Marble care guide
A dropped glass on white marble, especially Calacatta or Carrara, is one of the fastest ways to mark a benchtop for good. Here is what is actually happening, and how to make sure it never happens again.
Why it happens
Red wine does two things to marble at once. It stains, because the colour soaks into the stone’s pores, and it etches, because wine is acidic and reacts with the calcium carbonate in the marble itself. That is why a wine mark often looks like a dark ring with a dull halo around it, rather than just a patch of colour.
On white marble such as Calacatta and Carrara it shows up fastest, because there is no busy veining nearby to hide it. See Calacatta protection and Carrara protection.
What to do
Blot the spill immediately rather than wiping it, which spreads the colour further into the stone. A damp cloth with a little mild dish soap is enough. The faster you act, the better the odds of lifting it fully.
If it has already set, a poultice can sometimes draw the colour back out, but it will not undo any etching underneath, and it does not always work fully depending on how long the wine has been sitting. For a stone as valuable as Calacatta, it is usually worth having a stone restorer assess it rather than experimenting.
The only way to stop the next glass leaving a mark is to keep the wine off the marble altogether, which is exactly what protection film does.
Yes. Its acidity etches the surface while its colour stains it, both at the same time.
Sometimes, with a prompt response or a poultice. Long-set stains are often permanent, and any etching underneath cannot be poulticed away, only honed and repolished by a stone restorer.
Yes. Spills, including wine, sit on top of the film and wipe away rather than reaching the stone underneath.
Yes. See our Calacatta protection page for the finish options and specifics for that stone.
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