Marble Cleaning Cat Pee Stain
by Ben
QUESTION:Had a round-based lamp on brown marble top. Granddaughter's aged cat peed on marble without our knowledge. The urine basically dried around the lamp base. Round urine mark seemingly cannot be removed. Please help.ANSWER:The urine has etched and possibly stained the marble.A "stain" is a mark (darker and discolored) left from a substance absorbed into the marble and "etching" is also a mark (lighter and dull), but nothing is absorbed. Etching is more like a burn where the marble has been physically damaged by a reaction with the acidity of the urine. The acid eats into the marble. Most likely the pee has just etched the marble since polished marble is not very absorbent; however, since it was left to dry it may have stained as well. If so.... You will need to remove any urine staining the marble and also treat the etch marks to restore the color and shine. Remove The Stain You'll make and apply a poultice. Buy 12% Hydrogen Peroxide (online or at a beauty supply store... the 3% kind at your drug store is too weak) and mix with talc powder into a paste like peanut butter. You can purchase both easily from our products page. Apply the poultice to the marble stain with a plastic spatula about 1/2 inch thick and 1/2 inch border. Cover the poultice with plastic wrap, seal the borders with masking tape and let sit for 24 hours. Take the plastic off, but do not touch the poultice. Let that dry out completely for another 24 hours then scrap off with spatula and clean. A poultice often needs to be applied a few times to get a stain out, but if your first poultice does not improve or change the stain at all, then most likely the marble is only etched and not stained. Remove Etch Marks You may have to call a professional if the etching is severe (dull and rough), but might as well try using a marble polishing cream first that you can buy at some hardware stores (most are not the "right" kind) or online at our products page. If the spot is definitely lighter in color than the marble then you can probably forget about the poultice and just go straight to the marble polish, but you'll want to do the poultice first if necessary because it can cause some mild etching as well (no avoiding if stained)... so polishing is the last step. Hope that helps and let us know the results via the comment link on the bottom of this page. Good Luck, Ryan |
