You’re here because you want to know how to polish marble. If you’re the proud owner of natural marble you know that protecting this investment requires periodic maintenance – whether it’s cleaning a marble floor or sealing a marble countertop. Any natural stone will show wear over time but with proper and timely maintenance will last you generations.
Just like carpeting or window glass or furniture, dirt can build up on the surface even with regular cleaning.
The same is true for polished marble surfaces and especially so because marble is porous.
Even sealed marble can still be affected by staining – particularly acidic materials like pet urine, ketchup, spilled wine or fruit juices like orange and grapefruit juice.
The good news for highly polished marble surfaces damaged by wear, accidental drops or acidic spills — even smoke is that they can be completely restored.
The Process of How to Polish Marble
A marble polishing process option, defined here, will help you decide if this is one of the marble cleaning tasks you choose to take care of yourself or have completed by a qualified contractor.
These steps, on how to polish marble, apply to natural marble only and do not apply to cultured marble which has a different material composition and surface finish.
The Automatic Scrubber Rental Approach
If you’re contemplating the decision to tackle polishing a marble floor yourself, then using an automatic scrubber will:
- save you time
- is fairly easy to operate
- inexpensive to rent
and is a great option for small to medium living spaces like an entry foyer or bathroom.
All that’s required is attaching the appropriate pad, based on the condition of your floor, turning the machine on and starting the buffing or polishing process.
Okay — there are a few more steps involved but overall, the process is easy. Here’s what you need to consider start to finish:
- Begin with a clean floor. That means removing with a dry mop every bit of granular material or dirt from the floor’s surface – including corners and along baseboards.
Remove any wax or other buildup with a stone stripper – this would include any adhesive on the surface from stickers, paint splatters or other dirt adhered to the surface. A stone stripper may not be needed if you’ve never waxed the floor or have minimal adhesion from foreign contaminants.- Damp mop your floor clean and let it air dry
- Start by attaching a scraping pad on your rental automatic scrubber
- Spray water with a spray bottle on the marble surface and then liberally broadcast buffing powder over the floor’s surface. The ratio of buffing powder to surface area would about 2 tablespoons of powder for 16 square feet of flooring.
- Run the scrubber over the area, initially, 4 or 5 times – more if needed. Change the pads as required during this process.
- Remove the dry residue with a broom or a dry clean mop making sure that all corners and crevices are clean as well.
- After the floor surface is dry and free from residue, attach a buffing or polishing pad to the automatic scrubber machine.
- Polish the entire area with the polishing pad, changing as needed, until you achieve the level of shine you desire.
