Cairns Marble Cairns Marble

At Cairns Marble Australia, Our efficient, friendly and reliable team are only happy to assist and to ensure what you will get is the best, and in no way substitute inferior or faulty stone

Australian Emperador Bianca Mist Black Ice Blue Crystal Champagne Dreamtime Gold Drop Iron Lace Orazia Gold Pink Crystal Sunset White Pearl Pilbara Cream Pilbara Green Pilbara Red

 

MARBLE CARE & MAINTENACE

 

Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic rock composed of re-crystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.
Marble was once limestone, compacted by heat and pressure that re-crystallized into marble when mineral changes occurred. This produces the colours and veining seen in the stone.
Sealing marble is highly recommended as stain removal can be limited due to its chemical sensitivity.


PROTECTION & MAINTENANCE 

With calcium stone exhibiting two major characteristics – porosity, causing staining and acidic sensitivity - the first step in maintenance needs to be protection. Although sealer technology has come along way over the years there is no simple multi-purpose sealer that will protect universally. Instead it is necessary to address each characteristic separately.

 

POROSITY

The application of a penetrating or below surface sealer reduces the porosity to a level where you have a long period of time to remove any spillage. There are many different types of penetrating sealers on the market however they will differ mainly in how much protection (measured in the time they will protect and the range of contaminants they will repel) they give you. The low cost products will measure protection in minutes with a small range of contaminants where the premium products will afford much greater protection (measured in hours) against a quite exhaustive range of contaminants. The issue of protecting marble from below surface staining is easily addressed. However porosity is not the only issue.

 

 ACID SENSITIVITY

This is the most difficult characteristic to overcome. The first important point to clarify is that penetrating sealers DO NOT protect the actual stone surface from contact with acidic products . Etching cannot be “cleaned away” it has to be re-polished!

 

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE

Daily or routine maintenance is the easiest question to answer. All marble is alkaline as are all of the adhesives and grouts used to install the stone as well as all of the sealers (penetrating or coating) used for protection. Therefore daily cleaning should be done using only ph neutral cleaners. These will not damage the stone or components used to install or protect them. For heavy duty cleaning of soiled stone (polished or unpolished) use high alkaline cleaners. These will not damage the stone but will work very aggressively in removing oil and other organic contaminants. If you need to remove deep stains specialised stone poultices are available. These are designed to mix with a range of different stone cleaners to address varying types of contaminants.

 

CAIRNS MARBLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD shall not be liable in any respect for advice provided herein regarding installation, fixing, grouting, cleaning or maintenance