Lustro Italiano Etch and Water Mark Remover for Marble, Travertine, Limestone

How do I remove dull spots from marble? How to remove etch marks from polished marble? How to remove water marks from my marble countertop? I had a party and the margarita glasses left rings on my marble countertop. How do I get them out of my beautiful expensive marble? These are questions we get from homeowners on a daily basis.

Lustro Italiano Etch and Water Mark Remover is a polishing compound that is a combination of specially formulated polishing powders designed to specifically remove etch marks, water marks, water rings, dull spots, and even light scratches on marble, travertine, limestone, alabaster, and onyx stone.

How do I remove etch and dull spots on marble countertops?

Understanding what caused the dull spots in the first place is important. Polished marble will have a very nice high gloss. However, marble is not the easiest stone to take care of. Marble is a calcite based stone that is "soft" in nature. When something acidic touches marble, the acid will chemically react with the calcite in the stone and "eat" or start dissolving the stone.

If the stone is not sealed properly, this can happen in seconds! Once the surface has been removed, the marble will have a dull spot. If the acid has sat on the surface for a longer time, the stone will then feel rough to the touch.

What are some things that will cause etching and dull spots on marble?

Lemon, lime, vinegar, soda(coke), spray cleaners that are acidic based or have vinegar in them.

These are some of common household items that will cause dull spots on marble.

How do you prevent dull spots, etching on marble and keep my marble polished and looking great?

The short answer to that question is, you cannot prevent etching on any stone that contains calcite. However, if you ask "How can I protect my marble from etching or dull spots?" the answer is...

SEALER, SEALER, SEALER

It is very important, critical, vital in fact, to seal your marble every 6 months to a year, depending on how much the stone is used. Marble is like a sponge and will absorb everything! Sealing is the best way to protect against etching and staining on marble. Even though there is no way to prevent etches or stains on stone with calcite, sealing stone will add a protective barrier to the surface that helps you maintain the stone's appearance.

Sealing your marble with a premium sealer like the Lustro Italiano premium grade sealer will give you a much longer time to clean up the spill. Also, it will protect against staining from wine, oil, mustard, ketchup, and other normal household items.

Also, its important to know that if an etch or dull spot on marble has occurred, the acid that caused the etch has most definitely removed the sealer that was on the stone. That means that you MUST reseal the stone where the etch was. But if it etched, there is a great possibility that the entire stone needs to be sealed.

Is the Lustro Italiano Etch Remover meant for honed marble?

Yes, it can be used on honed marble. You just have to be a little careful on the honed marble because it will want to polish it back up to a polished finish. So we would advise to just go for 10-15 seconds, stop and then check to make sure you get the finish you want.

How do I use the Lustro Italiano Etch and water mark remover to get the dull spots back to original polish?

Simply apply a spoon full of Lustro Italiano Etch Remover over the etch or water mark. Using a rag, rub the Etch Remover over the blemish by hand. Continue to rub into the desired area for approximately 3 minutes and the etch and water mark will be mechanically removed and re polished back to the original factory finish. For heavy etch marks a 2nd or 3rd application of 3 min intervals may be required. If the Lustro Etch Remover becomes dry or hard, simply add a little water to make it into a toothpaste consistency again. Make sure to re-seal the surface with Lustro Italiano Stone Sealer as the original sealer on the stone will be compromised. Removes etchs on Marble, Travertine, Limestone, Alabaster, and Onyx. Does not work on granite or quartz based stone. Lustro Italiano Etch Remover is sold by 8 ounce weight. Please note that the container will not be completely filled to the top.

Look at some examples of before and after. As a note: these before and after photos were submitted by a customer. She called saying, "my marble vanity has a dull finish. It used to be polished and had lots of shine. But now it has no polish to it? What can I used to bring back the shine on my marble vanity"?

Notice how dull the left photo below is of a crema marfil marble vanity. Just from wear and use the polish of the marble has been worn off. The 2nd and 3rd photo are different angles of the top after she re polished the marble vanity using the Lustro Etch Remover. Getting great depth in the stone and the original light reflection back. Looks like it was just installed.

Vanity with a very dull finish. After about 30 minutes the polish came back with the Etch Remover

How to remove rings out of marble countertops.

The Example below is of a marble bar area. The 3 big rings were caused by Margaritas: Salt, Lime, Alcohol, Mixer. The customer had bought the house with this bar top installed. She had a super bowl party. The Broncos were losing (big!) and so they started drinking....

The next day etch rings were on her bar countertop! What she didn't realize is that marble, especially in a bar setting, really needs to be sealed regularly. Ideally it is also best to keep a topical stone polish or wax on top of the marble as well to give added protection. So she purchased the Lustro Etch and Lustro cleaner and polish kit to keep this from happening again. The photos below are of the Lustro Etch only. The Lustro Stone polish had not been applied yet in these before and after photos.

Very clear etched water rings and dull surface. It took approx 1 hour to redo this top with Lustro Etch Remover Jim from Colorado submitted this:

Here are before and after pics of the black marble on our wet bar. The circles and spots on my marble were caused by a pitcher full of great margaritas! I never thought about the calcium in the marble tile and how it would react to the citric acid in margarita mix. At any rate it was a lesson learned. Lustro Italiano Etch Remover and a fair amount of elbow grease saved the day! I have a little more work to do and then will seal the tiles with the Lustro Italiano Stone Sealer. Thanks for your advice and for sending the etch remover and sealer so quickly.

If you would like to have your before and after photos posted for any Lustro product, please submit them to info@lustroitaliano.com.