The Secrets to Selecting and Caring for Marble Countertops

    Everyone's heard a horror story about marble countertops, and if you haven't, you're in the minority. Marble countertops are known to stain incredibly easily - even from water, which can be a nightmare in the kitchen. But if you know the right way to care for marble and the right type to select, your dreams of having beautiful, low-maintenance marble countertops can be a reality.


Matching Your Lifestyle to Your Marble

    The first thing to consider when choosing a marble countertop for your home is your lifestyle. Now I know that your first instinct is to match a marble to your color scheme, but you'll be much better off if you consider your lifestyle first.
    You see, not all marble is easy to maintain. Many marbles are very porous, which means they can stain and chip easily. Unless you're willing to constantly clean your marble or frequently scold children for banging things on it, then not all marbles are for you.
    So before falling in love with a marble, seriously consider how much you are willing to maintain it. The last thing you want is to spend a large amount of money on a marble countertop that ends up staining within two weeks.


Low-Maintenance Marble Countertops

    If you're like most people, when you evaluate your lifestyle you realize you'd rather spend less time cleaning your marble and more time enjoying it. In order to do that, you need to choose a low-maintenance marble for your countertops.
    "If [you] don't want to put the time and the care into it, [you're] probably better off with the serpentine class marble or a granite, just because it does require less maintenance," the director of the Vermont Marble Museum, Robert Pye, said. "A serpentine class marble is one that formed through a similar process as granite. It formed through an igneous process. It has a much harder surface and therefore is able to withstand the wear and tear in a kitchen."
    Typically, the darker the marble, the less likely it is to stain or chip. So if you want a durable marble, it will probably be dark. But don't base your decision on generalizations. It's important to consult an expert when making a decision.
    "I would urge anyone interested in a marble feature in their home to get with people that they trust and know and have a good background in stone to explain," Pye said. "There will be differences even in one [marble] quarry from layer to layer within the same geographic location. There will be differences in hardness and suitability. So, it's really a process they need some investigating about."
    Look for stone distributors in your area with good reputations. When you visit a distributor's showroom, they should be able to tell you which marbles will be your best bet. Be sure to ask the distributor to see the marble slab before purchasing it for your home. Marbles can vary greatly from slab to slab. Just because a marble has the same name does not mean it will look the same. If the distributor does not allow you to see the marble slabs, consider looking for another place to purchase your marble countertops.

Keeping Your Marble From Staining

    If after seeing the different marbles in the showroom you couldn't help but fall in love with a beautiful white marble, don't worry. While the white marbles are prone to stain and chip easily, there are ways to avoid it. The first way is using a sealer to protect the marble.
    "[Sealers] are still recommended to be used and are still very appropriate in some situations," Pye said. "An analogy of a car wax would be appropriate in that you're laying something on the surface of the stone that will protect by repelling what comes in contact. But just as in your car wax, eventually [the sealer] will wear away and need to be renewed."
    If you decide to use a sealer to protect your marble, you will continually need to reapply the sealer. The sealers are not perfect and will still require you to clean and maintain your marble countertops.
    The second way to protect your marble countertops is by impregnating them.
"The newer process that hasn't really been around for very long, but is gaining wide acceptance, is a process called impregnation," Pye said. "Basically you have a product that you apply that actually penetrates into the stone, becomes part of the stone and repels. That is a very permanent process."
    Just as with a sealer, you will need to impregnate your marble again from time to time; however, impregnation is better at keeping your marble from staining, according to Pye. When discussing which type of protection to use on your marble countertops, ask your distributor which types of finishes can be used with each type of protection and if the protection causes the marble to change color.


What Not To Use on Your Marble Countertop

    Even with the best marble protection, there are some things you should avoid putting on your marble countertops.
"If properly fabricated you need not worry about many things, but some of the villains, so to say, would be citrus based products, specifically limes," Pye said.             "Limes on the scale of other citrus are definitely the worst. And there are probably not very many people out there in today's world that have a lot of rhubarb around their house, but there are some. That's one you'd want to avoid. Rhubarb juice is very acidic and can definitely etch into the surface of a marble countertop."
    So if you keep citrus fruit and rhubarb off of your marble countertop, you should be safe. There is no need to go overboard either.
    "I'm not saying that if you drop [citrus or rhubarb juice] on your marble countertop you need to immediately deal with it," Pye said. "It can sit there briefly and not have any problem. But if it sits there overnight or certainly longer, then you'll probably need to give it some attention."
    To be on the safe side, always clean citrus and rhubarb juice up right away. Use a cutting board when cutting those fruits on your marble countertop.