Sealing natural stone is a way to protect your stone from staining and to make your day to day cleaning easier. There is quite a lot of debate on sealing. Should you or shouldn't you seal your stone? The answer is simple. If you don't have to seal your stone, don't.

Before sealing or selecting natural stone and granite sealers, consider these things:

  -  Do I even need to seal it? How do I know? Place several drops of water on the surface of the stone and see how long it takes for the water to completely disappear. If the water absorbs into the stone under one minute, it is very porous; up to 3-4 minutes, still consider it porous. If the water beads on the surface or if it is slowly absorbed into the stone, it can be considered as having a lower porosity. A polished surface finish will be less absorbent than an honed finish.

  -  Where is my stone located and what will it be exposed to? A kitchen countertop that is used daily will need a sealer that is oil repellant. A seldom used bathroom on the other hand, will be just fine with a water repellant sealer.

  -  What do I want my stone to look like after sealing it? Do I want a low gloss or high gloss stone surface? Penetrating sealers will not alter the color of your stone while a topical sealer may.

     If you plan to seal your natural stone, there are two types of sealers available. Penetrating sealers and Topical sealers. As the names imply, penetrating sealers penetrate into the stone and topical sealers sit on top of the stone. Which one should you use?