Help - Polished Marble shower walls

[dlspellman]

We recently moved into a new home with polished marble stone on the shower walls. From what I've read, polished marble probably isn't a great choice for a shower - but that's what we inherited... Anyway, after about 4 months of use, the stone is showing alot of water marks (not unlike on a glass shower door) and is starting to look dull.

What is the best product (safe for polished marble) for removing the current shower scum/water marks. And going forward, what is the best cleaning & maintenance regimen for them? Does polished marble need to be sealed? They are beautiful when clean.... all sparkley and shiney! I just need to know how to safely keep them that way!

I'd appreciate specific product names in your recommendations!
Thanks to all! Deb

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[Davestone]

You could try MB scum remover, the bottle should give you directions,you can get it from Findstone.com.

[Trask]

We use StoneTech products and have found them very user friendly...The Tech service has been outstanding and that is very important to me as I'm not a chemist and science projects in someone else's home can be expensive. You can call and get a real human with real world advice. (George T Is a tech rep for them and a member here)

good luck. :)

[Davestone]

I posted that product cause S.T. doesn't have a specific soap scum remover for polished marble that they advertise, thought maybe George would get mad and invent one. :yeah:

[Trask]

Your prolly right... but it seemed like I used Kleanz-all on soapscum(polished marble) before with good results..Then I followed with ST Polish or something like that??

Never used the MB stuf but I hear it's good :)

[GeorgeT]

Hi Deb -

Polished marble in a shower can be tough to take care of. In your PM you mentioned that its your teenagers shower and your having a hard time keeping it clean. So lets start with daily care.... get a squegee for the shower and whoever uses the shower uses the squegee... no exceptions!
Polished marble is like a mirror and any thing on the stone surface changes the way the surface reflects...When water dries up (evaporates) it leaves behind soap and minerals that were in the water and that stuff dries on the surface and you can see it in the shine. Squegee the walls or towel dry them so water doesn't dry up on them and a large part of the problem is gone.
A good maintenance routine is the next important step... once a month or so, scrub the walls down and rinse well. Use a neutral pH cleaner designed for stone and a white nylon scrub pad or a medium nylon bristle brush... lots of wash and rinse water is important! This routine will also keep any residues from building up on the walls or in the grout lines.
Removing whatever is already on the walls can be a two step process. First use an alkaline cleaner to remove soap and organic build up. Whatever is left after that may be hard water deposits AKA mineral buildup. This can be tough to remove on marble as the build up and the marble are very similar minerals.... what takes off the deposits can also take off the polish on the marble.
Bar soap does tend to create more build up than liquid soaps... but with everybody doing the squegee work and a good maintenance system you won't be able to notice...
You can get these cleaners right here at the TYW store... KlenzAll and Revitalizer or Stone and Tile Cleaner are the ones to ask for....

Dave - I don't do the inventing... but I do a powerful lot of suggesting!

[dlspellman]

Thanks, George!

Just a couple clarifying points before I order away.

Do I use Klenzall on the buildup situation and then switch to either Revitallizer or Stone and Tile Cleaner for future maintenance?

It appears from the website if I use Klenzall I need to reseal. What product should I buy for resealing, or does using Revitalizer for maintenance do the resealing if used on a regular basis?

You guys are life savers! Thanks to you all!
Deb

[GeorgeT]

Deb -

Heavier cleaning with KlenzAll, then switch to one of the others for regular maintenance.... If you don't have to work real hard with the KlenzAll you may not have to reseal. A white nylon scrubbing pad will help a lot...
Most of what your up against isn't a sealer issue, it's a maintenance issue... polished marble is a perfectly fine material, just takes understanding the care needed....