Author: steven

Walk into any stone care supplier, browse any trade website, or pick up almost any sealer in the surface care market and you’ll see it. Nano protection. Nano technology. Nano seal. Nano guard.

It’s everywhere. And nobody — not the suppliers selling it, not the contractors buying it, not the end users paying for it — is asking the obvious question.

Where’s the nano?

We read the SDS sheets so you don’t have to. Here’s what we found.

What Nanotechnology Actually Means

Nanotechnology is the manipulation and engineering of matter at a scale of 1 to 100 nanometres. To put that in context, a human hair is approximately 80,000 to 100,000 nanometres wide. A single red blood cell is around 7,000 nanometres. We’re talking about engineering at a scale that is genuinely extraordinary — and genuinely expensive.

At the nanoscale, materials behave differently to their bulk equivalents. Nano-engineered silica particles, for example, can penetrate stone pore structures at a molecular level and bond within them in ways that conventional particle-size chemistry cannot replicate. Nano-fluoropolymer particles can deliver water and oil repellency at concentrations that would be ineffective at larger particle sizes.

This is real science. It exists. It works. And it costs serious money to produce, stabilise, and deliver in a commercial product.

A genuinely nano-engineered surface care product reflects that cost. When you see nano claims at mainstream price points — and particularly when you see them on products that haven’t disclosed any nano-specific chemistry — it’s worth asking what you’re actually paying for.

The SDS Sheet — Your Most Important Tool

Every professional cleaning and sealing product sold in the UK and EU is legally required to have a Safety Data Sheet — an SDS — produced to a standardised 16-section format under REACH Regulation 1907/2006.

Section 3 of every SDS must disclose the composition of the product — every significant ingredient above regulatory disclosure thresholds, with its CAS number, concentration range, and hazard classification. This is a legal requirement. Manufacturers cannot omit significant ingredients. They cannot hide an active component that is present at a meaningful concentration.

The SDS is the most honest document a manufacturer produces about their product. It’s written for regulators and safety professionals, not for marketing purposes. And it tells you, with legal precision, what is actually in the bottle.

If a product genuinely contained engineered nanoparticles at a concentration sufficient to deliver the protection being claimed on the label, those nanoparticles would appear in Section 3 of the SDS with a CAS number.

This is where the nano story in stone and wood care gets very interesting indeed.

What You Actually Find in “Nano” Cleaners

Look at the SDS of products marketed as nano cleaners in the stone, tile, and wood care sector and the picture is consistent. You’ll find some variation of the following: water as the primary carrier, a surfactant system — ethoxylated alcohols, alkyl polyglucosides, or similar chemistry — sometimes a glycol ether co-solvent to assist penetration, sometimes a fragrance, sometimes a preservative or biocide.

These are conventional cleaning formulations. Good ones, often — surfactant chemistry is well understood and genuinely effective at lifting soiling from hard surfaces. But they are not nanotechnology. The nano claim adds nothing to the formulation, nothing to the cleaning performance, and nothing to the value of the product. It adds to the price.

Some nano-labelled cleaners in our sector also contain methanol — present as an impurity from cheap industrial ethanol used in the formulation. Methanol is genuinely toxic. It absorbs through the skin, metabolises to formaldehyde and formic acid in the body, and presents a real concern for professional cleaners using products repeatedly in enclosed spaces. A product with methanol in the SDS and nano on the label should prompt some serious questions about where the manufacturer’s priorities lie.

The cleaner you want for daily stone and tile maintenance is pH neutral, low residue, and honestly formulated. Faber AlgaFloor — pH 6.5, no rinse required, fully disclosed ingredients — costs less than 3p per litre of working solution at the recommended daily dilution. No nano required.

What You Actually Find in “Nano” Sealers

Sealer SDS sheets tell an equally consistent story.

The majority of solvent-based sealers marketed with nano claims contain a hydrocarbon solvent system — typically C9-C13 isoalkane fractions, white spirit derivatives, or turpentine substitutes — making up anywhere from 45% to 85% of the product by weight. A co-solvent such as butyl acetate or a glycol ether. And an active sealing ingredient — typically a fluoropolymer, silane, or siloxane — present at relatively low concentration and often described only generically in the SDS.

The hydrocarbon carrier is doing the delivery work. It carries the active ingredient into the stone pore structure and then evaporates, leaving the active chemistry behind. This is proven, well-established sealer technology. It works. It has worked for decades. But it is not nanotechnology.

The VOC content is the tell. Products with 80%+ VOC content by weight — classified as flammable liquids under UN1993 for transport — are overwhelmingly solvent carrier systems. Genuine nano-particle chemistry in surface care tends toward water-based or low-VOC systems, because nanoparticles can be stably dispersed in water without aggressive hydrocarbon carriers.

A product sitting at over £100 per litre, carrying a prominent nano claim, with VOC content above 80% and an ingredient list dominated by C9-C13 hydrocarbons and butyl acetate, is a solvent-based impregnator. Potentially an excellent one — the active chemistry it carries may perform very well. But the nano on the label is a marketing decision. It is not a chemistry decision.

What Honest Formulation Disclosure Actually Looks Like

To understand why the nano habit matters, it helps to look at what fully transparent chemistry disclosure looks like in practice. We stock Faber Chimica’s professional range, and their SDS sheets across the sealer product line are instructive — not because their products are perfect, but because every ingredient is named, every concentration is declared, and nothing hides behind a marketing word.

Take Faber Protex, a fast-drying solvent-based stain protection treatment for marble, granite, and natural stone. The SDS is completely direct. The primary ingredient is n-butyl acetate at 94–98% — the solvent carrier. Supporting it is a small fraction of C11-14 hydrocarbon isoalkanes and dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether. It ships as UN1123, Butyl Acetates Solution, a Class 3 flammable liquid. Protex doesn’t call itself nano. It doesn’t need to. It’s a fast-drying solvent impregnator, and the SDS tells you exactly that.

Now look at Faber P147 Plus, a solvent-based tonalising treatment for absorbent surfaces. The formulation is more complex: propylene glycol methyl ether acetate as the primary carrier at 30–35%, C9-C11 hydrocarbon isoalkanes at 21–25%, methyl acetate at 2.5–3%. Then, disclosed individually with CAS numbers, come the more interesting components: decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) at 1–1.5% — flagged as a PBT substance — methanol at 0.5–0.6% with full toxicological data, and two cyclosiloxane components at trace concentrations, disclosed as PBT, vPvB, and endocrine disrupting. The SDS states this directly in Section 2.3. Faber doesn’t hide the regulatory complexity of these ingredients behind a nano label. They disclose it and let the professional decide.

Faber Wet Look Eco moves to water-based chemistry entirely. The primary active is poly amino functional siloxane, hydroxy-terminated — a silicone polymer — at 13.5–15%, with triethoxyoctylsilane as the penetrating silane component at 4–4.5%. The functional ingredients are named precisely. Not flammable, no UN number, no hydrocarbon carrier. It doesn’t claim nano. It tells you it contains triethoxyoctylsilane, and triethoxyoctylsilane is what does the work.

Faber Hidro 150, a water-based stain-proof impregnator, takes the disclosure further still. The active chemistry is tripotassium propylsilanetriolate — an alkali metal silanetriolate — at 1–1.5%. This is the molecule that bonds within the stone pore structure and creates the hydrophobic barrier after application. It’s present alongside propan-2-ol at 1–1.5% as a co-solvent, 1-methoxy-2-propanol at a trace fraction, and IPBC — a biocide — at below 0.05%. The full hazard profile of that biocide, including its aquatic toxicity and sensitisation classifications, is disclosed. Incombustible. pH 11 at 5% concentration. No nano claim. Just chemistry, named.

And Faber Hidro Protector MM, their eco-friendly water-based impregnator, goes further in a different direction entirely: sodium silicate at 21–22.5%, in a water carrier, with no organic solvents whatsoever. Inorganic mineral chemistry. pH 10–11. The ingredient is sodium silicate and the SDS says so.

This is what the range looks like when a manufacturer tells you what is in the bottle. Solvent-based systems are named as solvent-based. Water-based silane chemistry is identified by the specific silane molecule. Inorganic chemistry is disclosed as inorganic. PBT substances are flagged. Biocides are declared. Nothing is summarised as nano.

The Comparison That Matters

Now hold that picture — five products, five fully disclosed formulations, five entirely different chemistry approaches for five different applications — and go back to the Lithofin NanoTOP SDS we looked at previously.

NanoTOP is a product literally named for its nano claim. The SDS shows hydrocarbons C9-C10 isoalkanes at 45–50%, n-butyl acetate at 15–20%, further C11-C13 isoalkane fractions at up to 20%, and a glycol ether carrier. VOC content: 80.5% by weight. Transport classification: UN1993, flammable liquid. Flash point: flammable. The word nano appears nowhere in Section 3. No nanoparticle CAS number. No engineered nano-silica. No nano-fluoropolymer. The active sealing ingredient — whatever is carrying the actual sealing function — is present in undisclosed form within a predominantly hydrocarbon solvent system.

It retails at over £100 per litre.

Compare that to Faber’s range. Hidro 150 names its active ingredient — tripotassium propylsilanetriolate — tells you its concentration, its pH, its hazard profile, and its transport classification. Wet Look Eco names triethoxyoctylsilane and poly amino functional siloxane and tells you the same. Hidro Protector MM tells you it’s sodium silicate and nothing else of significance.

None of these products claims nano. All of them tell you what the chemistry is.

This is not an argument that Lithofin make a bad product. NanoTOP may perform excellently as a solvent-based impregnator. The point is simpler than that: the word nano on the label and nothing in the SDS to support it is a gap between marketing and chemistry that every professional using these products deserves to understand.

Why the Cyclosiloxane Disclosure Matters Particularly

One detail from the P147 Plus SDS is worth pausing on, because it illuminates something important about what transparent disclosure looks like even when the news is complicated.

P147 Plus contains decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and two related cyclosiloxane components — OttmethylCiclotetrasilossano and Dodeca Metil Cicexasilossano — in trace concentrations. All three are on the REACH Candidate List. D5 is classified as a PBT substance. The cyclotetasiloxane is flagged as a PBT, vPvB, and endocrine disrupting substance. Faber discloses all of this in Section 2.3 and Section 3 without ambiguity.

Now consider: siloxane chemistry is frequently present in premium “nano” sealers — it’s one of the chemistries that nano marketing often gestures toward, implicitly or explicitly. If those sealers contain D5 or related cyclosiloxanes without disclosing them, that’s not just a marketing problem. It’s a regulatory compliance problem. And the contractor applying the product — often in enclosed commercial kitchen stone areas, hotel lobbies, or bathroom installations — has no way to make an informed assessment of occupational exposure if the ingredients aren’t declared.

Honest SDS disclosure protects the professional using the product. The nano label does not.

What Good Sealer Chemistry Actually Looks Like

Professional stone sealers work through a small number of proven mechanisms. None of them require a nano claim to justify their performance. The Faber range makes this concrete.

Silane and siloxane impregnation is the workhorse of professional stone protection. The mechanism — silane molecules penetrate the pore structure, react with the mineral substrate, and form a hydrophobic barrier below the surface — is fully understood, extensively researched, and completely effective. Faber Hidro 150 delivers this through tripotassium propylsilanetriolate. Faber Wet Look Eco delivers it through triethoxyoctylsilane. Both SDS sheets name the chemistry. Neither calls it nano.

Inorganic mineral consolidation through sodium silicate — as in Hidro Protector MM — is a different mechanism entirely. The silicate penetrates and reacts with the substrate itself, binding fine particles and consolidating the pore structure. It’s particularly effective against rising damp in dense natural stone. No organic solvents, no VOCs, genuinely eco. Still not nano.

Solvent-carried impregnation — as in Protex and P147 Plus — uses a hydrocarbon or ester carrier to deliver the active chemistry more aggressively into denser stone pore structures. The solvent evaporates; the active remains. Proven, fast, effective for difficult substrates. Honestly described in the SDS.

When you know what the active chemistry is — because the SDS tells you — you can choose the right product for the surface, the application, and the occupational environment. A solvent-based impregnator is not the right choice in a poorly ventilated space with prolonged application time. A water-based silane system is not the right choice on a very dense, low-porosity stone where solvent carry is needed to achieve penetration. These are professional judgements. They require professional information. The word nano gives you none of it.

Why Nobody in the Industry Talks About This

The surface care sector has quietly adopted nano as a premium signifier in the same way the food industry adopted artisan or the cosmetics industry adopted clinical. It implies advanced technology, superior performance, professional-grade results. It justifies a higher price point. And nobody upstream has an incentive to question it.

Distributors don’t ask because the margin is good. Retailers don’t ask because the word sells. Contractors don’t ask because they trust the brand. End users don’t ask because they assume someone upstream has done the due diligence.

Nobody reads the SDS.

This isn’t unique to any one brand or any one product. It is an industry-wide habit. Some of the most respected names in stone and wood care use the word nano on products whose SDS sheets contain no nano-specific chemistry whatsoever. They do so because it works as a marketing tool, because there is no regulatory definition of nano in the surface care sector that would prevent them, and because nobody is asking the question.

We’re asking the question.

How to Evaluate Any Stone or Wood Care Product

Before purchasing any cleaner or sealer — nano claim or otherwise — apply this process.

Request the SDS. Every supplier is legally obliged to provide it. If they won’t, that tells you something.

Look at Section 3. What is the carrier system — water or solvent? What are the active ingredients? Are they specifically named with CAS numbers? Is anything that would justify a nano claim — engineered nanoparticles, reactive nano-silica, nano-fluoropolymer — actually disclosed? Or is Section 3 a list of hydrocarbon solvents and generic carriers?

Look at Section 9. What is the flash point? What are the VOCs? A flash point in the low twenties and a flammable liquid classification confirms a hydrocarbon carrier. A product that is incombustible with no flash point is water-based. These are not minor details — they affect storage, handling, and application safety.

Look at Section 2.3. Are there PBT substances? Endocrine disrupting components? Candidate List substances? A manufacturer who discloses these honestly is giving you information you need. A manufacturer who doesn’t disclose them may have more to hide than a nano claim.

Look at the price relative to the disclosed chemistry. Does what’s in the bottle justify what’s on the label?

A cleaner built on citric acid, surfactant, and a grease-cutting agent is a cleaner. A sealer built on hydrocarbon solvents carrying a silane or fluoropolymer active is a penetrating impregnator. Both can be excellent products for the right application. Neither is nanotechnology — and neither needs to be to do its job well.

What We Stock and Why

At HF Flooring Supplies we stock Faber Chimica’s professional cleaning and surface care range alongside Arboritec wood floor treatments because these brands don’t rely on marketing language to justify their products. Their SDS sheets are complete. Their TDS sheets give real dilution ratios, real coverage figures, and real application guidance. Their chemistry is engineered for specific surface types and specific problems — and the SDS tells you exactly what that chemistry is, including where it’s complicated.

Full SDS and TDS documentation is available for every product we sell. For trade pricing and accounts visit hfflooringsupplies.co.uk or contact us directly.

Read the SDS. Know what you’re buying. Your surfaces — and your margins — will thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does nano mean in stone sealers?
Nanotechnology refers to particles engineered at 1–100 nanometre scale. In genuine nano sealers these particles would penetrate stone at a molecular level and bond within the pore structure — and would be disclosed in Section 3 of the SDS with a CAS number. Most products using the word nano in stone care are conventional silane, siloxane, or fluoropolymer sealers in a hydrocarbon or water carrier. The word nano has no regulatory definition in the surface care sector and is widely used as a marketing term without supporting chemistry.

How can I tell if a stone sealer actually contains nano chemistry?
Request the Safety Data Sheet and look at Section 3. Genuine nano-engineered particles would be disclosed with a CAS number. If Section 3 lists only hydrocarbon solvents and generic carrier chemistry with no specifically named active sealing ingredient, the nano claim has no chemical basis. For comparison: Faber Hidro 150 names its active ingredient as tripotassium propylsilanetriolate with CAS number 93857-00-2. That’s what transparent disclosure looks like.

What is an SDS sheet and why does it matter?
A Safety Data Sheet is a legal document required under REACH Regulation 1907/2006 for all professional cleaning and sealing products. Section 3 must disclose all significant ingredients above regulatory thresholds with CAS numbers and concentrations. It tells you exactly what is in a product regardless of what the marketing material claims. Section 2.3 discloses PBT substances, vPvB substances, and endocrine disruptors. Section 9 gives you physical properties including VOC content and flash point. The SDS is the most honest document a manufacturer produces about their product.

Are nano stone sealers worth the money?
That depends entirely on whether the product genuinely contains nano-engineered chemistry — which you can only establish by reading Section 3 of the SDS. Most products marketed as nano sealers are conventional solvent-based impregnators. They can be excellent products. But a well-formulated silane or siloxane impregnator with transparent, fully disclosed ingredients at a fair price will outperform an overpriced product with a nano label and no supporting chemistry in the SDS. Read the SDS first. Always.

What is the best stone sealer for natural stone in the UK?
It depends on stone type, finish, porosity, and application environment. Faber Chimica’s professional sealer range spans water-based silane chemistry, inorganic mineral impregnation, and solvent-based penetrating treatments — all with fully disclosed chemistry and complete SDS documentation. Contact HF Flooring Supplies for advice on the right product for your specific surface.

What is silane siloxane sealer and how does it work?
Silane and siloxane sealers are penetrating impregnators that enter the pore structure of stone and react with the mineral substrate to form a water and oil repellent barrier below the surface. Silanes are smaller molecules that penetrate more deeply into dense stone; siloxanes work effectively closer to the surface on more porous substrates. Both are proven, well-understood sealing technologies that do not rely on nano claims to justify their performance. Faber Hidro 150 uses tripotassium propylsilanetriolate; Faber Wet Look Eco uses triethoxyoctylsilane. The SDS names both.

Can I use a daily floor cleaner on natural stone?
Yes, but it must be pH neutral. Acidic cleaners etch polished marble, limestone, and travertine. Alkaline cleaners used repeatedly can strip impregnating sealers over time. A genuinely pH neutral cleaner such as Faber AlgaFloor at pH 6.5 is safe for daily use on all sealed natural stone, polished porcelain, and glazed ceramics. At the recommended dilution AlgaFloor costs less than 3p per litre of working solution.

Why does mould keep coming back in tile grout?
Bleach-based mould removers decolourise mould at the surface but do not penetrate deeply enough to kill the full colony within porous grout. The dead organic matter then feeds the deeper mould growth, which re-establishes often faster than before. The correct approach is alkaline deep cleaning to physically lift the mould from the grout body, followed by an impregnating sealer to close the pores and prevent re-establishment.

What is the difference between a cleaner and a sealer for stone floors?
A cleaner removes soiling from the surface or pore structure of stone. A penetrating impregnator enters the pore structure and creates a water and oil repellent barrier that makes the stone easier to clean and more resistant to staining. The stone should be thoroughly cleaned before sealing and a suitable maintenance cleaner used regularly after sealing to preserve the treatment.