When natural stone surfaces loose shine, or reflectivity, even after thorough cleaning, the cause is only either of 3 things:
We will examine the different types of etches and scratches, as well as what crucial role the cleaner you choose has with these.
The type of etching in this animation is commonly mistaken for a 'ring mark' stain, but this is not a stain. The stone's surface has been permanently altered. In this case, a bottle's bottom is drenched with a cleaning agent intended for a different kind of surface than natural stone.
This type of damage is harder to identify when it is feathered, uniform, and spread over large areas. The result is what we perceive to be a cloudy finish.
Pictured is a well-defined etch on a properly honed and sealed natural stone surface. Notice the texture on the image. If you were to run your finger through it, you would feel a fine grit, sandpaper-like texture. Etches are permanent. The only way to treat this damage is by a process called stone restoration, which takes hours to complete by an apprenticed artisan or certified master technician.
Again, no cleaning chemical can remove an etch, or etch haze (cloudiness). Yet the cleaner you use will determine your exposure to etch damage.
Two effective tools you have to identify damage to natural stone are a light source and reflectivity. Moving your light source, you will be able to assess problem areas and allow you to plan for future prevention.
In this case, having a stone floor in a bathroom is a high-maintenance proposal: Bodily fluids are acidic, and so are select products found in the shower-- not to mention; cleaning products stored underneath the sink, which can drip on their back to the cabinet after being used
The stone pictured here tells a story of drips, overspray and lateral wiping motions from using an incorrect cleaner.
In this case, having a stone floor in a bathroom is a high-maintenance proposal: Bodily fluids are acidic, and so are select products found in the shower-- not to mention; cleaning products stored underneath the sink, which can drip on their back to the cabinet after being used
The stone pictured here tells a story of drips, overspray and lateral wiping motions from using an incorrect cleaner.
One pedestrian's shoe brings in a grain of soil and sediments, while another scrapes it on their way out the door. At the end of the night, maintenance crews apply improper cleaning agents and mop, or buff the surface. This happens daily, until a uniform, even wear begins breaking down top shine. After a surface has lost its finish, no amount of buffing will bring it back. Your car's finish behaves identically, (except that the top coat is much softer than a stone surface). After years of automatic car washes, swirl marks and other forms of scratches cannot be brought back to shine-- no matter how much cleaning is performed-- after all, it was cleaningitself that destroyed the finish. The only way to restore your car's finish is by abrasive compounding and buffing.
Shoes carry sand, dust and other abrasives which in turn create micro-scratches that slowly add up. Amplifying this effect, a vast number of institutions and homeowners are not fully educated on what cleaner to use on their installations, shortening the time between calls to stone restorers.
The stone restorer pictured here is 'cutting' using a lubricated, abrasive pad in one of a series of passes to bring the surface back to an even flat plane, which results in what we see as 'shine'.
Now that you're familiar with the way stone in your home behaves, let us present you with the benefits of using our product. The Daily Stone Cleaner has the following features
The average call for natural stone restorative services is once per year-- depending on need.
A call to a stone restoration company should only take place for regular maintenance; which is called a Clean & Seal. It should never happen due to an incorrect or sub-par cleaner (or even tap water) which slowly degraded both top finish and sealer.
A Clean & Seal service is meant to remove embedded soil and other contaminants which cannot be reached by regular cleaning. It is also meant to re-establish Penetrating Sealer, which is your only insurance against natural stone damage.
At $15/ Sq Ft, an 18.75 Ft Stone Counter should cost ~$280
As a comparison, the cost to repair that same 18.75 Ft Stone Counter for clouding or dulling, would require a service called Full Restoration, for a total ~$500.
To further illustrate, a Tub Surround Clean & Seal would cost $250, while a Full Restoration would cost $750.
Total 5 year cost of ownership for a Tub Surround and 18.75 Ft Stone Counter maintenance:
$6250 - Without proper stone cleaner use
$2650 - With proper stone cleaner use
Stone sealer is like an airbag. It is meant to catch an etch as close to the surface as possible. This way, stone restorers can work on your stone without shaving more of the surface than necessary. Once a sealer application has done its job (protection), the surface must be restored and sealer must be re-applied.
For this illustration we honed, polished and sealed one side of a stone surface, while we allowed another side to be mistreated with a variety of home improvement store products. We then spilled fruit juice to cause etches on both sides.
The sealed side worked so well, that the etch can be clearly seen "floating" on the surface. The unsealed side, on the other hand, has absorbed the etch much deeper. In fact, a good stone restoration estimator may deem the stained etch not repairable. It would not be wise to keep honing deeper and deeper into the stone, only to find that the etch is much too deep to reach the bottom. Starting work under these conditions is a risk that an experienced company may not be willing to take.
In our illustration, the surface would not only be marred by the etch itself, but also by a permanent stain.
A kitchen counter that costs anywhere between $2000-$10,000 or more, cannot take a chance with a cleaning product that wears your sealer away.
The sealed side worked so well, that the etch can be clearly seen "floating" on the surface. The unsealed side, on the other hand, has absorbed the etch much deeper. In fact, a good stone restoration estimator may deem the stained etch not repairable. It would not be wise to keep honing deeper and deeper into the stone, only to find that the etch is much too deep to reach the bottom. Starting work under these conditions is a risk that an experienced company may not be willing to take.
In our illustration, the surface would not only be marred by the etch itself, but also by a permanent stain.
A kitchen counter that costs anywhere between $2000-$10,000 or more, cannot take a chance with a cleaning product that wears your sealer away.
Everyone from our photographer to our chemists and web designer has consistent, month to month contact with stone projects in the field. Pushing a wand, vacuuming, helping to move machinery and being exposed to real life situations. And what a quality of exposure... we are respected in our field. Often, we are the ones called when someone else could not solve a complex problem-- to a range of locations; from historic architectural landmarks, to our biggest market: mansions laden with gorgeous arrangements of this natural wonder, marvelously available on earth. Stone.
Our product was not formulated in a sterile, simulated environment, where chemists test their formulas under limited application. During years of development, we tested live; then refined our formulation as the demands of daily use called for. There is no way to simulate a stone floor with bustling, downtown, commuter-grade traffic. Nor a sprawling foyer, under attack from the salts of winter. Much less, the connected feedback from stone owners, just like you.
We understand stone-owners' pain points, because we arrive at the scene after damage has occurred... and then we hear the backstory. This has been our life for millions of square feet of any and all types of commercially-known natural stone.
That is what you are getting with our product.
It matters. A great deal.
Our dense, durable bottle was blow-molded here, in the Midwest. The label/decal affixed to our bottle was printed here, in the United States. The formula was conceived with our very own, North American ingenuity. The chemical and its ingredients is processed here. The innovative, no-metal spring, no-metal hinge, rich foam spray head is all U.S. made.
Each and every person's hand involved with our product receives their pay here, where we live. We employ locally and source locally.
On behalf of everyone who is given an opportunity to have work to do, daily, we thank you for your choice. You allow us to have productive lives.
From the EPA Safer Choice website:"Finding cleaning and other products that are safer for you, your family, and the environment should be easy — that's why we developed our new Safer Choice label. We all play a role in protecting our families’ health and the environment. Products with the Safer Choice label help consumers and commercial buyers identify products with safer chemical ingredients, without sacrificing quality or performance."Our Safer Choice label designation is specifically for products that are, "Safer Choice label for business or industrial/ institutional products."A Clean Story has a priority to provide both home and industrial users with products that the EPA deems environmentally conscious and reduces risk from frequent exposure.
