How to polish the countertop of artificial stone with your own hands?

Artificial stone is used for the manufacture of various interior items. Most often he is preferred to choosing a kitchen countertop. But even such a strong and resistant to various influences the material can be scratched, lose its attractiveness. In order for it to return its original appearance, you need to know how to polish the countertop of artificial stone with your own hands. A detailed briefing on this topic can be found in this article.

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How to polish the worktop made of synthetic stone?

To polish the top of an artificial stone, first of all, you must determine the condition of its surface for the formation of scuffs or scratches. And after that, depending on the "diagnosis", you can prescribe "treatment."

A suitable tool for doing this job is an electric grinding machine, as well as a polishing machine. In order to sand the surface, you can use two types of grinders - eccentric and rotary.

Important! The polishing machine is in its design the same angle grinder, but with the presence of a button for adjusting the speed of the rotor, with a range of 0-3000 rpm.

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How to polish?

Polishing the countertops of artificial stone with their own hands occurs in two stages.

Stage one - grinding

The consumable material is a set of replaceable abrasive wheels, which are made of a variety of grit sandpaper. Proceeding from the fact that the grinding of the artificial stone takes place in several stages - from eight to sixteen, the granularity of all the abrasive wheels gradually changes in the direction of decreasing the grains of the abrasive material.

Important! As a rule, preliminary grinding of the surface begins with the graininess of P120.And further - on increasing: Р150, Р180, Р240, Р320, Р500, Р1000, Р1500.

The greatest effect is achieved during wet grinding:

• During work under the sole of the sanding machine, you must pour a small amount of water.
• A special nozzle-sprayer, which, as a rule, is used for watering flowers or ironing linen is best for this purpose.

Important! Directional jet of air-water emulsion eliminates heating of the treated surface and cleans all abrasive from dust.

Gradual grinding of the surface of the table top with the change of abrasive wheels is necessary to prepare for the next stage, namely polishing. Each subsequent granularity softens the surface, replacing the large scratches with much smaller ones.

Important! In the end, you should get a smooth, matte-glossy surface, on which there are microscopic scratches, which you can then easily eliminate during polishing.

The second stage - polishing the

The next step is polishing the pre-prepared surface. To achieve this:

• Use a polishing machine and a nozzle in the form of a foam rubber disc with a diameter of 125-250 mm and a thickness of 30-40 mm.
• On a disc moistened with water, apply a special paste, which is designed for polishing artificial stone.
• To start the operation, without turning on the machine, lightly press the disc against the work surface, make a small amount of reciprocating movements on the surface itself, thereby evenly applying the paste to the surface of the disc.
• Begin polishing at low speed, gradually increasing the speed of rotation and varying the force of pressing the disc to the very surface of the stone. Water, which is in the foam wheel, under the influence of centrifugal forces, will be partially removed from it. The rest, along with the paste, will be distributed throughout the surface to be treated.

Important! Do not miss the very moment when the disc stops smoothly sliding on the stone. Then you will have to stop the operation, wet the disc again with water, and do not forget to apply another portion of the paste.

During the polishing with a soft dry sponge, sometimes wipe the surface to be treated and inspect at an angle to the light, determining the level of its preparedness. In the event that the preliminary grinding was carried out correctly, polishing the countertop of artificial stone with their own hands will not be a huge effort.