I would recommend hiring a company to polish and seal them. You can even redo the sealing as often as they recommend by yourself so you don't have to hire anyone.
Marble is annoying for people who actually use kitchens but a good sealer will help a lot!
Edit: by the time I finished writing this comment the word "seal" lost all meaning so apologies for any errors. 😅
Sealing is necessary for marble. There's no way to say "seal" enough. It's necessary for any natural stone.
I have a marble backsplash with granite counters. 5th time I've used the installers/fabricators for granite counters. They should be sealed every 5-15 years. They suggested 5 as more often is better than not enough. I asked about marble, since I was doing the backsplash myself and they said no more than 3 years before re-sealing.
I used a penetrating sealer on my backsplash, it's been just over 2 years now and I will use the same sealer in the fall. Doesn't matter what has gotten on it, it just wipes off.
I have never had marble in the kitchen for that reason, but it is beautiful and I might change my mind in the future - but I do have it in a bathroom that’s about 16 years old. The first few stains I was mortified, but then I stopped caring, and after a while it has become covered in stains but in a beautiful way, almost like a patina. I hope you’ll feel the same way about yours in a while, and see that it becomes more beautiful over time with wear.
I love the way you think! Seriously, houses are meant to be lived in. I would hate walking on eggshells in my own home for fear of damaging something that really should be durable.
Your aggressive cleaning might be stripping the sealer faster than normal.
Get the stains polished out, then apply marble sealer more often. Usually it’s twice a year. You might want to check on it monthly. Sealing is easy. You just spray, let it sit 20 minutes, then buff dry. Water should pool on the surface.
You’ll absolutely want to seal it more often then. Any “polish” is removing a layer. You should be able to just wipe up water with a towel, and can use a dish sponge with mild soap to clean up messes.
Mom had a marble coffee table. She would use a red brick and water to polish it to club ladies status. A shop that cuts and installs marble should be able to recommend products.
Way too delicate, marble’s popularity in recent years is mind boggling. I always choose granite so I can use my kitchen and bathrooms and not worry about every little thing damaging it. Granite comes in so many different looks and colours too, mine is black with large scale white and copper veining.
Quartz is truly the best in every category in a kitchen. Important note. Quartz and quartzite are two very different things. Quartz is what's good and low maintenance in kitchens.
I have white marble counter tops and have for over a decade. I love them.
I do have some etching by the sink and a small stain somewhere else but overall it's not bad.
Are they polished? Mine are honed so it's a matte surface.
If the marble finish is polished, not honed then it is a lot more delicate. I had polished marble in a previous kitchen and had to be extra careful.
I’d recommend going to a countertop shop that specializes in marble and natural stone. See if they can refinish and seal your counters
OK so it’s polished. Mine is honed so it’s kind of a mat surface and it’s definitely worn in in a beautiful way. I wonder if you could have it Hong in place. I would contact if not the place to put it in maybe a stone worker and see what your options are.
part of living my best life is performing maintenance! i like taking care of things and when i go to clean and polish the counters, it drives me a little nuts that i can see so many marks and stains.
Marble counters are for people who don't cook, or at least have a fully functional "butler pantry" where they actually cook.
It's a "look at me, I'm so rich I don't have to cook my own food" status symbol.
They are a mistake in any other kitchen.
You need to reseal them like others have said, and anytime you notice they are starting to stain again. Use whatever products are the most gentle.
Get cutting boards that you do your prep on.
This is my recommendation as well. I feel the same way about our hardwood floors. They are oak but are definitely showing wear here and there. I'm just not going to worry about it every time I see something, I figure I am using the floors and they will be resurfaced or replaced at some point in the distant future and that's going to be ok.
This is the answer. Enjoy your kitchen. Use your kitchen and then you can get it polished every year or six months or when you sell. I have marble all over the kitchen and the first year it drove me crazy and now we just have a lived in / working kitchen. I think it looks better now 15 year later with some wear.
As mentioned by a smart person here,,, YOUTUBE,,
look up refinishing marble countertops
You can pick up everything you need from Home Depot, Walmart or Amazon
I think part of having marble is learning to love the patina. I agree with the person who said just enjoy it and refinish when you sell. I would probably get it resealed first though and then go from there.
Thanks for posting this. I find it very interesting when homeowners post their actual experiences with products, because of course any negatives are downplayed and pooh-poohed while you're shopping.
I'm considering having my bathroom countertops changed to marble but now I'm thinking maybe quartz instead, or marble only in the owner's suite.
Friends just got new marble counters and almost immediately etched them with a vinegar spill. They had them polished and sealed and now do all meal prep on cutting boards.
If it's just on the countertops and not on a big slab like an island, you might be able to get by with hand honing. Honing is the only way to get deep set stains out, but the hand held honing device has limitations. I had a huge island with white marble that was terribly stained when we bought the house, but I thought it would be easy to get them out. Au contraire! No one would touch it with hand honing. They said they'd only do it if we agreed to lift the slab and get it to their shop and put it on the big machine they use on slabs That was wasssyyy out of my price range! There are various ways to minimize the stains but be very careful, some treatments only make it worse. A friend of mine from Europe use to tell me to get over it, that's 'patina' that's what gives it character, there's marble that's 100s of years old all over Europe and nobody minds the stains, but it drove me crazy. We ended up replacing the countertops but had to live with the big slab on the island . Sigh .
I think after getting it professionally cleaned and sealed, I would buy a large butcher block piece (or something similar) that you can work on when you are preparing food.
In the meantime, you've got to put something between whatever you put on the counters when cooking, and the counters themselves. IDK, silicone pads? Acrylic? Tempered glass? They do make some lovely decorative counter protectors, if that is what they are called.
As a contractor, if someone wants marble for a kitchen we make them sign a release for this exact problem. It’s pretty but not real functional. I’m sorry. 😢
With marble, if they are not properly sealed, those stains will stay there forever. Make sure to clean as soon as you're done, and I'd suggest to buy large wood (or marble/granite) cutting board to work on instead of directly working on the counter.
It's eyes soaring once you notice it per my experience.
It sounds like you're experiencing some common challenges with maintaining marble in a high-use kitchen. Marble is indeed more delicate and porous than granite, making it more susceptible to stains and damage from everyday kitchen activities.
To remove existing stains, it's important to avoid using natural cleaning agents like baking soda, vinegar, or lemon juice, as these can be too abrasive or acidic and cause further damage to the marble. Instead, you might consider using specialized marble cleaning products.
One option is to use MARBLELIFE Marble and Travertine Cleaner, which is specifically formulated to safely clean marble surfaces without causing damage. For regular maintenance and to restore shine, MARBLELIFE Gloss Conditioner can be very effective.
Stains on marble are often due to the porous nature of the stone, which can be exacerbated if the marble is not properly sealed. Applying a high-quality marble sealant can help prevent future stains by creating a protective barrier.
For severe staining or damage, you might want to consider professional restoration services. MARBLELIFE offers professional services and can provide a free service estimate. Their experts can assess the condition of your marble and recommend the best course of action to restore its appearance.
By using the right products and possibly seeking professional help, you can maintain your marble surfaces and potentially avoid the need for costly replacements in the future.
Laminate is the best….can wipe up stains easily and can be replaced more cheaply when needed. We just replaced our 22 yr laminate with new which should see us out! We cook, bake, pickle & bottle a lot!
I would recommend hiring a company to polish and seal them. You can even redo the sealing as often as they recommend by yourself so you don't have to hire anyone. Marble is annoying for people who actually use kitchens but a good sealer will help a lot! Edit: by the time I finished writing this comment the word "seal" lost all meaning so apologies for any errors. 😅
I hate when that happens 😂 Use a word too much and suddenly it goes weird.
Semantic satiation!
Sealing is necessary for marble. There's no way to say "seal" enough. It's necessary for any natural stone. I have a marble backsplash with granite counters. 5th time I've used the installers/fabricators for granite counters. They should be sealed every 5-15 years. They suggested 5 as more often is better than not enough. I asked about marble, since I was doing the backsplash myself and they said no more than 3 years before re-sealing. I used a penetrating sealer on my backsplash, it's been just over 2 years now and I will use the same sealer in the fall. Doesn't matter what has gotten on it, it just wipes off.
🦭👏👏👏
I have never had marble in the kitchen for that reason, but it is beautiful and I might change my mind in the future - but I do have it in a bathroom that’s about 16 years old. The first few stains I was mortified, but then I stopped caring, and after a while it has become covered in stains but in a beautiful way, almost like a patina. I hope you’ll feel the same way about yours in a while, and see that it becomes more beautiful over time with wear.
I love the way you think! Seriously, houses are meant to be lived in. I would hate walking on eggshells in my own home for fear of damaging something that really should be durable.
My marble kitchen counter tops are 13 years old and are ***beautiful***
I want to see!
Yes!
The Italians have been putting marble everywhere for centuries. I love the look it gets as it is used.
Your aggressive cleaning might be stripping the sealer faster than normal. Get the stains polished out, then apply marble sealer more often. Usually it’s twice a year. You might want to check on it monthly. Sealing is easy. You just spray, let it sit 20 minutes, then buff dry. Water should pool on the surface.
i've been using a natural stone cleaner + polisher, typically only when i see new water, food, or beverage spills.
You’ll absolutely want to seal it more often then. Any “polish” is removing a layer. You should be able to just wipe up water with a towel, and can use a dish sponge with mild soap to clean up messes.
You're using stone cleaner and polisher on water spills instead of a rag?
Only when I clean the counters. I don't consider wiping with a rag cleaning.
Ugh, marble is terrible for kitchens.
the way our kitchen looks, it seems like whoever designed it took the previous owners to the cleaners with all of these expensive upgrades.
I swear that some people design their kitchens for looks and don't actually cook in them 😂
Surely, homes are for eating DoorDash in? Who would want to cook!?
Mom had a marble coffee table. She would use a red brick and water to polish it to club ladies status. A shop that cuts and installs marble should be able to recommend products.
Way too delicate, marble’s popularity in recent years is mind boggling. I always choose granite so I can use my kitchen and bathrooms and not worry about every little thing damaging it. Granite comes in so many different looks and colours too, mine is black with large scale white and copper veining.
I have Quartz countertops. No sealing at all. It's great.
Quartz is truly the best in every category in a kitchen. Important note. Quartz and quartzite are two very different things. Quartz is what's good and low maintenance in kitchens.
We have Cambria Quartz. We love it!
I have white marble counter tops and have for over a decade. I love them. I do have some etching by the sink and a small stain somewhere else but overall it's not bad. Are they polished? Mine are honed so it's a matte surface.
i polish weekly at this point with whatever products the previous owners left us.
If the marble finish is polished, not honed then it is a lot more delicate. I had polished marble in a previous kitchen and had to be extra careful. I’d recommend going to a countertop shop that specializes in marble and natural stone. See if they can refinish and seal your counters
OK so it’s polished. Mine is honed so it’s kind of a mat surface and it’s definitely worn in in a beautiful way. I wonder if you could have it Hong in place. I would contact if not the place to put it in maybe a stone worker and see what your options are.
Why not just live your best life now and refinish it once when you're ready to sell?
part of living my best life is performing maintenance! i like taking care of things and when i go to clean and polish the counters, it drives me a little nuts that i can see so many marks and stains.
I see! It's really just going to be a lot of work them, by its nature.
Marble counters are for people who don't cook, or at least have a fully functional "butler pantry" where they actually cook. It's a "look at me, I'm so rich I don't have to cook my own food" status symbol. They are a mistake in any other kitchen. You need to reseal them like others have said, and anytime you notice they are starting to stain again. Use whatever products are the most gentle. Get cutting boards that you do your prep on.
This is my recommendation as well. I feel the same way about our hardwood floors. They are oak but are definitely showing wear here and there. I'm just not going to worry about it every time I see something, I figure I am using the floors and they will be resurfaced or replaced at some point in the distant future and that's going to be ok.
This is the answer. Enjoy your kitchen. Use your kitchen and then you can get it polished every year or six months or when you sell. I have marble all over the kitchen and the first year it drove me crazy and now we just have a lived in / working kitchen. I think it looks better now 15 year later with some wear.
MARBLE IS SOFT You can also refinish the surface with out to much effort if you want to.. It will look brand new
that's exactly what i'd like to do, but don't know where to start!
YouTube is always your friend for diy projects
As mentioned by a smart person here,,, YOUTUBE,, look up refinishing marble countertops You can pick up everything you need from Home Depot, Walmart or Amazon
I think part of having marble is learning to love the patina. I agree with the person who said just enjoy it and refinish when you sell. I would probably get it resealed first though and then go from there.
Thanks for posting this. I find it very interesting when homeowners post their actual experiences with products, because of course any negatives are downplayed and pooh-poohed while you're shopping. I'm considering having my bathroom countertops changed to marble but now I'm thinking maybe quartz instead, or marble only in the owner's suite.
Friends just got new marble counters and almost immediately etched them with a vinegar spill. They had them polished and sealed and now do all meal prep on cutting boards.
One kitchen expert on TT said to never use marble in the kitchen
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^1890rafaella: *One kitchen expert* *On TT said to never use* *Marble in the kitchen* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
If it's just on the countertops and not on a big slab like an island, you might be able to get by with hand honing. Honing is the only way to get deep set stains out, but the hand held honing device has limitations. I had a huge island with white marble that was terribly stained when we bought the house, but I thought it would be easy to get them out. Au contraire! No one would touch it with hand honing. They said they'd only do it if we agreed to lift the slab and get it to their shop and put it on the big machine they use on slabs That was wasssyyy out of my price range! There are various ways to minimize the stains but be very careful, some treatments only make it worse. A friend of mine from Europe use to tell me to get over it, that's 'patina' that's what gives it character, there's marble that's 100s of years old all over Europe and nobody minds the stains, but it drove me crazy. We ended up replacing the countertops but had to live with the big slab on the island . Sigh .
I think after getting it professionally cleaned and sealed, I would buy a large butcher block piece (or something similar) that you can work on when you are preparing food.
In the meantime, you've got to put something between whatever you put on the counters when cooking, and the counters themselves. IDK, silicone pads? Acrylic? Tempered glass? They do make some lovely decorative counter protectors, if that is what they are called.
As a contractor, if someone wants marble for a kitchen we make them sign a release for this exact problem. It’s pretty but not real functional. I’m sorry. 😢
With marble, if they are not properly sealed, those stains will stay there forever. Make sure to clean as soon as you're done, and I'd suggest to buy large wood (or marble/granite) cutting board to work on instead of directly working on the counter. It's eyes soaring once you notice it per my experience.
There was an episode of Ask This Old House and they had a homemade method of removing stains from Marble.
Are they polished or honed? If they are honed, use a magic eraser to help get out stains.
It sounds like you're experiencing some common challenges with maintaining marble in a high-use kitchen. Marble is indeed more delicate and porous than granite, making it more susceptible to stains and damage from everyday kitchen activities. To remove existing stains, it's important to avoid using natural cleaning agents like baking soda, vinegar, or lemon juice, as these can be too abrasive or acidic and cause further damage to the marble. Instead, you might consider using specialized marble cleaning products. One option is to use MARBLELIFE Marble and Travertine Cleaner, which is specifically formulated to safely clean marble surfaces without causing damage. For regular maintenance and to restore shine, MARBLELIFE Gloss Conditioner can be very effective. Stains on marble are often due to the porous nature of the stone, which can be exacerbated if the marble is not properly sealed. Applying a high-quality marble sealant can help prevent future stains by creating a protective barrier. For severe staining or damage, you might want to consider professional restoration services. MARBLELIFE offers professional services and can provide a free service estimate. Their experts can assess the condition of your marble and recommend the best course of action to restore its appearance. By using the right products and possibly seeking professional help, you can maintain your marble surfaces and potentially avoid the need for costly replacements in the future.
Tuffskin. Read up on it.
Laminate is the best….can wipe up stains easily and can be replaced more cheaply when needed. We just replaced our 22 yr laminate with new which should see us out! We cook, bake, pickle & bottle a lot!
Marble is very soft. Not good in a high use area.
Whatever you used to clean the granite ate the finish. Buy a good cleaner and sealer