Stone is patient.

The daily habit.

Most stone never needs more than warm water and a soft cloth. Wipe spills as they happen, not at the end of the day. Avoid leaving wet rings, lemon slices, or vinegar-based cleaners on the surface — even on engineered stone, an aggressive cleaner shortens the polish.

Do

• Warm water, mild dish soap, soft cloth
• Stone-safe pH-neutral cleaner once a week
• Use trivets, boards and coasters
• Blot spills immediately

Don’t

• Vinegar, lemon, bleach, ammonia, oven cleaner
• Generic bathroom or grout cleaner
• Scouring pads, steel wool
• Leaving wet cloths or sponges in contact

Natural stone.

Marble, limestone, travertine and onyx are calcium-based and porous. They will etch on contact with acids — lemon juice, wine and tomato most commonly — even when sealed. This is part of living with the material. Granite, basalt and bluestone are denser and more forgiving, but still benefit from sealing.

Re-seal natural stone every 12–24 months depending on use. We can do this for you, or hand you the right impregnating sealer and a five-minute walk-through.

Engineered quartz.

Reconstituted stone is essentially quartz crystal in a resin matrix. It does not need sealing and is highly stain-resistant. The resin, however, is heat-sensitive: never put a hot pan or oven tray directly on the surface. UV exposure can dull the resin over years — for outdoor work, we’ll spec porcelain instead.

Large-format porcelain.

Porcelain is the toughest surface in our range — UV-stable, heat- resistant, scratch-resistant. Effectively maintenance-free. Treat it like a really good ceramic plate: it will only fail if you drop something very hard on a corner, very directly. Indoor and outdoor finishes are cleaned the same way: water, mild detergent, soft cloth.

If something spills.

Acidic spill on marble: rinse with water, dry with a soft cloth. If an etch mark remains, call us. Light etching can be polished out on site; deeper etching may need a re-hone. Do not try to scrub it out with abrasive cleaners.

Oil or food stain on a porous stone: cover with a poultice of baking soda and water, leave overnight under cling film, then rinse. Wine on sealed stone usually lifts with warm water if blotted within minutes.

Sealing & resurfacing.

Every Pure Design install leaves our shop sealed. We schedule the first re-seal at 18 months for kitchens and 24 months for vanities. After many years — or a domestic disaster — most natural stones can be re-honed in place: a one-day job for a benchtop, a two-day job for a full bathroom.

Need a quote on a re-seal or re-hone? Send us a photo and the dimensions.