Araucaria Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I have just finished helping the local tiler lay a limestone floor in our barn conversion: it went very well and looks very nice.There is, however, a faint haze of grey grouting on nearly all the stones. The tiler has said that in a couple of days it will be possible to clean the stones with an (unspecified) "produit" to get this off. I am faintly worried that he may not have tried cleaning limestone flags before, and that the produit will turn out to be an acid-based cleaner suitable for tiles. I gather that acids shouldn't be used on limestone (or marble).Does anyone know what the suitable French cleaning product would be?The flagstones are "calcaire du causse" from Ets Granier - largest 60cm x 40cm down to 20cm x 20cm, laid in an opus romain pattern (though I don't suppose this makes any difference!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJT Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Hi, I am certainly no expert and in fact if I am remembering correctly I believe Claire is because she used to work for a stone tiling company. However, I thought I would offer some info. In fact late this afternoon I received two pallets of stone tiles, sadly many are broken and even more have the corners broken off. But that is another story.[:(]From what I have been told you really need to seal them prior to grouting. I know that is difficult because broken tiles aside I would not do it and I have not asked the tiler to do it. In the UK one of the better albeit more expensive products is called HG. Laypeyre sell them. I tried to find it on their website to give you a link but they don't show it but they do have them in their catalogue if you have one near you.They have a product specifically for cleaning grout off natural stone. Perhaps you can buy this cleaner and depending on if your stone is mat (honed) or polished shiny or brushed and tumbled, you could use their impregnator or anti-tach product to make them impermeable to water and stains. They really do need sealing. If they are polished or brushed the latter would be best and if they are really porous you are advice to use the impregnator and then the anti tach product but I wasn't aware of this and my porous travertine in the UK has been fine with just the impregnator. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I agree with WJT and would use HG "Cement and lime film remover" (follow instructions carefully re protection) then "Impregnator", possibly followed by "stain protector" for a belt-and-braces approach.Try this page: http://en.fr.hg.eu/wizard-shop/index/id/4873/Floors/_flooring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 Clairthanks, that's just what I wanted, and it says quite clearly that it's acid free. But I couldn't see any links on that site to HG's retailers.Have you any idea who sells their products? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 Ahhh - sorry - should have read more ccarefully. I see WJT says Lapeyre. One nearby and I'll try it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 [quote user="Araucaria"]Have you any idea who sells their products?[/quote]The Bricorama near us used to sell the HG range, but I haven't been there for a while and I don't know if they sell it nationwide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 ClairSorry to labour the point, but the HG website links don't go right through to the actual product, only the index page. Here's the French equivalent to what you suggested:http://fr.hg.eu/wizard-shop/index/id/28426/Sols_et_revetements_de_sols And the product that I found appears to be called "HG nettoyant special voile de ciment et tarte". It says it is for use on (inter alia) "pierre naturelle calcaire".I went along to Lapeyre and explained it was for a natural limestone floor. The man there got out the Lapeyre catalogue (Salles de bains p332) and said I needed some stuff called "HG dissolvent voile de ciment extra". He was quite insistent and he pointed out that the Lapeyre catalogue says it is for "nettoyage de tous carrelages et outils" - it says all tiles, doesn't it? He said. Coming back home I found that on the HG website it comes under "dalles et carrelages de sol non emailles, tels que les gres cerame".They didn't have it in stock anyway so he has ordered it, but I think I'd better go back on Friday, cancel that order, and ask for the "nettoyant special". But maybe Lapeyre don't sell it after all? What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 The "HG dissolvant voile de ciment extra" is recommended for glazed floor and walls tiles (céramique). See here for details in English and here for consumer info in English.."HG Marble Cement and Lime Film Remover" is called "HG dissolvant ciment et chaux pour marbre & pierres naturelles" in French. See consumer info in English here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 ClairThanks again for being so helpful. But I couldn't find quite the French words you quote on the French version of the HG website. I found the English one you mention.Do you think this is this the stuff?[IMG]http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/Vanman15/HG-1.jpg[/IMG]I thought that maybe it looks like it was. And "cement and lime film remover" would also be "nettoyant voile de ciment et tartre" if my dictionary isn't misleading me!I'm sure you understand that I really want to be able to insist on exactly the right product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 [quote user="Araucaria"]I couldn't find quite the French words you quote on the French version of the HG website. I found the English one you mention[/quote][IMG]http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q296/clair46/HG.jpg[/IMG]It seems to be the same product with a different name, possibly used in another country [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Thanks Clair, that's cleared things up - Belgium vs France! And it's certainly the right product.Now all I've got to do is get Lapeyre to get it for me. And cancel the previous order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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