Marble counter top with stains

Do you have some advice: I just finished with remodeling my kitchen on a shoe string and my son-in-law put in a gorgeous black/white marble counter top. I enjoyed for a total of a half a day. Then I spilled a glass of wine (cleaned it up immediately), and now there is this huge stain, plus several others! What do I do??? Desperate in Sterling

 

 

Dear Karina a.k.a. Desperate in Sterling (is it Sterling , MI ?):

Bad choice, alas!

The huge “stain” that you have is not any darker than the stone, but it is just dull, right?

What you have is not a stain, but surface damage: the acidity of the wine (acetic acid) corroded the surface of your marble (etch-mark). It can't be helped, and no sealer or whatnot on planet Earth, could ever do the first thing to prevent that. And… any acid will do that, not just the wine.

Since you cleaned up the spill immediately, it is probably a light etch mark and you should be able to repair it yourself with a good quality Marble Repair Kit, but the question is: why bother fixing it?

No matter what, every time you will spill anything on it you will have the same problem… Like I said, bad choice: the wrong stone in the wrong place!... L

My strong advice is that you give up the glossy surface and settle for a hone-finished surface instead. Meaning that you make the whole countertop look like your “stains”. Do you understand where I'm trying to drive? Is it beginning to make sense to you?

How can you do that?

Quite simply: by sanding your entire countertop with some good old metal-grade sandpaper. I would suggest a finish like 240 grit. (An orbital sander would be needed. Don't even think about a belt sander! You can work it wet or you can work it dry. Start with an 80 grit and then go up.)

After that, to make up for the loss of depth of color (consequent to the loss of gloss), I would apply a good quality stone color-enhancer/impregnator acid-resistant like MB-6. And of course, you will need more than ever to use specialty products for routine care.

That is the closest thing to enjoyable that you can expect from that type of stone.

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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