To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Everyone knows marble is beautiful, but it requires some special care to keep clean—namely, mopping up spills immediately and avoiding acidic or abrasive cleansers. Learn how to clean marble in a variety of household locations with our list of tips and tricks.
Marble is a beautiful and long-lasting natural stone surface for covering countertops, tables, floors, showers, and more. In this guide, we cover how to clean marble and how to prevent damage to your surfaces. For help with keeping your home, including your marble surfaces, clean, The Cleaning Authority offers its services in 45 states across the country.
Cleaning marble requires different products and methods than other surfaces. Additionally, it is susceptible to staining, scratching, and other damage if you use the wrong cleanser or even the wrong cloth or sponge. The most important thing to know is to use a mild, pH-neutral, non-abrasive soap. There are special marble cleaning solutions out there, but regular dish soap works well.
You can mix a little soap into warm water in a spray bottle or simply put a few drops onto a wet cloth. Wipe the marble surface down with this sudsy cloth and follow immediately with a rinse and a dry. Be careful not to use too much soap, which may leave a film behind. Acidic cleaners like vinegar, Windex, and bleach should not come into contact with marble. Even a lemon wedge can begin to eat into marble within seconds. Many rust-removing solutions contain acid, so keep them away from marble as well.
Similarly, gritty cleaners that contain abrasive particles or rough sponges will scratch the finish of the marble. Alkali, or basic, substances will also damage it. Prevention is the name of the game when it comes to keeping marble clean and stain-free.
Onyx 'marbles' have sometimes been called alabaster because they have a similar appearance but they are actually polishable limestone which is more durable than alabaster. Cleaning alabaster First, check the surface for traces of paint or gilding. If you find any, dust around them without touching them - leave them for a specialist to treat.
If there are no traces of applied decoration, you can dust with a soft brush or clean dry cloth. Alternatively, wipe the surface gently with a cotton bud slightly dampened with white spirit. Ensure you are in a well-ventilated space and wear Nitrile or plastic gloves. Avoid water or water based cleaners. Artificial stones are manufactured from aggregates, pigments and binders to imitate natural stones.
Recipes dating from the 16th century were based on marble dust, lime and glue, whilst in the 18th century Eleanor Coade set up a very successful factory making artificial stone from a fired, clay-like casting material. Coade stone was more durable than many natural stones. Artificial stone was mainly used for architectural detail and garden sculpture but may also be found in the home, for example some fireplaces with polished finishes.
Limestones vary in composition and properties. They are a sedimentary rock, often of uniform texture. Limestones are composed mainly of calcite or dolomite, with a variety of other minerals. Hard limestones can be polished and are sometimes called 'marble', for example Purbeck or Travertine, though they are not always as durable. Cleaning artificial stone Artificial stone, polishable limestone and onyx 'marble' are likely to be more porous than marble, so there is a higher risk of dirt being pulled into the pores of the stone if a liquid cleaner is used.
Try Groomstick supplier: Conservation Resources Ltd , but if it doesn't work use a cotton swab slightly dampened with purified water. Polishable limestone can have bands of different sedimentation within the stone that may result in areas that are softer, more porous and more easily eroded.
Watch for loose grains of stone on the surface or on your swabs. If you see any, stop cleaning and refer your piece to a specialist. This is a faux marble made from selenite the crystalline form of gypsum , glue and pigment. The mixture is applied to a support in a marbleised pattern and sometimes includes chips of marble. Once applied, the mixture is heated and polished. The technique has existed from Roman times.
It was revived in the 17th century and flourished in the 18th century, particularly in Florence. Scagliola was often employed for plinths, columns and pilasters but was also used for table tops, floors and wall and door panels. It was often finished with an oil or coloured wax. Scagliola is comparatively soft and can be damaged by knocks and bumps, and also by moisture.
Cleaning scagliola Try Groomstick first. If this is unsuccessful, test a small unobtrusive area with a swab dampened with white spirit, but if you see anything other than black dirt on the swab, stop immediately and consult a conservator.
If your test is successful, you should be able to clean with white spirit. Avoid water or water-based cleaners. Pietre dure from the Italian 'hard stone' is made from finely sliced coloured stones, precisely matched, to create a pictorial scene or regular design. There are two ways of making pietre dure.
In the first method, pre-cut slices of coloured stone are laid into a stone ground of marble or slate, which has had matching recesses cut into it. The background forms part of the design. The second method is to assemble the pre-shaped slices like a jigsaw and stick the new pictorial scene or design to a stone support, which is not part of the design. Both methods set the pieces in a wax-resin mixture. As this mixture ages, weak or loose areas may develop and the stone pieces may crack.
The wax-resin mixture will be damaged if it is exposed to a wide range of solvents, such as white spirit and alcohol. Damaged pietre dure is best treated by a specialist conservator due to its complex construction. Cleaning pietre dure Examine the surface for cracked or loose pieces. If there are none, try Groomstick as the first cleaning option.
If this is not does not work, use a cotton swab slightly dampened with water. Do not flood the surface with any liquid. Porphyry is an igneous rock, formed from volcanic magma that cooled and hardened quickly after eruption.
It is harder than granite and takes a polish well. Gently rub the baking soda into the marble with a soft, damp cloth. You do not want to scrub because that can damage the surface. Then rinse with water and dry with a soft towel.
You want to be sure to rinse with water to neutralize the pH and to dry thoroughly, so the solution is not in contact with the marble surface for any longer than necessary. Baking soda is a light abrasive and a natural disinfectant. However, you need to take care to use it gently on marble surfaces. Light abrasives can still damage soft surfaces. Be sure to wipe away all traces of baking soda, so it isn't left in contact with your marble surfaces.
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