This was an unusual problem; a customer contacted us regarding their Marble shower room at a house in Marlborough where the customer had sprayed Viakal Limescale remover onto the Marble tiles to clean them which unfortunately etched the surface. I’ve downloaded the MSDS sheet from the Inernet for this product and can verify it contains a combination of Etidronic, Formic and Phosphoric acids so not a very safe product to use on Marble or any sealed stone surface.
Cleaning Marble Wall Tiles
To remove the etching the Marble tiles were burnished using a 6inch coarse diamond encrusted burnishing pad fixed to a hand held rotary machine and lubricated with a spray bottle of water to help keep tiles wet. Burnishing pads come in a set of four from Coarse, Medium, Fine and Super Fine so once we had removed the etching using the coarse pad we then applied the next pads in turn which re-polish the area back to its original shine. Between pads we rinsed the tiles down to remove any soiled water away; after the final super fine pad was applied the shower tiles were given a thorough rinse down ready for sealing.
Sealing the Marble Wall Tiles
The wall was wiped down and left to dry overnight and we returned the next day to seal the Marble tiles using two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow which will protect the tile against water marking and staining from toiletries. I explained to the customer that the best way to protect the sealer was to simply use the shower head to rinse the walls every time you shower; Tile Doctor also sell an everyday cleaning product for use with showers called Aqua-Pro which is a mild alkaline cleaner that can remove body fats and stains from shampoo and soap products etc.
Source: Professional Shower Tile, Stone and Grout cleaning and maintenance services in Wiltshire