Bringing a pet into the home is one of the most rewarding and personally enriching things you can do. The added responsibility may at first seem a tad daunting, but the companionship a pet offers absolutely makes it worth it. However, there is no denying one thing; pets are messy. Very messy, in fact. By and large these messes can be fairly easy to clean, but some can prove troublesome. One of the most difficult being the paw prints left behind on stone by excitable dogs or cats.
There are, thankfully, a couple of easy fixes to you can employ to solve the problem!
Firstly, there are products out there designed specifically to clean stone, which are available from certain retailers. The company Namurian produces a range of cleaners designed for use on stone; these include the low-level, interior specific Pro Wash, the mid-tier Pro Wash, and Pro Wash Heavy Duty for exterior stonework. The Pro Wash and Pro Clean products are able to be used on stone surfaces that haven’t been previously treated, which is a factor you will have to bare in mind when buying stone cleaning products. A number of companies that provide stonework will also offer guidelines on maintenance for their consumers. For example, the company London Stone has an extensive FAQ section on their website, which covers everything from the installation/maintenance of their products, to whether or not they are ethically sourced.
If however you need a quick fix for your paw print problem, there is a simple home remedy that may do the trick; vinegar, specifically white or distilled malt vinegar. Rubbing a little bit into the affected area of the stone should bring up any dirt, grime, and yes, paw prints too! It is worth noting, however, that depending on the type of stone and whether or not it’s been treated (or how it’s been treated), using vinegar may cause undesired reactions with the stone surface such as discolouration. A quick Google search to see how the kind of stone you have reacts to acid is something we advise before trying it.