Cleaning Marble Shower Dark Spots

by Jamie
(Suffolk County, NY)

QUESTION:

I have a marble shower (white white gray veins). The tile is starting to darken significantly (but only toward the shower floor, not on the higher tiles). I asked my cleaning woman to use water only to clean the walls, but I am wondering if she has used vinegar, or perhaps something with bleach. Could either vinegar or bleach darken the tile? Thank you.

ANSWER:

As you know, vinegar and bleach should not be used to clean marble because these products will etch and dull marble, but they do not make marble darker.

Etching causes dull and often lighter spots on marble. These are not as noticeable on white marble, so I don't think this is the issue.

For cleaning you should be using marble safe cleaners like MB-5 Stone cleaner for general use, MB-3 for soap scum and MB-9 for mildew.

White marble will look darker when wet and/or saturated with water. You may be getting water behind the tiles.

Do the dark areas show any kind of pattern? Only one spot, area or side of the shower? All around the bottom like a border?

Check for cracks, chips or voids in the grout. These will need to be repaired. If possible, do not use the shower for 3 or 4 days to let it dry out and see if you notice any difference.

Other than that, I couldn't say what the cause may be without a picture or more specific details.

Regards,
Ryan

P.S. Get all the facts, answers, explanations and simple solutions with step-by-step instructions in Cleaning Marble Secrets the complete marble maintenance manual.

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