Muriatic Acid

[bill with travertine]

Several years ago, I, under the instruction of the contractor, removed grout haze from a travertine fireplace using 1-100 mixuter of muriatic acid and it came out beautiful.

Now, I have installed travertine flooring in my bathroom, and need to remove the grout haze. I had planned to use the same mixture of Muriatic acid and water, but I am apprehensive to do this because I see so many warnings about use of muriatic acid on travertine. Maybe I just lucked out the first time. Any suggestions?

[bill with travertine]

Is it ok to use a 1/100 part solution of Muratic acid and water on travertine to remove grout haze. I realize I am replying to my own post, but my post probably didn't look like a question.

Thank you in advance.

Bill

[river-wear]

I'll give you another bump to the top.

The advice I see here is to first try less drastic measures. Like 50/50 water and white vinegar. It's milder. But it may be best to wait for an expert to chime in here.

[themaniac]

well, I may not be a tile expert, but I am a chemist. Muriatic acid is nothing more than rather concentrated (ca 37%) hydrochloric acid. While it will no doubt remove the haze quite effectively, it is just one of those chemicals where it is too easy to hurt yourself. A splash of the HCl in your eyes during the mixing, and your next stop will be the ER. The vinegar, which is nothing more than dilute acetic acid, is less likely to do damage to the user, and I have used it to clean up the haze.

[bill with travertine]

Thank you both for the tips.

Bill

[Davestone]

On top of that, any acidic cleaners will take the polish, or high hone off your marble.I would try just a hogs hair pad,or scrubby pad, and water.Hopefully you sealed the stone before grouting, otherwise you will find it absorbed the grout pigment and may need to be enhanced to get a decent sheen.

[DerrickM]

I went through a couple haze removals recently. They were both porcelain so I used sulfamic acid (in a fairly week mix).

I'd be extremely worried about using acid on marble or travertine. If vinegar won't do it, I'd test a small spot somewhere you won't notice it--And be prepared to immediately clean up/dry.

I think I read a post a while back that somebody removed the sheen from a marble shower this way.

[claycarson]

Bill, any acid will etch the travertine. Its as acid sensitive as marble. Don't use it, just use abrasives

[Davy]

Cleaning marble or travertine is totally different than cleaning porcelain tile. Even a 100 to 1 mix may be strong enough to etch the stone, like the others have said.

[Flacan]

Travertine and any other marble will etch with an acid application (the shine will come off). Even matte finish will look different when etched.

This is due to the calcium base content within marble. Maybe Maniac the chemist knows more about it, but just forgot to mention it

[Bill Vincent]

Years ago, when I worked for another contractor in south Florida, we did this home with polished roman travertine throughout. When we were done, the homeowner was worried about it being slippery, so we were going to use a mild mix of muriatic acid to slightly etch the surface. When we were done, it had actually gotten rid of alot of the "powder" caked into the pores of the face, and made the stone BRIGHTER! That said, though, I'd also be a little apprehensive.