Granite Cleaned with 409..Need Help!

[ebjustin]

I had tropical brown granite installed a couple months ago...it looked great origionally but now there are spots that are rust colored and are no longer smooth. At this point I think this is occuring because I have foolishly been cleaning with Formula 409 Orange Power Multipurpose Cleaner. Do I have any chance of restoring my granite? Any suggestions?

Eric

Picture added

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[Mike2]

Hi Eric, welcome :).

I'm going to move your thread over to our Restoration section so the pros over there get a look at this.

I'll leave a path here so you can get to your thread from both places.

[Stonehenge]

Hi Eric,

While I am not familar with your cleaning product, I do suggest that you use a 1:1 ratio of neutral stone cleaner and water in the form of a poultice.

Simply moisten a paper towel with this liquid, cover with cling wrap and hopefully the drying action will draw out your orange discoloration. You may have to apply this simple poultice several times.

In as far as your mineral loss I suggest that you contact a stone restoration professional.

Michael of Stonehenge

[FlooringDesignCenter]

call the company who installed it..

[doitright]

Hi Eric, Welcome! :)

Just felt that I had to comment on the last post. Most fabricators & installers know very little about restoration.

Keep us posted with your progress.

The stain in your picture appears to be an oil based stain. I doubt the 409 caused this.

Does your stone darken when you let water sit on it? Was it ever sealed?

Tropical Brown usually requires sealing.

[GraniteGirl]

Any chance you could post a picture taken at a greater distance? I have seen natural inclusions like that in Tropic Brown. That material is - as a rule - fairly bomb proof and I have never known it to react with anything. An ammonia based cleaner should not have done it that much harm (if any at all).

Is this anomaly in a highly visible spot (like in the middle of an island top) or is it somewhere out of the way? Could it be possible that it had always been there but that you only noticed it recently? Might also be that the fabriactor applied a black wax to it to make it less noticable and that the wax had worn off when you cleaned it with the 409.

Another picture (taken from farther away) would be great :sheep:

[ebjustin]

Thanks all for your comments, the damaged spot pictured above is in a very noticeable location (above lazy suzan, stove 6" to the left. There are a couple other spots that I have noticed, much smaller and a darker red/rust color. I'll take a few more pics. I contacted the installer and he agreed to stop by and take a look sometime this week.

[ebjustin]

Hi Eric, Welcome! :)

Just felt that I had to comment on the last post. Most fabricators & installers know very little about restoration.

Keep us posted with your progress.

The stain in your picture appears to be an oil based stain. I doubt the 409 caused this.

Does your stone darken when you let water sit on it? Was it ever sealed?

Tropical Brown usually requires sealing.

The installers did wipe down the granite with an impregnator when it was installed a couple months ago however water spots are visible when water sits/drys.

[flatfloor]

The name of that cleaner implies a citrus (acidic?) base, could that be the problem?

[doitright]

Hi Eric :)

Water spots after drying is one thing, and darkening of the stone is another. Is it darkening or just spotting (like no jet dry used in the dishwasher for glasses)?

Hi Jim :)

Good point. Most true granites are unaffected by acidic products. That's why people usually choose granite over marble these days. However, if there are other minerals in the granite that is causing the rusting, then yes, the acidic base would have an effect.

[ebjustin]

Here is a zoomed out pic....the imperfection is near the corner, a little to the left

[ebjustin]

Here is a pic showing two spots that are discolored and are no longer smooth.

[doitright]

Hi Eric :)

Without being there, it is nearly impossible to properly diagnose your problem.

It's very possible that you just had some crystals come loose. Sometimes this can be remedied with superglue or other special stone repair epoxies. A good fabricator should be able to repair this. Furniture hot melt wax sticks will sometimes work as well.

[ebjustin]

I see the most rust colored (non smooth) spots near the hand sprayer which tends to drip a little after use. I'm think it actually may be rust. In any case, the installer is coming by tomorrow, hopefully he will have some sort of remedy other than saying that this is 'normal'

[doitright]

Hi Eric :)

The most important thing to do at this point is to stop using that cleaning product. Purchase some stone and tile specific neutral pH cleaner for maintenance.

How did your meeting go?

[Stone cutter]

Are you talking about the black pockets?? Those are most likely going to be pitted no matter what. Catch the light on the top to observe the pitting. If the stone is getting dark, then drying out after awhile, then it needs more sealer. If there is an unknown dark spot that wont go away, it could be oil, or, god forbid, glue they used to set, leaching through. But I dont see any dark area in the pic. You can also remove waterspots, sealer residue, pbj, with steel wool. Ive never had a problem with any sort of cleaner on granite. If your concerned, test a spot on the under part of the edge.

[ebjustin]

Hi Eric :)

The most important thing to do at this point is to stop using that cleaning product. Purchase some stone and tile specific neutral pH cleaner for maintenance.

How did your meeting go?

I purchased some granite cleaner from Home Depot...I think the brand is Stonecare. The installer rescheduled for Monday.

Stonecutter, I circled the spots I am concerned about, rust colored on left and and light gold colored on right. These spots are not smooth like the rest of the granite....if I lighty run my fingernail over the granite it will snag on these spots. I believe another sealing is required, I'll ask the installer to reseal it when he comes by to look at the pitting.

[GraniteGirl]

Most mercantile granites are not true geological granite. These stones are comprised of a number of different minerals. This is part of why natural stone is so beautiful. It is also why natural stone does not polish out 100% smooth like glass. If you look at any polished natural stone surface at an angle against the light, you will see these variances of crystals and crystal patterns.

As I have said before - I have seen inclusions like the ones you are pointing out in (unresined) Tropic Brown slabs. They do feel rougher than the surrounding crystals and appear to have no shine at all. Some could even appear to be almost concrete-like in nature.

It might be that these inclusions have reacted to your 409 cleaner and that they could have become more noticable and rougher because of it. It could also be that your fabricator tried to hide these spots by applying a paste wax to the surface and that the wax has worn off because of your (somewhat overly vigorous) cleaning ritual. These could be a couple of reasons why you did not notice these spots before.

Since these inclusions are part of the stone, trying to polish them out will not work either.

Sealing will not improve the condition of these spots. It will prevent the stone from absorbing liquids though, and might be a good idea if the stone darkens when it gets wet. Sealing with a good quality impregnating sealer will for sure solve that problem for you. :nod:

Depending on the depth of these spots, your fabricator could try to smooth them over with an application of some penetrating epoxy or some CA (almost like a 2 part super glue used for filling chips, among other things)