Pumice Stone Suppliers Key Terms

Understand terms related to various types of pumice sold in the U.S.
By Kristina Seleshanko Whether you're in the food, landscape, janitorial, beauty or construction business, pumice products can be a great boon. Pumice is a lightweight and porous volcanic rock created when lava shoots into the air. When the lava cools and dries, it leaves gas bubbles inside the resulting rock, making it appear even and "bubbly." Used for a wide variety of applications, pumice can appear quite different from product to product, since the lava may combine with different types of rocks. Finding the right pumice supplier offering the correct type of pumice stones is largely a matter of understanding the lingo used to describe various pumice products. So with that in mind, here are some commonly seen terms suppliers use to describe pumice.

Horticultural pumice

Horticultural pumice is natural pumice rock that's broken into bits and used to amend soil for growing purposes. This is a lesser known application for pumice, but it's growing in popularity. Pumice helps soil drain better, and you can use it to root plants or to store tubers and bulbs.
Try:  California Lightweight Pumice explains its brand of horticultural pumice in great detail.

Man-made pumice

Man-made pumice is from a laboratory, simulating the volcanic process that creates natural pumice stones. Detractors say man-made pumice is inferior, partly due to the quicker process used in labs and partly due to materials used.
Try:  Destiny Boutique discusses natural verses man-made pumice stones.

Pumicite

Pumicite is the ash of pumice stones, or small grains of pumice stone. Pumicite has several uses, including as an ingredient in household cleaners and as a construction material.
Try:  Mine-Engineer.com explains the history of pumicite in well-known household cleaners.

Grill stone

A grill stone is a pumice stone that's hand-sized. You can use it to clean grills and griddles.
Try:  Ace Mart Restaurant Supply describes and pictures a classic grill stone and explains how you can best use it.

Pumice powder

Pumice powder is ground pumice stone. People use pumice powder for household cleaning, beauty products and dental work.
Try:  J.A.W. Products pictures and describes pumice powder for professional tooth polishing.

Pumice-Crete

Pumice-Crete is a brand name for a popular blend of pumice, concrete and water. Pumice-Crete is a building material that works well because of its strength and ability to insulate.
Try:  ToolBase Services describes Pumice-Crete, including its benefits, costs and installation.