etching on marble countertop

I have studied your website before we decided to get marble in our kitchen, & many times since, & purchased your cleaning products. Our marble was installed the first of May, 2008. I thought I was open to the European thinking, rather than trying to keep it looking new. However, this morning some lemon juice got on it in spite of my trying to keep it all in the sink when making a recipe. The etching does not look good to me. I'm having trouble finding your comments on this. If I remember correctly, there is nothing I can do about it. Please respond.Also, you have said getting food stains out is child's play. I think you were talking about using a fine sandpaper. Is it okay to do this whenever? Our marble has been honed, which I understand from you is done by using a sandpaper type friction.If I should get a marble repair kit to have on hand I would be interested if you have this product.Thank you. Marilyn

 

Dear Marilyn:

A Marble Repair Kit wouldn't do you any good. It is only useful to repair (re-polish) polished marble surfaces, not hone-finished ones.

 

Now that this is out of the way, let fix them etchings, shall we?!... J

 

To eliminate etch-marks from a hone-finished surface like the one you have, all you need is some good ol' metal-grade sand-paper. You can use it by hand, but you'd be better off if you had a small hand-held orbital sander to use it with. (Do NOT use a belt sander!) Hit the etch-mark with a 120 grit to start with, and then follow up with 240 and 400 grit. (Or maybe the 240 will do.) This will usually get a result pretty close to factory finish. If it doesn't, don't worry too much: a few weeks of foot traffic will take care of producing a perfect blending. Don't be happy with a few strokes: work each grit intensively but without applying too much pressure, and make sure to widen the area you're working on of at least 1” all around each grit up. Pretty easy, wouldn't you say?... J  

If the stone had been sealed with an impregnator, it may need to be sealed again in the areas you worked on.

 

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 zio Bertoli

 

www.marblecleaning.org – The Only Consumers' Portal to the Stone Industry Establishment!