Jane asked: How do I remove chemical burns from the countertop in the kitchen. We had a sink back up and the drain was clogged, so we put in a chemical drain cleaner. When we plunged the sink, some of the chemical cleaner landed on the countertop. It is a black marble, and it now has a white stain, and several dots of whitish spots where the water and chemicals landed. When we wash it, the marks disappear. However, when it dries, they return. Do you have any help? Thanks.
When chemicals come in contact with countertops, they first attack the protective finish and sealant that has been applied to the surface before damaging the actual counter. Since the white stains are going away when wet, it is likely that just the protective surface has been damaged. To fix this, strip the existing finish and apply a new sealant and wax. All of these items can be found at hardware or home improvement stores and instructions for application will come with the product. Once the old sealant is removed, the white areas should be gone. The new sealant will keep the countertop protected from future stains. If the countertop is large, it may be wise to have the new sealant professionally applied.
I am not sure what type of countertop the person was speaking of, but this reply will not work on natural stone counter tops. What looks like a stain is really the absence of polish and can only be restored mechanically. Not by reapplying the sealer. Sealers only slow down the attacks on your stone caused by non-stone friendly chemicals. It will not make your stone bullet proof. If you have areas on your polished stone countertops that look dull, then you need to find a professional in your area to restore the finish. This is the beauty of stone verses Formica. Stone can be refinished many times.
My husband spilled a little cement cleaner on our dark colored granite counter tops. I am hoping we can fix this on our own. Do you have any suggestions? I’m afraid the counter top is ruined. When the counter is wet, you can’t see the “stain”, but as soon as it dries, you can see the white stains.
Ditto…wrong chemical cleaner. Looks fine wet, then dries white.
How do you strip old finish on granite before applying wax to restore stained black granite?
Our bathroom counter top got a yellow stain from Lysol bathroom cleaner. How can I remove the stain? Thank you.
I used CLR Kitchen and Bath cleaner on my Travertine tile in the bathroom and everywhere I sprayed, it ate the shine off the tiles and now it looks horrible. Am I going to have to pay a professional to remedy this awful situation? It’s literally everywhere and the tile WAS gorgeous. And I just put a rust remover in a zip lock bag with my kitchen sprayer zipped in the bag and someone bumped the bag and it leaked onto my black granite and now there’s an 8″ diameter white spot on the counter. UGH! I’m not cleaning my house anymore!!
I had the granite professionally refinished to no avail…the white stain still shows up when dry. What kind of poultice mixture would you recommend for treating the stain caused by spilled rust remover?
Cindy, did you ever solve the problem created by the spilled rust remover? This same thing has happened to me. I have a white spot on my black granite that won’t go away.
I cleaned some limescale from a kitchen item recently and some of the limescale remover went onto our dark grey laminated worktop.
As with Jane’s comment, this has left a whitish grey stain on the worktop which disappears when the worktop is wet.
I tried putting more of the limescale cleaner onto it to see if it would shift it but I believe this might make it worse.
Any advice??
Fran,
It sounds like the sealant was damaged. Before you strip and reseal it though, you can try rubbing a little olive oil over the area. That often works when wood sealant is damaged from rubbing alcohol, so it may work in this situation as well. If not, you don’t have to reseal the whole counter, just that one spot. First, test the counter to determine what type of finish is on it – here is a guide for that. Then, tape off the area with some masking tape, wipe a sealant stripper over the area and remove the sealant, then wipe on new sealant. Here is a video of the process using polyurethane. Good luck!
How do I fix a chemical oven cleaner burn on a walnut solid counter top? It’s only a small patch. Can anyone help please?
Veronica,
This is the article you need: How to Remove Burn Marks from Countertops. There is a section for solid surface counters. Good luck!
An Air Wick room deodorizer tipped over on my granite countertop. I have a dark stain. How can I remove this please? I’m so worried.
Lisa,
It looks like many of the Air Wick products are oil-based so try the poultice for oil stains. Good luck!
Hello, I hope you can help me please. Our Caesarstone kitchen benchtop has been stained with Aldi’s Power Force Pro Oven Cleaning Foam, which was left on it overnight. We have tried everything from Jif to some gentle sanding to no avail. Is there anything we can do to remove this yellow ring from an otherwise sparkling surface?
Tanya,
Caesarstone counters are made od quartz, which typically doesn’t stain, so whatever is in the Aldi oven cleaner must be powerful stuff. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find out what the exact ingredients are, so it’s difficult to suggest a remedy. Since quartz is non-porous, your best bet may be to sand a bit more as the stain should not be deep within the stone. If you would like to try something else, a poultice is often the best stain removal method for stone counters. Mix isopropyl alcohol with some baking soda to make a thick paste that is about the consistency of peanut butter or toothpaste and spread it over the stain. Let the paste dry, then brush off the powder. Pure acetone or hydrogen peroxide can also be used instead of alcohol. If nothing is working, contact the manufacturer; they may have additional tips for stain removal on your specific stone. Good luck!
I used Oven Pride cleaner; on completion, having cleaned everything and ensured that nothing was spilt on the granite work surface, I placed the bottle in the box and left it on the surface. Some of the liquid ran down the bottle, soaking through the box. I now have a white stain on the surface, can anything be done to remove it? The stain remains constant whether wet or dry.
Mark,
Like most oven cleaners, Oven Pride contains sodium hydroxide (lye). Often lye stains are similar to bleach stains in that they remove the color from the stone (as opposed to depositing a color/stain onto it) and therefore cannot be removed the way other stains can. However, you can certainly try, and there are also some other options for restoring the counter. First, rinse the area thoroughly with water to dilute and remove as much of the lye as possible. Next, you can try using a poultice to draw the stain out of the stone. Get 30-40% hydrogen peroxide (the chemical-grade version, which is available at chemical supply stores, some beauty supply stores, and online). If you have 3% peroxide in your cabinet at home, you can try it, though it’s not as likely to work as the chemical-grade version. Mix the peroxide with baking soda to make a thick paste, about the consistency of putty or thick peanut butter. Spread the paste over the stain, cover it with plastic wrap to hold in the moisture, and leave it for a couple hours, then wipe it off. The poultice can be repeated as many times as necessary.
If removing the stain doesn’t work, here are some other options. You can try darkening the stone with the method in the guide How to Restore Granite Countertop Color. If that doesn’t work, the area can be refinished as described in the guide How to Remove Burn Marks from Countertops (the stone section).
Source: Soapalooza – How to Handle a Lye Spill
Source: PBurch.net – Safety of the Caustic Soda and Hydro-Sulphite Used for Tie-Dying in Nigeria
Source: HowToCleanStuff – How to Remove Stains from Granite Countertops