Cleaning Marble Floor Stain & Dullness

QUESTION:

Hi, my son poured something all over my bathroom marble floor. I cleaned it up immediately but maybe not well enough. I have these dull spots all over that look like someone took a bottle of something and just sprayed everywhere. It looks awful and I don't know what to do about it.


I didn't realize it was as deep or as bad as it is until I really tried to clean it and it won't come up. Please tell me there is something I can use to make it better. We are putting our house on the market and I don't want to have to replace the floor in there. I think it was either shampoo or body lotion that he poured out... or both:( thank you! Wendy

ANSWER:

Wendy, the dull spots on the floor are not actually stains or anything that is "on" your floor. That's why you can't clean it up.

What happened is your son spilled something acidic or possibly very alkaline like a cleaning product on the floor (not shampoo or lotion). Marble is sensitive to acids. Acids will corrode (eat away) the marble upon contact damaging the shiny layer and leaving a dull spot.

It's called "etching."

Severe cases require a professional to fix, but luckily most cases are not severe and since you wiped it up quick, I'm sure yours is mild damage.

So, don't worry too much because most etch marks can be easily removed using a good compound like ETCH REMOVER / Marble Polishing product.

Just FYI... you may see a "marble polish" sold in a store, but 99% of the time these are just topical dressings to enhance the shine, but are not made for or able to remove etch marks.

It creates some confusion between products having the same name, but they are different and what I recommended is specifically made to remove etch marks.

This paste is easy to use... just rub on the spot and it will restore the shine and color. You may need to repeat the procedure a few times, but it should do the trick for you.