Repolishing 

R2: Dear Steve: Whoever gave you that information was wrong. I am a professional stone refinisher and I can tell you that any competent stone refinisher will make your floor look as good, or better, than new without using any chemical treatment. In addition, since he will also be leveling your floor, it will give the appearance of being monolithic instead of appearing to be made of individual tiles. By the way, the impregnator you referred to is used to seal the marble to protect it from staining. It does nothing to enhance the appearance of the stone because it penetrates into (impregnates) the stone. Mike, USA

Q 2299: We have just bought a house with a Rosso Verona marble tiled floor and vanity top in the bathroom. The bathroom was refurbished 10 years ago at which time the marble was fitted. Parts of the high traffic floor area and the vanity top are slightly scratched, dull and slightly worn looking. Can you advise us on how to maintain this type of marble and perhaps even polish or brighten up the worn parts? Many thanks, Derek. Reply  

A 1959: I have inherited an assorted range of marble (and granite) tiles (the standard 12x12, 3/8 in. thick kind). They all have a highly polished finish. I would like to embark on a mosaic floor project; I have a small diamond wet saw which works great, so I'm eager to start, but I have two questions: What's the best way to "un-hone" the surface so that it has a natural, worn look? I can imagine grinding the edges a bit for a vaguely 'tumbled' effect to soften the look, but what about the super shiny surface? Would it be better to consider a process in situ, once the mosaic is installed, or could it be done more easily on the individual tiles before cutting into mosaic components? Also, what sort of grout is best if I want the mosaic pieces to have as small a seam as possible? Ciao & Grazie! -Cynthia, Boston, May 24, Reply

A 1938: We have a pair of 30 year old alabaster bookends that had a number of stains. I've removed the stains with fine grit sand paper and would now like to polish them back to their original shine. Could this be done by just rubbing with piece of felt or rough side of tanned leather? Thanks, Raymond, May 20, Reply

A 1911: I have 1k of empress green, what is the best way to get the luster back into the floor. Thanks, Jeff, May 16. Reply 

A 1903: I have installed sandstone tiles to a vanity unit in my bath room at home and need to grind it flat and then polish it to a fine surface. I have looked on your web site and the instructions on floor finishing are first rate, but I need to know how to get the same result's on my counter top. I have looked on other sites but they don't seem to give as much information as you. Best regards, Steve, 
May 15, Reply

A 1892:I need help with my floors, I removed all old wax, with stripper and difficult bits around corners etc. with a razor blade holder. Now, I would like to know what I should do next, since I want to consider two options. I. Wax- should I use sealer and then go on to wax with thin layers of course, and then polish. 2. It is very common in Puerto Rico to call in "experts" and paint with a special liquid (it seems to me like the old plastic finish) it with a solution, that takes on a hard finish. They call it crystallize. It is expensive and I would like to try with family to do it myself. Someone pls. help. Thank you, May 15. Reply

A 1853: Recently, I bought a house with 3200 sq.ft of white granite floor. In general terms, the floor is in good conditions, however some areas are dull. I am the handyman type, and I was trying to gather information on the granite polishing, in order to do it myself. Information in the net is vague, tools are available, but really I need an expert advice, for example: what are the advantages of dry or wet polishing? Is it feasible to polish the floor by myself? Regards, Jose, May 14. Reply

R1: With granite there is not a dry procedure. Alas, I will tell you that I don't consider this a DIY project. Polishing stone takes a lot of practice and skill. Regards, Steven, USA

R1: Dear Peter: The roads to stone refinishing failure are paved with thick layers of good will and elbow-grease!! Marble (black or otherwise) is polished by abrasion and friction, like gemstone, not by applying some "special marble wax" and buffing it up! Get a professional stone refinisher. It's the only sound advice that I can give to you. , Maurizio, USA

R1: Dear Emily: Use a mild solution of water and Muriatic acid (available at any hardware store). , Maurizio, USA, Expert Panelist.

R1: Dear Ed: You have two options:
1. You get a professional. But, somehow, I don't think you're interested on this one! ...
2. You apply a color enhancer on the edge of the hole and see how it looks like.

R2: Dear Fran: You need a pro to re-grind and refinish your stone. The next best thing is to keep it "dressing" it up with mineral oil (Baby oil will do fine.)  , Maurizio, USA

A 1650: Please advice on how to re-polish marble floor in my kitchen. Erika, April 4. Reply  

A 1604: Can stone floors be polished? If so, what kind of polish should be used and how do you avoid creating a slippery surface by polishing? Karen, March 28. Reply

R1: The phrase "polished" in the stone industry is not the same as it is in say furniture. It is simply sanding the surface of the stone until maximum gloss, color, clarity, and smoothness is achieved. The addition of impregnators and other topical applications increases slip resistance.
Regards, Steven, USA  

R2: It is not difficult to get small to medium scratches out of cultured marble vanity tops. As far as finding the proper compounds, look to your local automotive store, and use car paint buffing compound. It is very similar to that used by (us) cultured marble manufacturers and should work nicely for you. The "buffing" can be done with an automotive type power buffer, following the directions on the compound. There should not be need for you to replace your top due to some scratches. Good luck. Bill, USA

A 1496: Could you tell me of a reputable refinisher that deals with marble floors? Have an extensive floor that needs refinishing. The floor was originally laid some 30 years ago and is losing its lustre. I am in the Sydney area. Joseph, March 4, Reply

R1: My husband can cut and polish your floor to restore the finish. He is Greek and it does take a special touch and skill to do this. We are in Florida. We do travel. Rebecca. USA 

R1: Gerben. Having never tried to polish a piece of slate, I'M not sure if it is even possible. The material itself may be what is preventing a polish from coming up. The best you might be able to do is use a color enhancing sealer on the stone once you have gotten it as smooth as you can. I'm referring to a sealer that will give a "wet look". And please test a scrap piece, or a hidden surface first before applying anything to a piece of sculpture that you have invested so much time in. Good luck, JVC, USA

A 1460: Gentlemen, trying to find a solution to my problem (repolishing some old marble  stairs and entrance floor) I happened to find your page and enjoyed very much your instructions to some of the questions sent to you.
My problem is that these marble surfaces I described above are very good, as far as mechanical abuse is concerned (no cracks, not pitted or otherwise scratched or broken), they are very smooth but, probably years of cleaning with not- so- right cleaning agents has made them, dull with no shine. The older one is White Pentelis and the more recent, Ajax.
I have heard that I could use oxalic acid to further clean and vitrify the marble but I don't know exactly how. I don't know how strong I can make the solution or if I have to use the oxalic powder "as is". I have a floor polisher that I can equip with buffing pads and a smaller one for the steps, so as means of doing the job, I believe they, are adequate. What I don't know is how to mix the oxalic acid, how to apply it and if the acid is the right way to achieve what I am trying to do.
The marble in question is, mostly white, some with greyish and/or brownish veining. We live in Greece and you understand that marble is a very common building material. The problem is that professionals here use grinding machines with oxalic stones and the process is very long and tedious and, because of that, too expensive. 
Alexander, Greece, Feb 21. Reply

R1: First I am not a refinishing professional. However I believe that the use of oxalic acid is used when stains need to be removed. This is not the case here. It is my experience that you do not want to chemically crystallize the stone. The way it should be processed is to use polishing pads and water to refinish the stairs. This is the way I would do it based on your description. In other words, use friction and the right abrasives. You may finish the process with some polishing powder and a felt pad. But I don't ever use acid to polish. Regards, Steven, USA

Dear Steven, Being an expert you definitely know more about marble than I will ever do, yet when first faced with the problem and tried using the WEB to find a solution, that was before finding Findstone, I came across many references of oxalic acid used to vitrify Marble. You must have come across the same references in your everyday contact with similar problems.
In my case, I believe, years of cleaning with commercial products and use of chlorine to make the marble look more white, I blame my wife mostly for that since she was pestering the cleaners that the entrance and stairs were never clean enough, have made that beautiful marble lose its smoothness and shine by erosion of the lime which makes the majority of the elements contained in it. This is why I thought of some kind of regeneration of the whole thing and started asking around for what should be done. Since the area is quite large, over 100 sqm including the steps, the professional charges are prohibitive and since I have a lot of time in my hands, as recently retired Nortel engineer, and a love of doing things myself, especially in matters I consider alive, such as wood and stone, I decided to undertake the task myself.
I do believe that after, somehow, deep cleaning the marble I will have to repolish it and vitrify it, in order to make it, some, impervious to commercial cleaners since I do not like to clean myself all that area three times a week.
I know that the best way to keep natural stone clean is mild soap (green, made from olive oil), warm water and lots of elbow grease but who has the time and the stamina to do that for all that area.
To cut my diatribe short, it is already too long, I will ask you:
What do you consider "right abrasive"? 
What do you consider as good polishing powder? and 
What kind of polishing, buffing pads are the best for this job? Alexander, Greece  

R2: We are manufacturers of polishing powder having new product specifically for black granite, a powder and a liquid used with steel wool pads. Try it out otherwise you need a solvent based wax (not acrylic) to bring out the color. Good luck! 

A 1414: I am interested in manufacturing of grinding and polishing abrasives (stones) synthetic and magnesite bond for marble and granite. Raw materials including polishing materials and its manufacturing process. Rakesh. Feb 7. Reply

R1: Sorry, just forget about it. Only few and far between professional stone refinishers know how to polish a granite surface. It is not just a question of technical means (diamond pads, polishing powder and the right machine), but, most importantly, how to use them. Call back the contractor and have him either re-polish the granite (that he obviously doesn't know how), or replace the whole thing. If not, have your lawyer handle it. You don't have to accept such an inferior workmanship, Maurizio, USA

R3: Hello Margaret, If you are going to install granite in your home it could be both good and bad. The good part is that it's a hard stone, and durable. The bad part is that it's very expensive to prefabricate. You asked about how to make your edges look good, well your edges should be bull-nosed or rounded and diamond polished and then final polished, prior to the installation. Marble wax is just a temporary fix. F. D., USA 

R1: Dear Margaret: I don't think there's a whole lot of explaining to do. A good-quality stone color enhancer applied to the edges of a stone tile (granite or otherwise) will make the edge permanently as dark as the polished surface of such tile. If, after proper curing (48 hours) you will apply a wax onto it and buff it, it will give you some sort of sheen. Ciao, Maurizio, USA

A 1164: I own a small cleaning chemical producing company and at the moment I am trying to develop a granite polishing compound to restore fine scratches on granite tiles. Since granite is a very hard rock, can you help me with information what kind of substance may polish this stone and what would be the best mesh grade to bring up the shine again?, Luty, Indonesia, Oct 31. Reply

A 1111: Can you tell me about the chemistry involved in the recrystallization process of marble polishing? Thank you very much! USA, Sept 24, Reply
R2: For starters, "Recrystallization process of marble polishing" as you say it, is an oxymoron. In fact, there's no actual polishing of the stone with the "Recrystallization"process. It's just a plain make-believe. The chemistry involved varies greatly, since there are several formulae out there, which, of course, will provide different chemical reactions and, consequently, different results. The "crystallization" process for maintenance of marble floor came along when the owners of the buildings with brand-new marble floosr got to realize that the maintenance of those "weird things" was way beyond the know-how of janitorial crews. It turned out, that marble refinishing is the very pinnacle of all the stone-related activities, since it's the only one that
demands the indepth knowledge of the different marbles, and how to deal with each one of them. It doesn't take a stone man to import hundreds of container a year, it only takes a merchant. It doesn't take a stone man to install tiles finished in some mysterious way, in some far away factory. It's not so much different from installing ceramic tiles. But when it comes to treat the stone, it takes a doctor. Building owners could not accept that. The general perception is that the activity of maintenance ranks at the very bottom of the food chain, therefore "it's gotta be cheap". What the heck did they know (or care to know) that different marbles call for different treatments? Besides, the whole thing was probably in the hands of some high-school dropout who just so happened to be in charge of maintenance of a certain building with marble in it. Therefore, the lowest bidder was the one to get the job. It was a tremendous business opportunity that did not go unnoticed by the
salesmen. "There's gotta be an easy way!" And a way that the salesmen concluded (from the heights of their in-depth stone knowledge) was easy they found. They packaged it, and off they went touting all the different concoctions their chemists came up with like "the-miracle-in-a-bottle", "the-easy-way-to-maintain-marble-that-even-an-idiot-can-do". Unfortunately, it turned out that there's no room for idiots. The general idea of "crystallization" is to use a strong acid (typically -- but not necessarily -- Hydrofluoric acid) to destroy the crystals (some crystallization!) of Calcium Carbonate in the stone and substitute them with some sort of chemical compound that would make the wax in the formula stick and give some sort of shine to the whole thing. I could be much more technical, but I don't want to be boring. With certain marbles -- that can take such a horrible chemical attack -- the process "looks" good enough to get the owner of the marble sign the check.
With certain other marbles -- that can't take that stuff -- trouble began to surface. What to do? Find a "better" formula of the same stuff, of course! What the heck do you expect from a salesman? Life's a bitch, ain't it! Damn, there's no substitute for professionalism! Ciao, Maurizio, USA,
R1: I've polished a few marble pieces over the years, and as far as I know, there is no chemistry involved.  Polishing is a mechanical process involving elbow grease. Each successive sanding grit removes the surface scratches of the previous grit, and leaves a finer scratched surface. After no. 400 grit, the scratching cannot be seen with the naked eye, after no. 900 grit the polished surface starts to appear. After 1800grit it begins to glow, and at no. 3500 grit, it is as smooth and lustrous as glass. The trick to getting a well-polished surface is to spend enough time with the coarser grits to close the surface, and remove all the pitting and bruising created in the carving process.  Of course, one can always use chemicals like oxalic acid, which dissolves the calcite, and lets it flow a bit, to help with the process, but in my experience, the best surface is the result of my diligence and effort. Good luck, JVC.  

R1: Dear Shahida: Are you a professional stone refinisher, or just a home-owner? If you're the latter, the only advice I can give you is to get hold of a good professional stone refinisher. Polishing stone is way beyond the ability of any handy-man. Maurizio, USA  

R1: Dear Jim: Travertine -- much like marble, granite, etc. -- is not polished by coating it with something, and then buffing it up. Rather it's polished by abrasion and friction, like gemstone. I know what you're thinking, you're not interested in a polished finish, all the phases of the process after the grinding and prior to the final polishing are defined as "honing". All honed finishes are obtained by abrasion and friction. You can have a "low hone" finish: a scratch-free and smooth surface with no reflection whatsoever. If you keep going through the grits of the abrasive elements (typically -- but not necessarily -- resin-bond diamond pads to be operated in the constant presence of water), you're going to get a "medium hone", kind of a satin finish, that gives you reflection as you observe the surface of the stone at a low angle. You then have a "high hone", which is almost a polish. Usually the hone finish delivered by the factory for travertine tiles is a "medium hone". You won't be able to rent a floor machine suitable for the job, nor the proper attachments and grinding / honing elements. Your only hope to do it yourself is to be friend of a professional marble refinisher who's going to lend you his equipment. Keep also in mind that whoever ground those travertine tiles must have removed a good percentage of the filler applied by the factory, therefore those tiles are now full of holes that need to be refilled. The best time to do that is after the first "hone cut", which is the one designed to remove the heavy scratch patterns left behind by the grinding action.  By the way, I'm wondering how on earth the tile setter ever ground those tiles. I mean, the first cut (grinding) is one of the two phases of the whole process (the other one being the polishing), where you separate the champs from the chomps. If the grinding is not done properly, when the project is finished (at whatever finish level) you will notice waving all over the floor. Good luck, Maurizio, USA  

R1: Dear Richard: You need a variable speed, water-fed right angle grinder with a small water-pump to feed it, a 4" or 5" "Velcro" backed attachment, and several grits (from 50 grit to 3,500) of resin-bond diamond pads (4" or 5" diameter). You then need to mask with plastic sheets the whole room, ie.floor, walls and ceiling. That's it. Oh, I almost forgot, knowing what you're doing would help, too! That is the right way to actually polish those edges. If you feel uncomfortable with the procedure above, you can try treating the
edges of those tiles with some good-quality color enhancer, followed by a couple of coating of wax for marble. It won't be an actual polishing, but the final visual result will be pretty darn good. Maurizio, USA  

R1: Dear Steve: The equipment and materials that you need are the following:
1.  A variable speed right-angle grinder / polisher.
2.  A 4" or 5" diameter "Velcro"-backed pad-holder.
3.  Several grits of resin-bond diamond pads (probably from 50 grit to 800 grit)
4.  A white nylon pad (4" or 5" diameter, to fit the pad-holder mentioned above)
5.  Some good-quality polishing powder for marble (with a low content of acid. Not any less than 5 to 4 pH)
6.  An empty spray bottle.
7.  Some tap water to be put into the empty spray bottle.
8.  Having a clue about what you're doing. Maurizio, USA