DIY // How to Remove Stains from Marble Surfaces using a Homemade Poultice

THE FARMHOUSE

You guys know we love honed marble countertops, but unfortunately they do get stains from time to time. I found a couple stains earlier this month and I thought it would be a great opportunity to share Garrett’s super simple, homemade poultice recipe with you guys. This DIY poultice is a hard-working stain remover that sits on the marble overnight. And better yet, it’s made with basic household ingredients that you probably already have at home. Let’s get into it…

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Farmhouse pantry | sources

Before doing a poultice, we wash the countertop with soap and water. Unfortunately the stains we found earlier in the month didn’t come up so we moved on to a poultice. Here’s a close up of one of the stains - this one was stubborn and required the use of hydrogen peroxide ( we’ll explain that in a second).

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DIY // Homemade Marble Stain Remover (aka a poultice)

Ingredients

  • baking soda

  • water

  • hydrogen peroxide (for stubborn stains)


steps

*If your stain is on a prominent spot on your countertop, try this method on an inconspicuous spotfizrst to make sure you like the results (like the underside or a hidden corner).

Garrett put together a short video showing how to make and use the poultice. We’re also sharing the steps with photos below.

mixing the poultice

Mix 1 heaping tablespoon baking soda and about 1 teaspoon water (to start, you’ll probably add more) and stir. The poultice mixture should have a smooth and thick consistency, like frosting. If your’s isn’t there yet, add a little bit more water and stir. Go slow with this step - remember you can always add more liquid but you can’t take it away. Keep stirring and adding water until you get the right consistency.

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apply poultice

Spoon the mixture onto the stain. Let the poultice sit overnight.

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Remove poultice the next day

In the morning the poultice will be dry and flakey. Scrape it off of the countertop (we used a pie scraper for this step) and then wash the area with soap and water.

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If your stain is still there, you have two options. Mix up another batch of the poultice and let it sit for longer (maybe 2 or 3 nights) OR add hydrogen peroxide into your poultice for extra bleaching power. Let’s walk through the hydrogen peroxide option…

for stubborn stains

Make a second poultice, this time swapping the water for hydrogen peroxide (which has bleaching properties). Place the poultice on the stain again and leave it overnight to cure. Scrape it off in the morning, wash your countertops, and hopefully you won’t see any signs of that old stain.

Remember that really persistent stain I mentioned above? Well this recipe completely removed it! Here’s what that process looked like…

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Look at that clean marble!!!

One thing to note is that this poultice can remove the sealer on your marble along with the stain, so you may need to reapply sealer to the area where your poultice sat. Your marble might also look wet for 24 hours or so.

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That’s it! We’d love to hear if this DIY stain remover works for you!