Clean Tumbled Marble Stain From Bleach
by Sandra
QUESTION:My husband poured bleach on our shower floor (marble, tumbled) How can I get the brown stain out?ANSWER:Cleaning marble with bleach is a mistake as you found out. Marble is sensitive to many chemicals and products like bleach, ammonia, vinegar, etc.Essentially any food, drink or product that is either too acidic or too alkaline will damage marble. As it works out, nearly all typical generic and brand-name (409, Comet, Kaboom, Tub n Tile, etc.) cleaning products are too harsh to use for cleaning marble. You should use only products safe for cleaning marble like those we recommend. What happens is the chemical reacts with the calcium carbonate in the marble, which corrodes the marble eating away the marble surface. It's called "etching". Etching will leave dull and sometimes discolored spots, although the spots are typically lighter-colored spots... sometimes whitish. These are not stains. Stains happen when something absorbs into the marble producing a dark spot. Etching is a completely different and unrelated process. Nothing is absorbed. Nothing is "on" the marble and there is nothing to remove. It's a matter of repairing and restoring the finish on the marble. However, you can have etching and staining in the same spot. In other words, a substance could etch the marble and then absorb to also stain. Etch marks are much more noticeable on marble with a shiny "polished" finish, but when severe enough will be obvious on honed and tumbled marble finishes as well. On polished marble etch marks can be easily removed and restored using the ETCH REMOVER / Marble polishing paste. On tumbled or honed marble you'll have to either hire a marble cleaning and restoration professional to re-surface the marble or you can usually get good results doing it yourself following the instructions in the Removing Etch Marks e-book. The above product for polished marble is not suitable for honed or tumbled since it won't match the finish of a honed or tumbled surface. Now, the puzzling part about your case is the "brown" spot. There could be some oxidation occurring or the bleach may have etched and stained. You'll want to determine if the spot is lighter or darker than the marble color itself. As noted, etching produces lighter spots and stains darker spots. So, if darker, then you have a stain and etching. When cleaning marble with both a stain and etch mark you have to remove the stain first. For removing and cleaning marble stains follow directions in the Removing Granite & Marble Stains e-book. Once the stain (if any) is removed, you'll be able to assess the damage from etching and follow the procedure for marble repair detailed in the e-book. The DIY methods work very well for most etching, which tends to be mild to moderate. However, when etching is severe (as it could be with straight bleach) then a pro is often the only option to get satisfactory results. Of course, professional marble cleaning / marble repair services are expensive, so even if you think you have severe etching, it usually pays to try and fix it yourself first. Good Luck, Ryan
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