Table of Contents:
- Homemade Marble Cleaner That’s Safe for Your Countertop and Family
- What You Need to Make Marble Cleaner at Home
- The Best Ways to Properly Clean Your Marble Countertops
- What NOT to Use for Marble Cleaner
- How to Protect Marble Counters
- The Importance of Proper Marble Countertop Care
- Contact Lesher Natural Stone, Quartz, & Tile for New Marble Countertops
Marble continues to be a staple in many living spaces across the world. Whether they make up the floors, countertops, or backsplashes in our home, marble is timeless and one of the highest quality stones on the market.
While these beautiful stone finishings offer various benefits in any home, there are also a few qualities to consider before purchasing. The material is relatively delicate compared to other common countertop choices. Scratches and splotches from everyday use can appear quickly and require rebuffing or polishing to get the material’s sleek appearance back.
Properly maintaining your marble countertops can ensure a sleek and smooth surface for many years. To avoid wearing down this beautiful material, you can create a natural homemade marble solution for everyday messes. Take a look at the following tips and tricks for cleaning your marble countertops.
Homemade Marble Cleaner That’s Safe for Your Countertop and Family
Homemade marble cleaner includes natural ingredients that are safe to use on your kitchen and bathroom surfaces. Using your own marble solution has many benefits for your counters and family. The pros of cleaning marble countertops with DIY solutions include:
- All-natural ingredients: The chemicals in store-bought cleaners can cause your countertops to lose their color and quality quicker. With all-natural ingredients in a homemade solution, your counters will thrive longer and be able to withstand everyday spills and use.
- Quick and easy to make: Homemade cleaning solutions may take a little extra time to prepare, but the instructions are easy to follow, and you can make large batches of most cleaners. You can find the liquids you need for natural recipes around your home, so you will not need to spend extra on name-brand products.
- Inexpensive: Natural ingredients you can add to your DIY marble cleaner are relatively cheap, and you can find them in any grocery or general store. Traditional name-brand surface cleaning solutions can cost more than a homemade recipe due to expensive ingredients and chemicals that can change the quality of your counters.
- Effective: Most homeowners choose to buy name-brand cleaners because they’re unsure how effective homemade solutions are at cleaning countertops. However, the DIY marble cleaner contains natural and safe ingredients that do not impact the quality of your countertops. With a few natural ingredients you can find around your home, you can easily clean stains and grime.
What You Need to Make Marble Cleaner at Home
Making DIY counter cleaner is easier than ever with natural ingredients available around your home. For each marble cleaner recipe, you will need a large spray bottle to contain enough solution to last multiple cleaning sessions. Here are two recipes that can effectively maintain the quality of your countertops.
General Cleaning
For marble countertops that just need spot cleaning, you should try to use a homemade cleaning solution about once a week. Maintaining the material for a few minutes weekly can help clean crumbs, tiny water droplets, or other minor messes that the naked eye can’t catch as quickly as larger spills.
You can create a DIY natural marble cleaner at home using the following recipe.
Recipe 1: Ingredients
One of the most significant benefits of homemade DIY marble cleaner is that the ingredients you need allow you to invest in a simple and organic disinfectant. The supplies are easy to find and inexpensive.
For general cleaning, you can use the following ingredients in your homemade marble cleaning solutions:
- Two cups of filtered water
- One-fourth cup of rubbing alcohol
- Three drops of dish soap
- 5-10 drops of scented lavender, thyme, or rosemary essential oil
You’ll also need a spray bottle that’s larger than 16 ounces to hold the ingredients.
Recipe 1: Step-By-Step Instructions
Follow these four steps to create your homemade marble cleaner:
- Pour the rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle, followed by drops of dish soap.
- Add the drops of essential oil to the bottle.
- Fill the rest of the bottle with filtered water.
- Shake until ingredients mix.
Once your solution is ready, you can spray over any minor spills or messes with the mixed ingredients and wipe with a damp cloth. Repeat until the mess is gone. Wipe away any excess moisture with a dry microfiber towel. This general cleaning solution is also useful as a disinfectant — spray more on after cleaning and let it sit for about five minutes before wiping away.
Stain Removal
Getting stains out of your marble countertops can be easy or require a bit of dedication, depending on how long the mess has been on the surface. You can easily wipe up simple spills from food and drinks with the general cleaning solution and cloth. However, stains that get left behind need larger quantities of cleaning solution and may take longer to minimize.
You can use the same ingredients from the general cleaning recipe to remove stains, but this process requires larger quantities to fight tough grime and messes.
Follow this recipe for a natural stain removal marble cleaner.
Recipe 2: Ingredients
Stain-removing cleaners often use one or some of the following natural ingredients:
- Diluted isopropyl alcohol with a ratio of 70%-99% filtered water
- Baking soda or flour
- Acetone
Recipe 2: Step-By-Step Instructions
To clean marble countertops and effectively remove stains, consider the type of spill. Any of the ingredients above can help spot-clean specific areas on your counter surfaces. However, removing tough stains from marble can take a bit more elbow grease than you would need for simple spills.
For specific stains, follow the proper cleaning steps below:
- Oil stains: Mix baking soda and water in a small bowl until the solution has the consistency of yogurt. Use a silicone spatula to spread the mix over the oil stain. Place plastic wrap over the area and tape down the edges. To minimize the stain, you should wait 24-48 hours before rinsing.
- Stains on dark marble: Darker color surfaces typically only require a few drops of acetone on a cotton ball. Take the cotton, wipe away any stains, and clean with a damp cloth.
The Best Ways to Properly Clean Your Marble Countertops
Cleaning your marble is simple but requires careful steps and ingredients to create a sleek finish for your countertops. Using the recipes above is the first step for properly cleaning your counters. You will also need a few extra products to make this process more effective.
A microfiber towel, damp cloth, plastic wrap, and tape can help make your surfaces shine after a proper marble counter cleaning.
You can use a damp cloth to wipe the DIY marble cleaner across the surface until all stains and spills are gone. The fabric is soft enough to glide across the material without scratching the marble. You can then use a microfiber towel to wipe up any excess moisture from the cleaning solution and cloth. Microfiber is an excellent material for absorbing liquids quickly and leaving a smooth feel on your counters.
While you figure out the perfect balance of the ingredients in each recipe above, keep in mind that there are a few products to steer clear of to avoid impacting the quality of your marble counters.
What NOT to Use for Marble Cleaner
Making homemade cleaners and disinfectants for marble protects your countertops from everyday messes. However, some cleaning supplies can change the color and quality of your marble. Although marble is durable, you can take a few extra steps to avoid products and ingredients that can dull the surface.
Here are a few materials to avoid using on your marble countertops:
- Acid: Cleaning solutions such as lemon juice or vinegar have a higher concentration of acid. Marble is a delicate material that can form dull splotches and indents when acid meets the surface.
- Excess Soap: Although soap is pretty harmless when cleaning marble surfaces, especially in a diluted mixture, consistent use can dull the marble over time.
- Commercial cleaners: Some name-brand marble countertop cleaners claim to add extra shine to surfaces. However, chemicals and strong soaps in the ingredients can wear down the sealing layer.
- Bathroom cleaners: Try to steer clear of bath and shower cleaning solutions. Although these products may scrub dirt and grime in your tubs, their abrasive nature can easily scratch delicate marble kitchen counters.
- Excess water: Moisture typically does not cause any damage to marble countertops. However, marble cannot handle larger spills without a sealed surface layer. Water can leave behind streaks, smudges, and dried droplets. Luckily, the homemade marble cleaner can wipe these messes up in no time.
You should also avoid using cleaning supplies with heavy metal handles, hard-bristle brushes, or steel wool that can scratch the marble’s surface. Use soft cloths or sponges and silicone tools instead.
How to Protect Marble Counters
Marble, although durable and fairly resistant to heat and water, can change in quality over time when exposed to certain materials. Without sealing the surface, natural stone such as marble is porous, which requires extra precautions and care.
Protecting marble counters can ensure a longer life span with a few simple changes to your daily routine:
- Clean up spills and messes with the homemade marble cleaner quickly.
- Use a plastic cutting board when making meals to avoid getting excess liquid on the counters.
- Provide coasters for glasses, vases, and candles.
- Attach sticky felt pads to the bottom of heavy or sharp appliances to prevent scratching the surface.
- Use glass and ceramic dishes and tools instead of metal.
- Place all fruits in a glass or ceramic bowl, especially lemons, limes, and oranges, so the acidity does not touch the counter.
- Use placemats on the countertops to hold dishes, heavy items, and appliances.
While keeping these tips in mind, you should also consider sealing your marble countertops for added protection from everyday spills and messes. Proper sealing can help your surfaces withstand moisture, heat, and acid from your kitchen’s fruits and other foods. You can still use the homemade cleaning solutions for your countertops with a sealed layer to protect the surface more effectively.
The Importance of Proper Marble Countertop Care
Marble will always provide homeowners with a high-quality, beautiful option for their countertops. The durability, timeless elegance, and versatility make this natural stone perfect for nearly any room in your home. Marble is available in a wide selection of colors, styles, and textures to enhance your kitchen’s unique aesthetic that feels inviting to family members and guests.
Proper marble countertop maintenance can extend the material’s life span. By cleaning up spills with your homemade marble cleaner and taking extra steps to protect the surface, you will have a reliable countertop for every meal you cook and prepare for your family and guests.
You can increase your home’s value with years of luxurious aesthetics and timeless designs from marble countertops. Potential buyers typically look at the layout of the kitchens and bathrooms before confirming their interest in a house on the market. With a well-maintained marble countertop, you can stand out among other homes and obtain a significantly higher profit for your property.
Contact Lesher Natural Stone, Quartz, & Tile for New Marble Countertops
If marble counters can change the look of your kitchen or bathroom, Lesher Marble can help make your vision a reality. We pride ourselves on offering durable, long-lasting stone surfaces to homeowners in Central Pennsylvania.
When you choose Lesher Marble for your countertop needs, you’ll enjoy a unique experience when selecting your new quality marble surfaces. To see which color and style is perfect for your living spaces, visit our showroom in Middletown, Pennsylvania, to compare dozens of marble samples and similar products.
Get a quote online or call 717-964-4032 to learn more about our countertops and products.
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