CLEANING BLACK STAR GALAXY GRANITE FOUNTAIN

[Clueless]

Aloha members and moderators,

I am hoping that someone in this forum can help me.   I have accepted the responsibility of cleaning the Black Star Galaxy Granite "Holy Water Fountain" at our church.  I have read everything I can find about cleaning granite, and although it has all been helpful none of it addresses this particular situation.  The fountain has built up limescale and hard water deposits on the upper shelf where the water flows from the top basin into the bottom basin.  l  I have yet to find anything to remove the limescale/hard water deposits that won't damage the granite.  Additionally, the oil used for baptisms leaves a film that I can't remove without detergents that are difficult to rinse off.  The fountain needs to be cleaned, emptied and refilled at least once a month.  Despite my best efforts and more than an hour of rinsing and cleaning the granite never really shines like new, and the limescale looks awful.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated (and surely rewarded by our Heavenly Father).

Mahalo (Thank you),
Clueless

[Mark D.]

I will contact the people I know at Tenax tomorrow and post you some info.
Mark

[Mark D.]

Here is the process which was recommended by Tenax:
First you have to clean off your oil deposits and sealers with an alkaline solution. Caustic soda works great for this and you can get it very inexpensively from a pool supply store. Keep the fountain moist with this allowing it to penetrate the stone. You might try wrapping it with paper towels after the application to keep the solution on the stone. This solution will dissolve waxes, oils, even sealers!

After cleaning the statue make sure it is fully dried before going to the next step.

Take Uniblack 1 from Tenax (it's like a stain for stone) and paint it on with a paintbrush. Allow it to dry and then remove it with steel wool. Now take Uniblack 2 (it's a liquid wax) and apply it to the stone. Let it dry to a haze and buff off with extra fine steel wool This will give you a nice shine.

You will find that you are only doing this whole process every few months and using just the Uniblack 2 process in between for maintenance.

We do not have this on our site yet as it is a fairly new product, but it is available for $39.90 per liter. You can call us at 800-289-6834.
Mark