As you know, I am always on the lookout for innovative products – new and exciting, or just flying under the radar – and I try as much as possible to ‘battle test’ things I’m not quite sure about on myself (and my two-boy destruction crew…they roll deep). I created Friday Family-Friendly Finds to share these things with you. Like expert tips and tricks, but better…actual stuff!
Anyway, if you read my post from Monday about my plans for my new carriage barn design studio, you may or may not have noticed that I failed to call out a pretty significant element on my design concept board.
Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that island countertop looks an awful lot like marble. Like, real marble from a quarry.
IT IS.
People – I am not anti-marble…not at all. I am, however, very conservative when it comes to specifying stone for client projects…and, yes, my own house. If you want marble, you’ve got to embrace the etching, the staining, and everything that’s inevitably going to happen to it. Right?
NOPE.
Antolini’s revolutionary Azerocare product is a type of sealer, but not like any you’ve ever seen. It effectively makes a porous stone non-porous – filling in all the ‘gaps,’ and preventing damage from acidic substances, and any staining agents. I first learned about it from my friend and fellow designer Linda Holt’s excellent blog post detailing her favorite products from this year’s KBIS show.
Some regular sealers do a pretty good job protecting from stains, but are virtually powerless to hold etching at bay. (Etching happens when an acidic substance, like lemon juice, tomato sauce, coffee, tea, etc., is left on a marble or quartzite surface, and leaves the surface with a changed sheen in that area – creating a ‘spotty’ look over time…at best, really). Azerocare stops BOTH staining AND etching. Stuff just beads up and wipes off – it can’t seep in and damage the stone.
Azerocare is not a sealing product that needs to be reapplied every six months, year, two years. It’s a permanent treatment. Some other nice benefits include UV resistance, anti-bacteriality (is that a word?), and what they refer to as ‘increased superficial hardness.’ It can be applied to marbles, onyx, and quartzite. And your fabricator can still do all the edge treatments!
My plan is to use a white/gray marble treated with Azerocare on the island in my new design studio. We will have coffee and tea. We will have fabric and wallpaper books banging and dragging against it. I want to see if we’re going to start putting this in kitchens. Lots of kitchens.
Stay tuned to see what happens! And PLEASE – if you are a designer who has specced Azerocare, or a homeowner who has it already…tell me what you think!