Kitchen Floor

A few months ago, I had a polished marble floor installed in my kitchen. Already, I notice a few spots that do not look right. They are not shiny like the rest and are slightly discolored. I want to fix this if possible, and then seal the floor to prevent future problems. Can you please tell me what steps i need to take, including what products to use to clean, repair, polish, and seal the floor? Also, can I use a regular broom and mop, or could this be dangerous? Thanks a bunch!

 

Dear Jason:

I'm wondering what the good folks who sold the polished marble to you and installed in your kitchen ever told you about it... But don't bother answering: I can easily guess!... :-(

 

What you're experiencing is the very same problem that anybody who installed polished marble in a kitchen is experiencing: acid etching. Of course those "weird stains" are not stains at all - rather surface damages that have no relation whatsoever to the natural (limited) absorbency rate of marble. Any acid that hits marble will corrode it because the main component of marble, calcium carbonate, is Mother Nature "neutralizer".

Orange juice, pop sodas, vinegar, drinks, lemon juice, and so on through a very long list are acidic.

Is there a remedy?

Yes, you have to repolishg the damaged surface of the stone and, as you hopefully know, stone is not polished by slapping some sealer on it, but by abrasion and friction, like gemstone. Itr's true craft and, for very good reasons, I consider it the very pinnacle of all stone related activites.

There are marble repolishing products on the market, like MB-11, that will take care of small projects involving light to medium etching on a large range of marbles, but there's no guarantee that the product will work on every marble to begin with (no two marbles polish the same way) and with all etch marks.

Other than that, only a professional stone refinisher can fix the damages.

However, a pro could only do that: restore the finish as close as possible to factory spec.

Prevention?

None whatsoever. No "miracle-in-a-bottle" (sealer) in the entire Milky Way will ever be able to do the first thing to prevent acid etchings.

And that is the very reason why polished marble does not belong in a kitchen.

 

May I ask you now to please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?   :-)

Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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