Any tips for cleaning marble?

Nicki

Generally speaking marble needs to be cleaned very gently with at the most a very weak soapy solution, and ideally just hot water. It marks really really easily if the wrong cleaning products are used. I would recommend phoning a marble specialist and asking for care advice tbh (speaking as the owner of a once lovely now ruined marble work top due to cleaning with the wrong stuff!)

Psykicpup

Hubby is a stonemason making those kitchen & bathroom worktops - it really depends on what it was finished with & how dark or light a colour it is....
Nicki - let me know what has happen it might be fixable...?

Nicki

Psykicpup wrote:

Hubby is a stonemason making those kitchen & bathroom worktops - it really depends on what it was finished with & how dark or light a colour it is....
Nicki - let me know what has happen it might be fixable...?

It has apparently been "burnt" with whatever was in the cleaning solution so it has a white bloom on it, which looks like limescale but isn't. It's qiite noticeable as the marble was dark green and had quite a polished surface. I've been using some linseed oil on cotton wool to make it look better, and this works for a few days, before needing to be reapplied, but if there is a longer term solution I'd be really grateful!

rosy

I have floor tiles made of marble in my porch, they were really grubby and cleaned up brilliantly when wiped with fresh lemon juice then rinsed with soapy water. I think it's the acid in the juice that causes some kind of chemical reaction, so I don't know if it would be safe to try on a good piece of marble. It didn't seem to have any bad effect on my tiles but they were old and scuffed/ chipped a bit anyway so I reckoned it was worth the risk in my case.

mikeywills

I am sure somewhere I have heard they use hypochloric acid (excuse the spelling), chlorine type mixture to get a good sheen on granite. Most granite suppliers that I know these days care repair kits for solving problems. Don't worry too much just contact your nearest supplier I am sure they could help you.

Psykicpup

Nicki wrote:

It has apparently been "burnt" with whatever was in the cleaning solution so it has a white bloom on it, which looks like limescale but isn't. It's qiite noticeable as the marble was dark green and had quite a polished surface. I've been using some linseed oil on cotton wool to make it look better, and this works for a few days, before needing to be reapplied, but if there is a longer term solution I'd be really grateful!

Sounds to me like the sealant has lifted - but I will check with hubby tonight & get back to you ok

Psykicpup

Hubby says....:rolleyes:
Do you have a photo?- Really need to see to tell............
Where are you? (in the country)
Where abouts in/on the granite is the mark?
Do you tend to put hot things in that area?
What cleaner/chemical did the deed?
How big a piece is the granite & where in the Kitchen?
Can you remember the name of the granite is it emerald pearl?

He thinks it might have crystallized :eek:

(edited to realise this is a hearth not a kitchen but questions still appply so SORRY)

Nicki

Psykicpup wrote:

Hubby says....:rolleyes:
Do you have a photo?- Really need to see to tell............
Where are you? (in the country)
Where abouts in/on the granite is the mark?
Do you tend to put hot things in that area?
What cleaner/chemical did the deed?
How big a piece is the granite & where in the Kitchen?
Can you remember the name of the granite is it emerald pearl?

He thinks it might have crystallized :eek:

(edited to realise this is a hearth not a kitchen but questions still appply so SORRY)

Actually not a hearth either but a bathroom surface!

Not sure I can manage a photo, as I'm a bit of a technophobe! If I take one on the digital camera is it easy to upload it onto the site, and how do I do this?

We're in London

Mark is mainly around the taps and sink of a vanity unit. Nothing hot has been put there (only warm water to clean)

Not sure what did the damage. May have been "Kitchen Power cleaner" or soap or shampoo given that its a vanity unit. I'm sure it didn't help that I thought it was limescale and squirted it with limescale remover (though only left this on for a few seconds)

It's a big single piece - I'd say it was about 2m long by about 80cm wide.

Can't remember the name and have no way now of finding out. It's very dark green if that helps though.

Thanks for picking hubbie's brains for me. It would be great to have a solution as we're trying to sell at the moment, so would like it to look as good as possible for viewers!

Psykicpup

Could have been either the kitchen cleaner or the limescale remover- not much can be done I'm afraid - acids burn down into the granite
Could you replace the taps with ones with a large washer base to cover?
You could try olive oil it stains granite darker so might work but no promises..
Did you have it fitted or was it there when you bought the house?
Can you get exact measurements?

would still like a pic if poss - can someone help here please - maybe it can be polished back...........

I can recommend a company if it comes to replacing it lol - no honestly at least with measurements we can give an idea of cost

Nicki

I feared this would be the case, but thanks for checking. It does underline the original point about being very careful what you clean it with!

The mark is too big to cover with different taps. Will try the olive oil trick. As the house is on the market at the moment, I'm not going to replace the piece. We put it in about 3 years ago, and it cost an arm and a leg then, so far too expensive as a toucher-up to clinch a sale, especially as on a quick look round the house it doesn't look too bad!