Re: getting fruit stains out of stone
Hi Michael,
When I apply the poultice it is a wet paste, so wetting the stone first
shouldn't hurt. I cover the applied paste with the plastic to slow the
drying, because it is the drying action that seems to draw the stain out.
I am not a chemist, but the way I see it the flour and hydrogen peroxide
would seem to have an equally effective potential to draw the stain. The
liquid - be it water or hydrogen peroxide - provides a vehicle for the
'stain' to be dissolved-in so it can move out of the pores of the stone,
and the baking soda or flour provides the 'clean' place for it to move to.
The drying action in the paste or wet powder locks the materials that
make-up the stain into itself so the stone has less percentage of the
discoloring agents. Keeping the poultice paste 'wet' longer just allows
more time for the stain to be mobile so it can move into the poultice.
Repeating the process a second or third time will have a less effect than
previous times because less of the staining agents are left in the stone
and able to 'move'.
Something to consider is both distance and time. You see the stain right
now and it is very obvious while sitting on the worktable as an obvious
focal point in freshly-worked stone, but once installed In something like a
window - as part of an outdoor architectural structure - the stain or
discoloration will soon be less noticeable for a couple of reasons; first
as simply a matter of distance -- the viewers will be much farther away and
viewing the stone as part of a greater whole without focusing on slight
little discolorations, second as simply one among many -- as other 'stains'
will appear over time from airborne pollution in the form of dust,
waterborne acids in rain, and of course the organic stains from detritus
borne by the wind, flying creatures, or even crawling, web-spinning
critters.
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