Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: colin thomas on October 08, 2008, 03:39:17 pm
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customer of mine has felt tip and coffee marks on a stone fireplace surround, anyone had to deal with this before, i think it won't come out BUT grateful for any input,
colin
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Do you know what sort of stone it is? What sort of finish? Polished, honed, etc..
Very difficult to guess without seeing it. Phosphoric acid can be used for stone cleaning but not in all cases, you'd maybe have to do the whole thing otherwise it would leave light patches. I wouldn't recommend ploughing in with anything without being absolutely sure :-\
A mild abrasive might go some way to removing or reducing the intensity of the marks. Again, not suitable in all cases.
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thanks for the reply jim, don't know what sort of stone it is and wouldn't even if i saw it but he did say it was porous , the customer is a letting agent. the owner of the property is of course looking for a new fire surround so anything that might move it might be worth a go,
colin
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Like Jim Says, a light abrasive might work if it's on the surface, and an alkali left to dwell for a while. If that doesn't work you'll probably need a poultice to get it out if it's porous - leave it on for 24 hours and see if it's drawn it out. I'd steer clear of acids, if it's limestone or any other calciferous stone you'll potentially have a nasty problem on your hands.
Chris
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This happened to me about a year ago i left a bottle of zap it on the hearth of one of my customers portugese limestone fireplace me and the customer tried everything to remove it no joy i thought it would be a insurance job.I then went to a few shops that sold similar fireplaces everyone of them were trying to sell me cleaning kits for £50 a go the last one i got to i spoke to a guy who new his stuff he took me over to a fireplace that was identical and pulled out a small sanding block for limestone he then showed me how to get the marks of buy rubbing hard on the limestone there was stour everywere but it worked a treat.I went round the next day to customers and got the marks of in a couple of minutes then wiped with a damp cloth came up great .Also meant to say the fireplace was £1800.
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Bet your ringpiece was twitching for a while there! Good info ;)
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chris, how the poultice? and might that draw out the marker pen marks or should that be tackled with some sort of spirit?
colin
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A poultice like Fullers Earth, or Aquamix Poultice is made up of absorptive clays (kaolin mainly I think), and pulls up the stain from the stone slowly - sometimes it takes a few goes. You mix it up into a paste, leave it on the stain covered in pierced cling film and then leave it 24 hours. Sometimes works miracles, sometimes does sod all. It's also useful as a mild abrasive mixed with an alkiline cleaner.
You might also be able to shift the pen marks with a solvent, but test somewhere inconspicous in case it darkens the stone.
But if it's a limestone and can be honed with a block as Darren described then that's a good option. Honing powders will do the same but might be a little less scary. ;)
Chris
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It was a long 3 days jim.
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chris, just googled fullers earth and seems worth a go, where can i buy some from, chemist?
colin
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Fullers Earth - try pureadhesion.co.uk.
You can get Aquamix Poultice from tradesdirect.com.
I've used the Aquamix stuff before, like I say sometimes it works great, but sometimes it does nowt. The trick is to mix it up good and thick and (like smooth peanut butter) and give it 24 hours to work. On occasions it makes it look worse, in which case you know it's working and you have to keep going until it gets it all out. But I'd be trying a strong cleaner with the poultice as an abrasive first, with a good 15 minutes dwell time. Using a poultice overnight is generally a bit of a last resort.
I'm sure you know this, but the best advice with any stone is to test a small area first. And manage your customers expectations downwards, you may not be able to shift the marks anyway.
Incidentally, if it is limestone (or trav); I just emailed an old mate in the stone trade and he said to give ammonia and rubbing alcohol a go if that doesn't work. You althernate them apparently, letting them dwell on a terry towel pressed onto the stone. Never tried it myself though.
Good luck. ;)
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top man chris, i will probably go and have look and see if i can make a name for myself!!!
colin ;)