stain on limestone fireplace

sheilavw

hi I placed a reed diffuser on the back of my hearth. I now have a beige coloured stain on the limestone at the side of the living flame fire. The reed must have touched it. Any ideas how to remove this stain? Thanks!

[Deleted User]

Not sure you'll be able to, the stone has probably absorbed the liquid albeit a tiny amount.
Scrubbing the tile will leave abrasive marks, solvent will add another layer of liquid/stain.
I wonder if a powder (kitchen type) gently brushed onto the stone, would absorb it any ??

Alnat1

I'm guessing the diffuser had a slightly oily liquid?

Try washing the area gently with warm water with a drop or two of washing up liquid, mop up with a soft dry cloth. Mix up baking soda and water to a paste (think toothpaste consistency) and gently rub over the area, leaving a thick layer over the stained area. Leave it until totally dry, maybe 24 hours. Remove as much as you can with a plastic spatula or similar that can't damage the limestone, then use a damp cloth and wipe until it's all gone. Hopefully the paste will have absorbed the grease causing the stain. It may need repeating if not totally gone.

fenwick458

try this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bar-Keepers-Friend-Surface-Household/dp/B00BLKGJ2G?th=1

sheilavw

Thanks everyone, will try these ideas

Doozergirl

Sand it!  It might seem a bit extreme but the stone was worked with to create the fireplace and it can be sanded.  It's worked well for us in the past when getting paint off windowsills etc. 

plumb1_2

I’ve used HG stone cleaner in the past with success of removing stains, you can also use a HG sealer.

fenwick458

Doozergirl said:

Sand it!  It might seem a bit extreme but the stone was worked with to create the fireplace and it can be sanded.  It's worked well for us in the past when getting paint off windowsills etc. 

I'd be careful with this, with no experience you could end up ruining it. sanding a stained area may be the easy bit, but then blending the sanded part in with the rest of the polished finish will be harder
reminds me of when I tried to remove a scratch on my van using 3M fast cut(a cutting compound), I removed the scratch in 5 minutes, but left a trail around where the scratch was originally that was impossible (to me) to blend in. in the end I got it professionally detailed and a guy turned up with 5 different machines and 25 grades of polish, and spent hours blending it.