Care & Maintenance

Warm water, a soft cloth, and, when you need more, a pH-neutral stone cleaner. That short list is deliberate: marble, travertine and most decorative stones are calcium-based, and acids dissolve calcium, so vinegar, lemon, and most multi-surface and bathroom sprays etch the finish on contact. Abrasive pads and cream cleansers scratch honed and polished surfaces alike. The routine that works: wipe spills when they happen rather than during cleaning, wash with the neutral cleaner, rinse the residue, and dry with a cloth rather than air-drying hard water onto the surface. It takes no longer than cleaning any other furniture, it just uses one correct product instead of whatever is under the sink.

Working surfaces, yes: dining tops, coffee tables that host drinks, basins and trays benefit from a penetrating (impregnating) sealer, which sits in the pores and slows the absorption of water, oil and colour without changing how the stone looks or feels. Sealing is maintenance, not armour, it buys you time to wipe a spill, it does not make marble acid-proof. Frequency depends on use and stone porosity: a simple test is to bead water on the surface; when droplets stop beading and start darkening the stone within a minute or two, reseal. Delivered pieces arrive with stone-specific guidance, and resealing is a ten-minute wipe-on, wipe-off task, not a specialist visit.

First identify the type, because the fix differs. A dark patch that appeared wet and stayed is absorption, oil or coloured liquid in the pores, and is drawn out with a poultice: a paste (commercial, or baking soda with water for oils) spread over the stain, covered, left to dry and lifted, repeated as needed. A dull, lighter mark where something acidic sat is not a stain but an etch, surface damage, not absorption, and is corrected by re-finishing that spot: polishing powder for polished stone, fine abrasion for honed. Rust and organic marks each have their own poultice chemistry. Move promptly, test any product somewhere hidden, and for large or valuable surfaces ask us before improvising, most “ruined” tops we hear about are recoverable.

On calcium-based stone, yes, and for a specific reason, not fussiness. Wine, citrus, coffee, fizzy drinks and many sauces are acidic enough to etch marble and travertine in the minutes a glass or plate sits there, and a ring-shaped etch under a wine glass is the classic result. Heat is a second, smaller issue: stone tolerates warmth well, but a pan straight from the hob can shock the surface or scorch a sealer. So: coasters under drinks, boards under citrus and hot cookware, felt pads under objects that get dragged. If that regime does not suit how you live, say so before choosing materials, finish and stone selection can lean forgiving, and honest matte surfaces wear this life far better than polished ones.

Lifted, never dragged, and lifted correctly. Dragging risks the two injuries stone actually suffers in homes: edge chips when a corner meets a threshold, and leg or joint stress when a piece is pushed against friction. Lift with the piece’s structure: tops by the slab (never by an overhang or a glued fitting), tables by the base and top together or disassembled if the design allows, and always with enough people, solid stone is heavier than its size suggests. Clear the route first, protect door frames, and put felt or glides under pieces that will be repositioned often. For heavy pieces moving between rooms or floors, the delivery-style two-to-four-person carry is the right model; ask us for the piece’s handling notes if in doubt.

Almost always, repairability is one of stone’s quiet advantages over veneered and coated furniture. Fine scratches and etch marks are removed by re-finishing the affected area: polishing compound on polished stone, controlled abrasion on honed, ideally feathered so the repair disappears. Chips on edges and corners are filled with colour-matched resin and re-profiled; on veined stone a good technician places the fill so it reads as part of the pattern. Open pits in filled travertine are re-filled the same way. Deep cracks and structural breaks are a different category and need assessment, send photographs. For significant repairs we can advise whether local stone restoration or return-to-factory work is the sensible route.

Same chemistry, higher exposure, so the same rules applied more consistently. Basins and bath surrounds meet water constantly, plus soap, cosmetics and toothpaste, several of which are mildly acidic or strongly coloured. The routine: rinse and wipe the basin after use rather than letting water and product dry on (hard-water minerals build dull film), keep the neutral cleaner in the bathroom so the aggressive spray never gets used “just once”, and reseal on a shorter cycle than furniture because water contact is daily. Standing pools around tap bases deserve a wipe. Do this and stone bathrooms age beautifully; skip it for a year and you will be re-honing rather than wiping, recoverable, but avoidable.

A short, learnable list. Acids: wine, citrus, vinegar, tomato, fizzy drinks, many perfumes and cosmetics, they etch calcium-based stone on contact. Oils: cooking oils and some hand creams migrate into pores and shadow the surface if left. Colour-loaded liquids: coffee, tea, turmeric-heavy food, ink. Very hot cookware straight from heat. And mechanically: unpadded metal objects that slide (lamp bases, trays, laptops on rough feet) and anything dragged rather than lifted. None of this forbids using the furniture, it means interposing something: a coaster, a board, a felt pad, a tray. The pieces are made for daily life; the sealer and these habits are what let daily life leave patina instead of damage.