Cleaning Grout In Tumbled Marble Mosaic Shower

by Michelle
(Toronto, Ontario)

QUESTION:

I have pale green tumbled marble mosaic floor for my shower. The grout is dirty. I was told not to put anything but mild cleanser on the marble. How do I clean the grout without using a cleanser? What product do you recommend for cleaning the tiles? Can I use a diluted bleach solution?

ANSWER:

Using cleaners specially formulated for marble is good advice in general; however, it mainly applies to polished marble surfaces. The reason is that marble is sensitive to acids (many foods and drinks) and alkaline substances (most cleaners) and will "etch" or corrode on contact destroying the polish.

But your marble has a tumbled surface, which is even more rough than a honed surface. Tumbled marble will still etch, but you simply don't notice it as much or at all, especially when a solution is applied uniformly over an entire surface.

To be clear, when a polished marble surface is etched it becomes rough like a honed or tumbled surface. Contact with an acid/alkaline may still show some damage on a honed surface, but the acid/alkaline substance simply wouldn't change the nature of the tumbled surface enough to notice, unless possibly it occurred in only one spot where the chemical sat for quite awhile or stained the stone. So, the rules for cleaning products can be relaxed a bit for honed and tumbled marble surfaces.

You can use a mild bleach solution on the tumbled marble and dirty grout. It should do the trick without harming your tumbled marble. I'd be careful though if you have a polished stone on the walls.

Limited contact with a mild dilute bleach solution would not typically cause much etching on polished marble, but you simply can't predict how any one stone will react, so it's always best to test the solution or product on some left over tiles.

I would also test the bleach solution on some of the left over tumbled marble mosaic tiles, but really these shouldn't have any problem with it.

I would not use the bleach solution for regular cleaning though. For regular shower cleaning I recommend MB-3 Soap Film/Shower Cleaner (under Bath & Shower). This product line is the best on the market and it won't etch your stone, so it's much better for regular use.

Let us know how it works out via the comment link below.

Good Luck,
Ryan



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