Can Lysol damage a slate floor & how do I now fix it?
Most natural stone has to be sealed — especially in an area like a foyer where there’s going to be moisture and dirt dragged in regularly. Stone sealants contain organic chemicals (like wax) which can be damaged by solvents like alcohol. Check the can of Lysol and you’ll see that alcohol is one of the ingredients. Leaving the Lysol on the sealant hazed the wax by partially dissolving it. What you’re probably going to need to do now is to remove the sealant and re-seal the floor. If you want to try the “quick, lazy and easy” approach (that’s the way I always go first) then just try stripping the one tile and resealing it. If it looks clean and shiny compared to the other tiles, then…. you’re gonna have to do the whole area. Cheers.
Because slate is porous, it can stain but worse, it becomes brittle with extended exposure to water. Brittle slate breaks (and it already took long enough to build the cathedrals) so sealing slate has been a longstanding practice. Wax worked wonders until polyurethane was born… then she assumed the job. Thing is, wax needed attention to keep a shine which essentially resealed with each application… good for protection. Poly, on the other hand has a shine up until… well, your dog and lysol find their way into a crack. I bet you find the white gives way to a flakey or not-so-shiney or yellowish spot…. this is where the poly finish has given way enough to let the fluid in. Depending on what chemicals (ammonia of dog or germicide of lysol) got through, you may or may not have a discoloration until the rest of the stone is exposed and all of it cleaned uniformly and a new seal covers it all again. Here are your choices: 1)l ive with the compromised sealant understanding it will harb
