While it seems like you should be able to clean stone with whatever the hell you want in whatever manner you want (I mean, it’s stone right?), that just simply isn’t the case. I’m gonna go ahead and guess that the old codgers you’ve talked to about this have probably told you to just use some good ol’ TSP, muriatic acid or bleach. Yeah. Right. Next time you’re over at their house take a good look at their stone floors and see what kind of shape they’re in. I’d bet my left jelly bean that they’re etched, cloudy looking and the grout is crumbling. When it comes to cleaning stone, my advice to you is to listen to what the old folks have to say, tell them you’ll take their advice, promptly disregard their advice, read my article on how to wash stone, and learn about cleaning natural stone with proper stone cleaners that won’t damage your investment.