Black Marble Hearth

by Marie-Christine
(Bramhall, UK)

QUESTION:

Our black marble hearth has been stained by bubbles (washing up liquid--round stains). Leaving a pattern of perfectly round and slightly discoloured marks on the marble slab. Help please! Any tips to remove them? Thanks.

ANSWER:

It's a bit odd for common liquid detergent to cause this problem called "etching," so there must be some acidic or alkaline substance in the soap.

The reason this is happening is that marble is sensitive to acidic foods (coffee, alcohol, soda, fruit juice, etc.) and substances and sometime alkalines (like most cleaning products).

The marble reacts with the acidic/alkaline substance, which eats into the marble damaging the surface and leaving light dull spots.

Most likely these are very mild etch marks and you'll be able to remove them and restore the shine by using a marble polishing cream made for removing etch marks, "water spots" and scratches.

You may find a good marble polish at your local hardware store or you can order off our products page.

Let me know how it goes via the comment link at the bottom of this page.

Good Luck,
Ryan