Marble coping - stain removal

[srikantheee84]

Is there any safe way to remove stains from marble coping ? The expansion joints are filled with mastic during sun deck process. Thanks!

 

[convan23]

I’m not sure if this will be heavy duty enough but I’m a big fan of magic erasers as a first line of defense for tough stains on marble and quartz. We use that on our indoor countertops with great results, and I’ve used it on my marble coping once or twice for things like food stains.

You don’t want to pressure wash it (it could drive the stain deeper).

 

[convan23]

If magic erasers don't work, I'd try to figure out what exactly it was stained with (mastic sealant shouldn't stain like that??) and figure out what would break it down. I know they make silicone sealant remover. Boiling water might also dissolve it enough.

 

[convan23]

By the way, if you find a good sealant that you like for the coping after you get the stains out, I'd love to know! Still deciding what to seal ours with...

 

[srikantheee84]

If magic erasers don't work, I'd try to figure out what exactly it was stained with (mastic sealant shouldn't stain like that??) and figure out what would break it down. I know they make silicone sealant remover. Boiling water might also dissolve it enough.

It is not from mastic but during deck installation some of the road base got there.

 

[convan23]

It is not from mastic but during deck installation some of the road base got there.

What have you tried so far? I'd think scrubbing with soapy water, magic erasers, that sort of stuff would get that out. You could try a low-pressure pressure washer (like a hose spigot). With oil stains you want to be really careful with pressure washing because you can send the oils deeper into the porous material. But with something like sand... I would think that would be water soluble and agitation (so that it dissolves into the water) is what you'd want. (I'm no expert in this by any means, just neurotic about removing stains from our various porous materials at our house)

 

[Cena_sea]

I hesitate to recommend something because I’ve never dealt with marble coping but for a food sauce stain I had luck with baking soda and water (made paste) on indoor marble tabletop. This was soon after the stain happened and I let it sit for a bit. This was after regular granite/marble cleaner couldn’t take off the stain.

Edit: I never tried magic erasers on marble or granite so thank you for the tip. For the baking soda I might have lightly scrubbed as applying but online it suggested it would absorb the stain so I wouldn’t scrub it in.

 

[convan23]

@Cena_sea once you try the magic erasers you’ll never go back. It’s what our countertop installers recommended, actually.