Stone counters and floors are beautiful, natural and, as they say ‘hard as rock.’ After 10+ years of living with beautiful granite and marble counters, I have just recently managed to stain my counters leaving me miserable. We have always heard about the red wine glass stain to be aware of, but frankly I have never experienced any staining at all, let alone dishwasher soap, lemon, or a newspaper. Sadly, I present the evidence: the white mark on this granite counter is from dish washer soap that was left on the counter. I have not been able to remove it. It is etched into the counter.
These black marks on the marble counter are from a newspaper. Upon wiping, 50% of the stain was removed. Two days of spraying with Bio-Green Clean and leaving it to soak was the resolution of this problem. But I tell you, that is the last time I read a newspaper in the bathroom!
These white marks are from dish soap and lemon juice that touched the marble counter while making a salad. These stains will not go away. The solution that I am working on, (with lots of patience), is a putty mixture given to me by my stone fabricator. This mixture wipes on, then upon drying, you rub it off. The theory is that by drying, it pulls the stain up from the stone. This is tedious and way more work than the two seconds it would have taken to wipe the lemon stain up or simply not store your dish soap on the counter (put it IN the sink?)
This is a tiring process and although I have had decades of good experience with natural stone, I am definitely thinking twice before installing it in a home that has multiple users (these stains were all done by people other than myself.)
