I recently discovered Clorox Cleaner with bleach spray had been used to clean our honed travertine shower wall and tumbled travertine floor. His justification for this cleaner? To clean soap scum and kill the mildew. Result? Partial greying discoloration on some of the honed formerly noche colored shower walls. Shower floor has waxy build-up and still looks dirty and sthe mildew is still present. (I should mention I live on the wet side of Oahu, Hawaii). Supposedly the tile was sealed on installationand it was recommended that tiles be re-sealed when shower tile installed about 12 months ago. Have not resealed since tile installed. But apparently, a combo cleaner/sealer was used. There were no problems with stone's appearance until about 6 months after installation. From reading your articles, I will be buying MB-3 and MB-9 for soap scum and mildew, but what can be done to restore the honed marble that was attacked by Clorox? Thank you.

 

Dear Jo:

MB-3 and MB-9 could be what you need only if your real problem is soap film accumulation and mildew. If it is something else instead (structural problem due to faulty installation), than the solution would not be coming inside a bottle.

Check all the grout and caulk lines to make sure that no water found its way behind and under those tiles. (Were the tiles on the wall perhaps installed butt joint?) If it is the case, than you have a problem that's much bigger than meets the eyes.

I root for you and keep my fingers crossed!

As for the restoration part of the job, either you get a professional restoration contractor to re-hone your tiles, or you get a decent jack-of-all-trades to do it by using metal-grade sand-paper.

Finally, about the sealing of your tiles, no stone should ever be sealed in a wet environment, unless you have well water rich on iron minerals.

If you opt for the sand-paper routine and would like to get more step-by-step guidelines on how to go about the job, you'd be more than welcome to use our convenient “1-on-1” consultation service that's available in the  http://www.mbstone.com/training/training_&_consultation.htm. Bear in mind that by purchasing that service you will be supporting the cause of this site, which is your cause, because not a single penny of the consultation fee will end up in the pockets of any of the experts participating to this forum. All money will be reinvested for the promotion of the site, which represents your only possible tool to have your voice heard within the stone industry.

I hope you can appreciate that.

Also, will you please read and e-sign our Statement of Purpose at: http://www.marblecleaning.org/purpose.htm?    

By spreading the word about this valuable site among your friend & family and the stone trades' people you've been dealing with, you will be rendering everybody a valuable service!

Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli

 

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