Acid Marble Etching

Acid stains such as by a toilet bowl cleaner or battery acid cause what is known as etching on marble.

Acid marble etching.

Marble etching occurs upon contact with acidic foods and drinks like coffee soda wine alcohol and when harsh products like bleach vinegar ammonia and most common brand name cleaners are used for cleaning marble. When acidic substances come in contact with these stone types the acid actually begins to eat away at the surface which creates dull spots known as etching. Soda spill on limestone. This product is made with reagent grade chemicals.

If you have a honed white marble surface that shows acid etching you can either call in a stone professional to treat the surface or you can try the following technique on your own. Etching is a corrosive chemical reaction that essentially eats at the marble. Take a scouring pad and move in a circular motion to hone the material. Think of it like a burn that removes the finished.

Acid etching is the process of applying hydrochloric muriatic or buffered phosphoric acid to a slab then rinsing it off with water. The etchant will darken austenitic grains attack sigma phases and show grain flow. Thats why it looks so dull compared to its beautiful surroundings. Etch marks on polished marble look much worse than on honed marble.

This is because the acid removes the surface material and exposes marble that was ordinary below the surface. Here is a list of some surprising substances that can etch stone. For more information see our 7 facts about etching on marble. Marble s reagent aka marble s etch is a metallographic etchant for etching 300 series austenitic stainless steels nickel and cobalt based superalloys.

Sprinkle a scrubbing cleanser onto the surface with a few drops of water. An etch is not a stain and cannot be prevented by using even the best penetrating stone sealer. Acid sensitive stones like marble limestone travertine and onyx are prone to etching. If needed a professional marble restorer can always be called to repair the damage.

What the acid has done is remove part of the surface of the marble and what is left behind is marble that was below the surface and is therefore unpolished unlike the rest of your marble. Lower than a 7 is on the acid side and higher than a 7 is on the basic side. This newly exposed marble is not polished and looks very dull compared to its polished surroundings. When my husband and i were researching our kitchen renovation a couple years ago marble countertops were the clear frontrunner but we were nervous about the inevitable etching.

For many years it was a standard method of concrete preparation used by nearly all industrial commercial and institutional floor coating installers depending on the floor size and system to be installed. Substances that contain acid ammonia and alcohol can etch marble meaning that the finish or the shine is removed if you accidentally spill one of these three substances.