Niffy,

Thank you for the great report.
Two questions:
1. What kind of Marble do you have?
2. Which sealer and Granite cleaner did you use?
I have honed Danby marble and have used the Comet and Scotvhbrite pad with success; however, the fabricator did not put layers of sealer on the marble.

Beachpea

Bump! - hoping Niffy is around

Hum.

I'm hoping someone will come up with a solution for Emperdor Dark marble (my MBR) where my cat jumped up to drink his water out of his faucuet. Well, fat-butt miscalculated and missed, so he scrabbled his claws on the marble. He indignantly walked away in a huff, showing me who's who and drinking out of my iced tea instead.

Who knew a cat could scratch marble? Thank goodness it's a dark marble with a lot of motion to it, because they don't show. I can feel 3 scratches with my finger. I'm thinking filler someday...?

I'm not exactly sure what the question is here but I'll give my experience so far with my HONED Imperial Danby marble.

It etches, of course. It doesn't bother me much because they seem to blend in after a while. However, if I get a really distinct glass mark in a noticeable spot (we get lots of sun on our marble), I do use a green scrubby and kind of blend the edges. Yes, in an answer to someone else's question that area does get a bit duller than the rest- but it isn't that noticeable and you have to use a light hand. Even honed marble has a BIT of a shine but after regular use I think it gets less and less so. If you use a green scrubby or Comet the whole thing (which I think is something Vermont Danby website recommends) and then seal it it makes further etches/scrubby repairs less noticeable. (I did not do this.)

Anyway, my marble is sealed with DuPont Bulletproof Sealer.

If you use a scrubby or comet YES IT WILL REMOVE SOME/ALL of your sealer. (I don't know the specifics) so you'd have to re-seal from time to time- perhaps more often than normally recommended?

I was a bit worried about getting marble at first and then after months of looking for an alternative- I never did find one! I LOVED the marble so much I decided I didn't care if it etched or not! Over a year later, it is still one of my favorite things in the kitchen and I'd never get rid of it! : )

AND, I barely have any etches & NO stains. I do have a walnut island though and that's where I do all of my prep. Also I keep an 18" square imperial danby marble tile to the left of my sink b/c that is where I was getting the most etches from dirty glasses and dishes. That tile is very etched which I don't care of course : )

Oh, I also have 2 clear acrylic placemat type things-- one on either side of the cooktop⦠They are hard- not flexible ones.

I used dry scotch brite pads on an acid etched mink marble floor. I thought there was no way this would work. I have zero luck with getting stains or marks out of marble. I always make things so much worse. I knew I'd be calling out. Pro for this etching because it was so bad so I figured I had nothing to lose. To my extreme surprise the dry scotch brite pads in a mild pressure circular motion got the etching completely out. I figured I would press my luck and try on my wife and my bathroom vanity tops. It took roughly 5 min. and my countertops look like new.

LOL, mama goose! I like your sense of humor.

Oh, this totally works! I had an ring-shaped etch on my bathroom honed carrara counter from a hydrogen peroxide based contact lens cleaner. I used a the green side of a sponge that was slightly damp. Took it right out! I'm so happy! Took a few more minutes to work on the "patina" that had developed in front of the sink, but worked there too!

Used the green scotch brute pad today with marble cleaner and it took out a large water glass etching plus some other etched spots. I couldn't believe it! The water mark was on a very white part of my calacatta marble. I can't find it now! Thank you so much for the tip.

This is brilliant! I have honed carrera marble in my kitchen that is now a year old. It was so badly etched. I knew this could happen. Was told it was a living surface, blah, blah but I wasn't prepared for how really awful it would be. I had resigned myself to the fact that it would always look this way. Not after tonight and my dark green scrubby. I used it slightly damp. I am doing the Snoopy Dance! I love my countertops even more now. They are starting to get that lovely grey beige patina where I knead and roll out dough. What was turning into regret is now replaced with pure satisfaction. Our marble was sealed with Dry-Treat Sealer. Hopefully I haven't ruined that protection. That's a risk I'm happy to take though. Thanks so much for your post.

So happy to have found this post! I have an antique marble top side table on my living room. I used the new scotchbrite exreme scrub pad as the surface needed some serious help. It worked beautifully, quickly and simply - true to niffy's claim! Thank you so much for posting this!

Just tried the green pad without any cleaner, and it worked perfectly to remove etching and water marks on honed marble, thank you!

thanks you made my day... I have been so careful with my honed marble countertops.Still etching from water ..Just tried the granite cleaner and pad. It works.Thanks s much

Heres a tip for you marble owners or wanna be.s. I too was reluctant to put marble in our kitchen but it is so beautiful I could not resist. I had my counter top covered by 3m protective film such as I have on the front of my car. It is virtually invisible and I did tests with lemon juice ,red wine, ketchup. hot sauce and left them on for an hour and just wiped them off. I also put a boiling pot of water on it and no problem. I did my bar as well and never worry about my friends cutting limes around it (on a cutting board of course) or spilling red wine when they pour it.

I, too, am torn between getting beautiful honed carrera marble countertops or settling for a granite that won't be as high maintenance. We are in the very beginning stages of building a house in NC and I don't like any of the builder's granite choices but one of the choices offered is honed carrera marble. This thread is making me lean toward going with the marble but has anyone's marble chipped? I think I could live with the etching (since I now learned how to remove them) but I don't think I could live with chipped marble.

There's other newer/more applicable threads, but I'll answer Marcie's question:

Yes, marble chips. and dings. and dots.

I have VT Danby marble and DH banged the sink w/ some pot which resulted in a royally large chip.

I have brighter white dots all over the marble from someone dinging the marble with something: pot, glass bowl, etc.

I have white lines from long scratches.

We seriously use our kitchen; we cook a lot; we do NOT baby our kitchen.

Besides the huge chip at the sink, I'm more annoyed at the etches than the dings/dots. I'll have it all buffed out before putting the house on the market, many many moons from now.

Go with what you love.

If you love low maintenance, go w/ something else.

If you can't fall in love visually with anything else (like us), go with marble.

Hi Marcie, I've got a couple of small chips on the edge of my marble where someone has banged things into the countertop. I've also got etches. But, I still think it's one of the most beautiful countertops I've ever seen and I have no regrets about getting it in my kitchen. To have marble, you have to be able to embrace the imperfections.

Thanks for this post!

My new master bath room includes a marble vanity. The top was perfect, but someone on the crew ran a finger across the top that made a finger-size white stripe across it! The person installing tile probably had some chemical on his hands. I didn't want to yell at anyone, because I'm sure it was accidental. So...I'll try this and see what happens.

Rudyard2011, I love your idea, I'm interested in where you got the 3mm protective coating or had it made. I looked around online and I have not found anything like it. Thanks!

LC...

Wow! The "virtually invisible 3m protective film" stuff that rudyard2011 added to his/her countertops is a sheet/roll of plastic...think cell phone screen covers. Sigh...

The company that quarries Danby Marble recommends using the green scrotchbrite with Comet powder with bleach to remove etches. I haven't done it yet because my Marble is only 5 months installed and I only have a couple of small etches. I plan to do this scrub annually and then reapply the sealer.

I second the comments about marble being soft. I don't have any major chips, but if something hits the marble hard enough, it will leave an impact mark. It looks like a dot that is brighter white than the rest of the stone. Kind of like the calcite was turned to dust and then jammed into the little depression. It does not bother me and I rarely see it. I also had someone decide to tap their car key on my counter. That left a bunch of little pock marks and I look at it every day unhappy. But that is only because it was a very careless thing to do and it was done intentionally. I can live with any flaw on my marble as long as it is an accident. But people taking out nervous energy on my soft stone is a no go.

Could a scotchbrite be used on polished marble? I have a bathroom vanity with polished carrara marble. I set a glass on it, and I guess the rim had something acidic on it, because it left a partial ring/etch. Then I tried to take it out with cornstarch and water paste. (Which only left a bigger dull area over it.)

NO!! I don't think you can use it on polished marble. I would definitely not try it as you will create a 'honed' or dull area where you use it. Call a high end marble installer and ask how to treat. Good luck!

Polished is 'sanded' to a finer grit than honed. You can use the green pad to remove the rings. It will leave it 'scratched' to a rougher grit level, say 400. Polish is above 3000 so you have to 'sand' it(with water and a drop of soap) with finer grits, say 1500 then 2500, then 3000 and then use an even finer grit polish(zero water) and a buffing wheel the bring it back to the level of the rest of the surface.

The only people in my area-don't recommend marble, especially polished marble. I didn't realize when I got the vanity from Home Depot it would not be really suitable for bathroom use. I love how pretty it is, but really didn't want something so high maintenance. Do you think that maybe the best solution is to sort of hone the whole top, with something like Bar Keepers friend? Then just reseal? I can't imagine having to constantly try to rebuff this vanity to a high shine. After all it's going to get abuse-from some chemicals etc. It's in a bathroom.

Rudy is the 3M film still working for you? Brilliant idea! How is it around the sink area? And does it damage the stone when it is removed? Thinking about having Clear Bra car guy install it

We have Calacutta Gold. Already a few etch marks and we have only lived with it three weeks. Husband wants to put glass on it.

Hey all, so I just tried this with the Scotch-Brite pads on my honed marble that has a lot of water spots water rings etc. although it did get rid of the water rings on the place that I tried, my particular honed marble appears to have a little bit of shine to it- using the Scotch-Brite pad left a dull circle that is pretty noticeable - so When you try this do it in a very inconspicuous area, unlike me who did it in the center of my island and now there is a big dull circle instead of water ring, that's actually worse. Boo hoo

julie_randle:

Put some MB12 (DeFusco Industrial Supply) on a white pad on a variable speed grinder (go slowly) with a bit of water. Your dull spot will disappear.

Thanks Joseph- so I went out to Defuscos website and watched video... will this make my honed marble become polished marble? Wasn't certain after watching their demo video of using mb12...appreciate the help!

" Will this make my honed marble become polished marble?

It may, but that's not a big deal. It will remove the scratches and inconsistencies. After those are gone, you can abrade it back to the finish you want.

Sorry, just back on this thread... thanks for input Joseph, but what do you mean by "abrade"?

"Abrade" is to sand or polish.

Thanks Joseph!

I can't believe it works but it does.

Can someone tell me if I need to reseal the countertops. Our countertops were new 2 years ago. How can I tell. Also, I'd love recommendations for a sealer to use. I bought Aqua Mix Sealer's Choice Gold but I can return it and purchase something else if needed.

Drop some water on your top. It should dance like beads on a freshly waxed car. If it doesn't or the water soaks in, you need sealer.

Thank You Joesph! It's not dancing at all..... Any recommendations on a sealer?

I used the scotch green pads under an orbital buffer with some stone cleaner.... it looks AMAZING and it's wasn't hard to do. I'm doing the happy dance as well.

Tenax Proseal.

Niffy, do you have honed marble countertops? In terms of the distinctions that Stacey Collins described, IF your marble countertops are honed, what method of honing was used? I'll want to have the marble that responds to the etching removal technique you shared with us. Thanks!

Joseph Corlett, LLC Thanks for sharing so much helpful info on removing etching on marble countertops!

Joseph Corlett, LLC Could this Scotchbrite method of removing etching be used on granite? Is granite ever used with a honed finish (marble's the only one I've heard of being honed)?

Can anyone help me with recommendations on what I could use to get this facial cleanser out of my marble counter top? :(

did not work for me:(

"Joseph Corlett, LLC Could this Scotchbrite method of removing etching be used on granite? Is granite ever used with a honed finish (marble's the only one I've heard of being honed)?"

Sorry for the nearly year-late reply.

No Scotchbrite on gloss granite, please. Maybe a honed, but I'd experiment first.

Hi looking for some advise. I just moved into a house that has five year old marble in kitchen and bathrooms. It is shiny so I think it is homes but it is wrecked and really needs to be replaced. Beside the chips and scratches that don’t really bother me that much. But there are a ton of dull spots. Estimates for repair were crazy and replacing is not in my budget right now. Could I Sams the whole thing myself? And then shine it up or leave it. When the sun hits it there are hundreds of dull spots. The kitchen is beautiful and this just takes away from it.

Ps. Meant to say. Don’t think it is honed. Darn spell check

Could I sand the whole thing myself?

Sure. Call Braxton Bragg and ask them what you need. Watch a few videos. Good luck.

Can I use this scotchbrite method on my whole countertop?

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