Tar Stain and Poultice

[Hamilton]

I had aquabar on my granite counters to protect them from my general
setting mess as I installed a backsplash with tumbled stone. Aquabar if you
are unfamiliar is a vapor retardant brown paper with a tar core.

Somebody laid an acetone rag on the counter while I was away, it melted the tar
and pushed it into the granite. I have tried oil removing poultice and its
not touching it. Not real sure what to do. Would acetone break it down
and push it in further? Or would something more oily like paint thinner
work better to help break it down to a point where the poultice would be
able to draw out the oily mix?

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[ccarlisle]

Tar components would probably be reactive to both acetone and paint thinner poultices; you're playing with a natural product (tar) that contains pretty much the dregs of a chemical soup. Good luck.

[Hamilton]

I did three seperate 24 hour poultice treatments and this stain wont budge.:monster:

[Hamilton]

*Bump* :twitch:

[ob1kanobee]

what does *bump* mean? I have seen that before and me no get it???

[Hamilton]

Ben it just brings your post back to the top of the que. I am hoping someone versed in stone restoration will be able to help me with this stain.

[ob1kanobee]

Here is what I have found so far....................

Oil-based (grease, tar, cooking oil, milk, cosmetics): An oil-based stain will darken the stone and normally must be chemically dissolved so the source of the stain can be flushed or rinsed away. Clean gently with a soft, liquid cleanser with bleach OR household detergent OR ammonia OR mineral spirits OR acetone.

I have emailed a stone restoration guru for you, basically a copy of your first post. Hopefully he will get back with me. I haven't talked to him in over a year but it is worth a shot. What I posted above I found on his website.

[doitright]

Hi Jack :)

Sorry for the delay. Obviously you need to use extreme caution, or you risk driving the tar deeper into the surface. Do you know what kind of granite you have? Was it sealed? If so, with what?

Exactly what oil removing poultice did you try? As Charles mentioned, tar is an entirely different beast than oil.

Let me do some further research and get back to you. I have an idea, but need to double check before I recommend it.

[Hamilton]

Well, I am on day 10 or 11 or 12...heck I forget now. I have been adding daily
poultice treatments to my stain and, while it has gotten better...its still there. I moved from Arizona tile's oil poultice to a "top secret" remover I found out about via pm. While the new remover/poultice is doing a better job than Arizona's poultice my stain is still egging me on as if it were calling me out to some kind of challenge, and in fact it has been. The guys that caused
the stain had never seen Aqua Bar and grew up doing construction in Cali :bang:

[Stone Dude]

the fact that it is improving is a good sign.

like the others said yo uneed to use caution to not set the stain deeper.

with that being said, if this was my own counter top, I would use diatomaceous earth and laquer thinner. wet the stain with a bit of water first, put the poultice (on the thicker side) on and cover it up with plastic. tape it off completely sealing it and dont poke any vent holes. leave it till the next day, then check it. if there is a dark area, thats just the laquer thinner, dry it with a hair dryer.

Like I said if this were my own counter, thats what I'd do. I have had great success using laquer thinner in a poultice from soap and shampoo, too olive oil stains.

[doitright]

Hi Jack :)

How's the stain coming? :shades:

Keep in mind, it's not uncommon to let the stained area dry out thoroughly between applications. Many times the carrier needs time to work it's way out of the stone.

Can you post a current picture?