We have a console with a marble top. Our houseplant apparently leaked some residue down the sides of its pot and stained the marble. If I wet the stain, it disappears. Of course, when it dries, it reappears. I've tried MB-11 but the stain is still there. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks, Valerie

 

Dear Valerie:

Since it's not a real discoloration (darker than the rest of the marble) but a dull spot, your stain is an etch-mark. (I'm not saying this for you, but for the readers that may check this post out.) That said, MB-11 is a polishing powder for marble and, as such, it is slightly abrasive. Please understand, however, that its abrasiveness is fine to the point of enabling the compound to actually polish the stone. If an etch-mark is light to medium, MB-11 is usually aggressive enough to take care of it without the need of any preceding restoration action with specialty abrasives; but if the etch-mark is severe, then some light grinding before polishing (honing) will be necessary. (Example: if you have very fine scratches on a wood surface, you may be able to remove them with “00” steel wool, but if the scratches are more serious, you will need sand-paper before finishing the job with “00” steel wool.) If the “stain” could be reached with a little buffer with a terry-cloth bonnet (like the one people use to polish their cars), it may increase the performance of MB-11 to the point of finishing the job, or at least produce an acceptable final result. If not, only a professional stone restoration contractor could pull that off.

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Ciao and good luck,

Mauri z io Bertoli

 

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