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PROTECTIVES: SEALING/ IMPREGNATING NATURAL STONE SURFACES
Protectives are liquids that, when applied on stone and other material (such as cements, cotto, ceramice, terrazzo, etc.), prevent the penetration of water and oily origine stains (oil, grease, smog, food, cosmetics, soaps, etc.). As a result, the dirt remains on the stone surface but cannot penetreate inside, therefore it is possible to remove it.
HOW DO PROTECTIVES WORK?
Chemical netting is formed whereas the water drops cannot penetrate inside. However natural humidity can exit from the stone pores as water vapour. In fact, good protective products do not stop transpiration.
APPLICATION:
Sealing your stone is a simple wipe on, wipe off procedure. It's not complicated and no special knowledge is required. The key is to clean and prepare the surface for sealing, and completely remove any sealer residue from the surface after it has absorbed into the pores below the surface.
Protectives do break down and degrade over time and it's certainly much easier and far less expensive to re-seal your stone pro-actively rather than paying for the hassle of removing stains or marble restoration. Frequency of the sealer application for your particular stone depends on type of stone and type of stone finishing. More porous and frequently treated stone surfaces should be sealed every 1-3 years. Less porous stones can be sealed less frequently: every 3-5 years.
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1. Stone protector must work like an umberella: let the water vapour exit but doesn't allow the water to penetreate.
2. Water-repellency that is the "umbrella effect" is caused by the product molecules that saturate the stone porosity.
3. Water-repellent, however, is not effective against oily stains that, by their nature, manage to go through the chemical netting links.
4. It is, therefore, necessary to use a "water and oil repellent", which means a product that can form a chemical netting with more closed links, so to stop not only the penetration of water drops but also those of oils. 
HOW OFTEN SHOULD STONE BE SEALED?
