Stained stone hearth

[Fyzz]

My fireplace has a multi fuel stove and the hearth is made of some kind of stone. It's not sealed and has consequently become embedded with coal and other marks.
Does anyone have an idea of how to cover it without having the stove removed?
I was wondering about painting it or some kind of thin tile?

Try a mixture of white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Make a paste, leave it on then wash it off with a green sponge pan scrubber.
It worked on my DSs sandstone hearth tiles.

I have similar. Ended up having to use elbow grease (the cleaning product, not a description of effort!).

Brought it up well but would always patch test and wouldn’t use it regularly as it is quite strong.

Ive tried lots of scrubbing but will give the vinegar/bicard a go.
If, on the off chance, I manage to to it pristine, is there some kind of sealing product?

Removing the stove won't be a big job if you have to do it. We removed our own to have the hearth tiles - it was unbelievably heavy but that was the hardest bit. Our chimney sweep put it back (HETAS registered!) and didn't charge much to do it.

I don't do DIY, and physically couldn't move the stove, also it's plumbed in to a back boiler. However I guess I could ask a stove installer/ plumber to do if I have to go for tiling it.

Probably much harder if it's got a back boiler! You can seal stone - can't remember what the stuff is called, but we've sealed floors with it. We've also painted stone floors with ordinary wall paint and sealed it with floor varnish - that might work.

We've also painted stone floors with ordinary wall paint and sealed it with floor varnish - that might work.
That could work. Plenty of stone coloured paint around. Or garage floor paint? Don't know whether that has special properties.
It would be hard to make it look worse.

I believe if you use a piece of the same sort of stone (maybe easier said than done) and rub it they wear away at the same rate.

Alternatively you live with it and have stories like "that scorch mark there is when old Uncle Gustav coughed one Christmas Eve and his false teeth flew across the room and melted just there, you can still see the black mark - oh how we laughed that night...except Uncle who kept his mouth shut the whole Christmas... He was quite thin when he left."