Limestone effervesence?

[76-1503000489]

I have recently had a taj grey tumbled limestone patio laid. Was cleaned and treated with two coats (2 litres on a 19 sq meter area) of ltp ,mattstone sealer weather dry throughout and sealer done before grouting. It looked really good, until we had to have some more cut to do the bottom step and suddenly entire patio was covered in dust again. Tilers told me to clean with hot soapy water and it would be fine. We have gotten most of the dust off but some of the stone seems a bit lighter to me (not as deep in color) and towards the end we did use some cream cleanser called Cif in the water we were cleaning with.

After some rain this week there are some lighter white patches that look like they are part of the stone is this the infamous effervesence? I got out there this morning cleaned with hot water (nothing else) and a lot of scrubbing and it's better but again it doesn't look as good as it did after the sealer. I don't know what to use next and I'm constantly looking at it anxiously instead of enjoying it! Should I buy some type of cleaner to clean it with? Reading LTP recommend their grout stone remove in a weak concentration to tackle effervesence. I could try it on a spare piece of stone I have left over but the spare stone won't have the whitish marks on it and it's still acid isn't it - however weak - which I've read some limestones can't tolerate? All i can say with 100% certainty is these whitish areas are almost in the veins of the stone (like small white wavy lines) and definitely appeared after the rain.

Any advice/thoughts really appreciated. I have read a fair amount about black kotah on here but can't see anything on the taj grey tumbled (riven) I have. Also can't see how to upload a photo from my laptop or i would.

Thank-you in advance.

[Tony McC]

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We'd need to see the affected paving before being able to comment.