How to care for natural stone (without ruining it)
Marble, granite, limestone, and slate all want different things. A field guide to the most expensive surfaces in your home.
Natural stone is the most rewarding surface in a home and the easiest to ruin. The same qualities that make it beautiful — that it’s porous, soft, and alive — make it vulnerable to the wrong cleaner in a way that stainless steel and laminate simply aren’t.
Here’s what each common stone actually needs.
Marble and travertine (calcium-based)
Marble is calcium carbonate. Anything acidic — vinegar, lemon, wine, tomato, most “natural” cleaners — will etch it, leaving a dull, lighter-colored mark that looks like a stain but is actually surface damage.
- Daily: warm water and a soft cloth.
- Deeper clean: a few drops of pH-neutral dish soap in warm water. Rinse with a clean damp cloth.
- Never: vinegar, lemon, bleach, abrasive powders, glass cleaner.
Granite (silicate-based)
Granite is much harder and less reactive than marble, which is why it’s the default countertop stone. It still wants a pH-neutral cleaner.
- Daily: warm water and cloth.
- Deeper clean: a drop of dish soap in water, or a dedicated stone-safe spray.
- Sealing: most granite should be resealed every 1–2 years. Spill water on it — if it darkens immediately, it’s time to reseal.
Limestone and slate
Softer and more porous than granite. Both love warm water and hate acid even more than marble does. Slate in particular can flake if scrubbed with anything abrasive.
- Daily: warm water, soft cloth.
- Never: vinegar, scouring powders, stiff brushes.
The one product we actually use
For almost all natural stone, the best “cleaner” is warm water, a soft cloth, and immediate attention to spills. When we do use a product, it’s a pH-neutral, plant-based soap — never anything acidic, never anything abrasive.
Sealing is the real protection
Cleaning is the easy part. The hard part is sealing, because a properly-sealed stone shrugs off oil, wine, and coffee instead of drinking them in. If your stone is more than two years past its last seal, that’s the single highest-leverage thing you can do for it — far more than any cleaner.
Stone care is one of our specialties. If you have marble, travertine, or another delicate surface, mention it on the contact page so we plan the right products.