Q. My coffee table has spots and stains on it. It is very dull in certain places. What can I use to clean my table and also remove the spots and stains?

 

A. I am afraid you're talking about a few issues here. It sounds like an acidic substance etched your stone, leaving the dull marks, then in addition to that a staining agent left stains. To be clear though, a stain will be darker than the stone. If the marks are lighter then that is more than likely from the etching. So, there are two things -- no three things that you will want to do.

 

First, you will want to create a poultice to draw out the stains. Refer to the Stone Care Guide for instructions. Then, secondly, you will want to polish out the etching using MB-11 Marble Polishing Compound. However, if the etching is severe (you can feel the roughness with your fingertips or the damaged area is large) you may want to call in a pro (www.stoneandtilepros.com/findapro.php)

 

Finally, you may want to seal the marble to inhibit further staining. The Stone Care Guide will tell you more about this. This won't do anything to protect from etching, so be very careful with acidic liquids. Use a coaster under drinks and clean up any spills immediately.

 

For routine cleaning, be sure to use a stone safe cleaner. We recommend MB Stonecare MB-5.

 

Best of luck!