Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Experiment of Etching Marble: Bathroom Edition

Last year I did my own experiment to show how marble etches in the kitchen.  You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

When I was doing this first experiment, after I had all the kitchen ingredients on the marble my husband asked me why I hadn't put any bathroom items on the marble.  Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it.  Marble is much less likely to etch in a bathroom because usually you don't have too many acids in there. 
I say this, but I must mention that the limestone in my own Powder Bath etched.  Someone had dripped a couple of globs of Bath & Body Works liquid soap on my Seagrass Limestone countertop and I didn't notice it until the next day.  When I wiped it up there were a couple of etched spots on the countertop.  So, while we aren't cutting lemons in the Powder Bath there are other items that are in our bathrooms that will etch the calcium based stones.
I put together a whole new test using bathroom stuff.  I decided to conduct this experiment on two different marbles, Carrara and Emperador Dark.  I thought it might be helpful to see the difference between a light and dark marble.
Here is a list of the items I put on the marble pieces...
  • Face wash
  • Hairspray
  • Nail Polish Remover
  • Lotion/ Body Cream
  • Perfume
  • After Shave Lotion
  • Nail Polish (red!)
  • Toothpaste
  • Shaving Cream
  • Liquid Hand Soap
I taped off sections on each marble piece and dabbed the items on.  I then let them sit for about 24 hours.  Obviously 24 hours is longer than most people would let red nail polish sit on their countertops, but I'm going for a worst case scenario here.



The next day when everything had dried up it was kind of a pain to get off.  I had to use a razor blade for a lot of it.
The results were a bit surprising to me.   

Carrara marble
Etched
Stained


Face Wash
No
Yes
Hair Spray
No
No
Nail Polish Remover
Yes
No
Lotion/ Body Cream
No
No
Perfume
No
No
After Shave Lotion
Yes
Yes
Nail Polish
No
Yes, but not as bad as you’d think!  J
Toothpaste
No
Slight Stain
Shaving Cream
No
No
Liquid Hand Soap
Yes
Yes



Emperador Dark marble
Etched
Stained


Face Wash
No
No
Hair Spray
No
No
Nail Polish Remover
No
No
Lotion/ Body Cream
No
No
Perfume
No
No
After Shave Lotion
Yes
Yes
Nail Polish
No
No!
Toothpaste
No
No
Shaving Cream
No
No
Liquid Hand Soap
Yes
Yes


My husband just uses an After Shave Lotion, not the liquid stuff.  It's probably the liquid After Shave that I personally have had the most issues with etching with homeowner's in the past. 
All in all I was surprised with how few of the products actually etched or stained the stones.  I was quite impressed that the red nail polish didn't even stain the Emperador Dark and barely stained the Carrara!


Also keep in mind that different brands of face wash, toothpastes, etc may affect your stone differently.  The type of marble will make a difference as well.  

7 comments:

Laura Jensen said...

Great experiment! These are what our clients need to see.
Thanks for all the great information you put on your blog. It's a great resource for me and my interior design business.

Anonymous said...

And this is why I read your awesome blog! This is the kind of thing I need to see.
Love it, thanks for taking the time to etch marble. :]

Jen Thompson said...

Very interesting. I've always been scared away from marble and limestone. This makes me feel better about it.
Now I can dream of Carrara in my Master bath again!

heavystarch said...

My wife and I really want to do Carrara Marble in our kitchen and bathrooms. I just wonder if we ever accidentally leave something overnight - how would we clean up a stain?

Lemon Juice and etch the crap out of it?

Some grinding sander with a fine grit paper (2500 grit and water?)?

Any advice would be great.

We're in the planning stages to build right down in Vineyard so we may have to hook up with you and MGS.

Thanks!

Steph@TheGraniteGurus said...

heavystarch-
The best way to take care of marble is just to embrace the etching.
For stains we (or you) can get them out fairly easily with a poultice...store bought or even homemade.
We'd love to help you out with your marble. Come in and see us!

Laney said...

We are noticing the liquid soap staining/etching our marble as well. I bought the clear, non-scented type, but it still happens. Do you have a suggestion for what type of soap to use in the bathroom? Thanks!

Steph@TheGraniteGurus said...

Any soap with acid will etch it. Look for something without any acid in the ingredients. Bath & Body Works Vanilla foamy soap has been fine for me.

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