Remove Dry Sealer Off Polished Marble

by dcjunk
(Chicago, IL USA)

QUESTION:

I had just closed on a new home. I had upgraded my bathroom shower wall to marble (BOTTICINO FIORITO). The marble is polished.


I decided to do all the cleaning before moving in, so I had applied a sealer on it.

I used Stone Care International Sealer. I sprayed the sealer at night then went back to my other home.

In the morning, I came back to check on it and the sealer had dried on the wall leaving this caked film.

I tried using Stone Care International countertop cleaner to remove and had no luck.

Did I damage my new marble shower wall?

Is there a way to repair the marble?

How can I remove the sealer now?

Do I need to hire a professional to come in to polish my walls?

Thanks so much for your advice.

ANSWER:

Somewhere on the sealer instructions it should have said something like... "let sit for 10-20 minutes then wipe off excess sealer before it dries..."

Sealers work by getting down into the pores below the surface. The MOST IMPORTANT step in applying sealer is to wipe off the excess on the surface BEFORE it dries or else the sealer will leave a streaky haze on the surface.

Marble Repair & Sealer Removal

You'll need to use methylene chloride... a potent, noxious and toxic solvent to get the sealer off the marble. I recommend you hire a professional to do it. The methylene chloride won't damage your marble, but it is a HORRIBLE job.

Now, let's go back to square one....

Why did you seal your polished marble shower?

The only reason to seal stone is to diminish it's rate of absorption and retard staining.

Is there some product you plan to use in the shower that will stain your marble? Body and bath products will not stain your marble unless allowed to sit on the surface for a long time.... not likely with all that water washing everything away.

Rarely do you need to seal stone in the shower. And it is best to NOT apply a sealer to stone in a wet environment.

A few products like shaving cream may "etch" (dull spots caused by a reaction with acids in the product) your marble. But a marble & granite sealer won't do anything to prevent "etching."

Furthermore, polished marble is NOT very absorbent and won't stain easy even with products that could stain it.

In fact, polished marble typically won't "take" a sealer too well. In other words, the sealer doesn't get absorbed because polished marble isn't very absorbent. Thus, the sealer just sits on top and causes the mess you now have.

If someone told you to seal it.... well don't take their stone advice anymore.

FYI, so no future mistakes are made, use ONLY products formulated for marble repair and maintenance to clean this shower like these we recommend at the Stone Care Center.

Why? Because your typical household cleaners like 409, Comet, Tub & Tile, Lysol, bleach, vinegar and ammonia will etch and damage your marble.