let any sealer in, and nothing else.

That said, to remove the residue of the impregnator won't be easy.

Personally I would call back the “genius” who applied the impregnator and demand him to take care of his own mess; but I realize that some times this is not possible.

So… It's time to use a potent paint stripper based on Methylene Chloride (available at any hardware or paint stores). Keep all your windows open, get the pets our of the house and follow any precautionary direction printed on the can of the product. It is indeed nasty stuff, but it will work.

Now remember, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is – as it should be intuitive – vastly more important than its sealing (if and when possible and/or advisable) and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about routine care from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at:   http://www.mbstone.com/HH_promo/helpful_hints.htm , you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay-per-download format in our Educational Literature section at:   http://www.mbstone.com/literature/literature.htm .  

And remember, every single penny of the cost of the literature will be used to support this site and its cause: your cause.

While you are in the “Helpful Hints” section, do spend some time reading all of the interesting FREE articles you'll find in there!

Finally, keep in mind that we need your support to help us helping you!

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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!

Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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