Marble worktops are beautiful — and notoriously high maintenance. The calcium carbonate that gives marble its luxurious appearance also makes it highly susceptible to acid etching, staining and surface damage from everyday kitchen use. Shazam Repairs carries out professional marble worktop stain removal and etch repair, restoring polished and honed marble surfaces.
The Difference Between Stains and Etches on Marble
Marble owners often confuse stains and etch marks — they can look similar but are fundamentally different and require different approaches:
- Stains — colouring agents absorbed into the marble’s porous structure. Red wine, coffee, oil and turmeric are common culprits. Stains are visible in colour but the surface texture is unaffected.
- Etch marks — chemical damage to the marble surface caused by acid reacting with the calcium carbonate. Lemon juice, vinegar, wine, tomato juice and many cleaning products cause etching. Etch marks appear as dull, lighter patches on polished marble because the acid has dissolved the polish from the stone surface.
Removing Etch Marks from Marble
Etch marks on polished marble can be removed by re-polishing the affected area — the dull patch is physically abraded and polished back to the surrounding sheen level. This is highly effective for localised marks but requires skill to avoid leaving a visibly over-polished patch on the surface.
Honed marble etch marks are harder to address because the flat surface is more forgiving of localised treatment — but colour matching to the surrounding surface requires careful calibration.
Removing Stains from Marble
Stain removal from marble depends on the stain type and how long it has been present. Fresh stains are far easier to address than old, set stains. We use targeted poultice treatments appropriate to the stain type — oil-based stains, organic stains and metal stains each respond to different chemistry.
Chips and Cracks
Alongside stain and etch work, we carry out chip and crack repair on marble worktops — filling with colour-matched resin and polishing to blend with the surrounding surface.
