polishing marble for outdoors

["Clive Murray-White" <clivemw@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

Dear Robin,

I'm afraid all I can suggest is that you experiment, I do have polished
surfaces that go outside, no wax polishes just Tenax (oxalic and tin oxide
ready made) 6 coats of Tenax Hydrex (sealant) but if the client does not
keep their sculpture clean, warm water gentle soap, you will always notice a
sort of drying out of the surface.

In highly polluted areas. like near busy roads, sculptures will need to be
washed regularly.

The trouble is that you wont notice much of a change for quite few years, as
many as 4 or even more.

The staining brings in all sorts of questions, how's it behave with UV light
and so on. I'd start by placing your normal finish in daylight say on a
window sill with a bit of masking tape over one section of stained and
natural, this way you can see if the light damages the stain.

I've used a product called "Ager" again from Tenax it does not give a
polished look but more as if the stone is slightly damp it seems to stand up
to everything very well, you'd have to experiment again just in case the
solvents in it dissolve your stains.

I have found that Tenax Liquid Wax does not last very well outside, and I'd
imagine that it would be the case with all other polishes.

Anyway good luck.

Clive

Sculptor Clive Murray-White
Web: http://www.cowwarr.com/CliveMurray-White/