Having marble surfaces in a bathroom is one way to add a touch of luxury to your home. Natural stone is a popular choice for floors, sinks, shower walls and bath surrounds. Here’s all of our top tips on how to clean a marble bathroom.
Marble is acid sensitive. With strong acids, you will see the effects of this instantly. Known as etching, this is not something that can be wiped or cleaned off and will require professional restoration.
Tap water is not always PH neutral which means that over time, this can have a similar effect on your stone. In a marble bathroom, this means that it is really important to keep the surfaces as dry as possible.
We recommend that you clean your shower and bath area daily. The easiest and most effective way is to spray the walls and floor of the stall with a stone safe cleaner, then squeegee down after everybody in the home has taken a shower for the day. This will stop hard water build ups to the surface of the stone.
In hard water areas (like London and the South East), sitting water will also lead to a build-up of limescale and mineral deposits which can be tricky to remove without risking damage to the stone surface.
Try to ventilate your bathroom as much as possible too. Bathrooms with inadequate ventilation can cause stone surfaces to suffer from moisture damage and even mould and mildew growth.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend using a PH neutral stone cleaner. If in doubt, look out for ‘stone-safe’ on the label. This is particularly relevant for a marble bathroom.
We also recommend keeping this rule in mind when cleaning other areas of your bathroom. Try using alcohol to clean your windows and mirrors rather than harsher acidic-based cleaning chemicals. If using bleach for your toilet then it is worth taking a little more time to protect any surrounding stone too.
We suggest periodically reapplying sealant to the stone in your bathroom. Not only will it make sure the stone doesn’t start to allow moisture ingress, but will also maintain the aesthetics.
Acids and hard water will still damage a stone that has been sealed. However if this does occur, then applying a colour enhancer such as Fila Stone Plus will mask these marks as much as possible.
Just pour a small amount onto a microfibre cloth and apply to the stone surface in small circles until you have covered the area. Then buff the stone with a fresh cloth to remove any excess. Leave this for at least 15 minutes to dry, ideally 24 hours if possible.
Keep an eye on grout and particularly silicone throughout the bathroom. If it looks worn or loose then look to replace as soon as possible. Water that gets behind the stone can cause damage beyond repair.
Don’t let metal bathroom accessories (toilet brush holder, toilet paper stand etc) sit directly on the stone floor. Moisture, even from steam condensation will pool around the bases and can cause unsightly and difficult-to-remove rust marks in the stone.
If in doubt about how to care for your marble bathroom or any stone throughout your home then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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