White Carrara Marble Cleaner Stains
by Jennifer
QUESTION:My friend's daughter threw up all over our white Carrara tile floor and I grabbed Fantastik of all things to clean it up - I was thinking about all the germs not the delicacy of the floor unfortunately. Now I have a germ free floor, but you can clearly see the spray marks from the cleaner. Do we need to reseal the floor or wax it? How can I get rid of these? HELP!!!ANSWER:It's more likely that the poor girl's acidic stomach contents is what damaged the floor, but the Fantastik could have too.Unfortunately, sealing and waxing have nothing to do with this issue. The marble floor has been "etched." Essentially, acidic and/or alkaline foods and cleaners will eat into and corrode the marble surface ruining the polish. The polish is created by a mechanical process involving grinding and abrasion. It is a physical characteristic of the stone and not some spray or wax applied to the surface. You're lucky though in that you probably wiped the whole thing up quickly so the damage to the marble is likely minimal. Mild etch marks can often be repaired and the polish restored with a marble polishing powder. Now you can shop at your local hardware store for one, but beware that many "marble polishes" are simply topical dressings and not designed to remove etch marks. I recommend ETCH REMOVER / Marble Polishing Paste.It's simple to use and should do the trick for you. It's the best on the market. If MB-11 doesn't work, then you'll need to hire a marble restoration professional to remove the marks and then re-polish the floor for you. For the future when cleaning marble floors use Tile Floor Cleaner. For a disastrous mess, flush with hot water first and scrub with a soft brush to remove debris. Wipe up, then use a dilute bleach solution (1/4 cup in gallon water) or hydrogen peroxide (1 cup in gallon water) to disinfect. Don't use these for regular cleaning though. Too harsh. Good Luck, Ryan |
