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Marble Polishing
One marble slab in plan, ruled into a test patch of eight squares, each square a treatment the heritage guides name with the state whose guide says it and the mark that guide’s verdict takes, and the strip along the slab’s lower edge where the Australian marbles are named pH-neutral soapmay help someheavy soilingon headstones,after a test ·SA Allowed by the guide, after a test (SA) Water at lowpressure with aneutraldetergent · NSWState HeritageRegister items Allowed by the State Heritage Register exemption (NSW) A bristle orbronze brush,never steel, onmasonry · VIC Allowed by the guide, after a test (VIC) A poulticedraws graffitistains out ofporous stone ·SA headstones Allowed by the guidelines, after a test (SA) Acid: SA saysno on marble orlimestone, VICon marble Refused by the guidelines (SA, VIC) No householdbleach towhiten marble ·SA Refused by the guidelines (SA) No sandblastingor pressurecleaning of agravestone · SA Refused by the guidelines (SA) No protectivecoating on oldstone · SA; NSWHeritage Registeritems: only wherecoated before Refused for old stone, and confined to surfaces already coated (SA, NSW) WOMBEYAN NSW · reserveplan: quarryingon the reservebegan in 1941 Borenore Red BORENORERED NSW · TransportHouse, MacquarieStreet ANGASTON SA · a truemarble, likeCarrara’s KAPUNDA SA · Heritage SAnote: ParliamentHouse, westernthird 1883-89 BUCHAN VIC · HeritageDatabase: Shrineof Remembrance,built 1927-34 The test patch Test a small hidden area first · VIC and SA guides The slab’s edge One marble slab in plan, drawn tall: the same test patch ruled two squares across and four deep, and the strip along its lower edge as a list of five rows pH-neutral soapmay help someheavy soiling onheadstones,after a test ·SA Allowed by the guide, after a test (SA) Water at lowpressure with aneutraldetergent · NSWState HeritageRegister items Allowed by the State Heritage Register exemption (NSW) A bristle orbronze brush,never steel, onmasonry · VIC Allowed by the guide, after a test (VIC) A poultice drawsgraffiti stainsout of porousstone · SAheadstones Allowed by the guidelines, after a test (SA) Acid: SA says noon marble orlimestone, VICon marble Refused by the guidelines (SA, VIC) No householdbleach to whitenmarble · SA Refused by the guidelines (SA) No sandblastingor pressurecleaning of agravestone · SA Refused by the guidelines (SA) No protectivecoating on oldstone · SA; NSWHeritage Registeritems: only wherecoated before Refused for old stone, and confined to surfaces already coated (SA, NSW) WOMBEYAN NSW · reserve plan: quarrying on thereserve began in 1941 Borenore Red BORENORE RED NSW · Transport House, Macquarie Street ANGASTON SA · a true marble, like Carrara’s KAPUNDA SA · Heritage SA note: Parliament House,western third 1883-89 BUCHAN VIC · Heritage Database: Shrine ofRemembrance, built 1927-34 The test patch Test a small hidden area first · VICand SA guides The slab’s edge

A clean square: the guide allows it (VIC and SA after a test). A struck square: the guide says not to.

Guide 3 of 7

How do heritage guides say to clean marble?

Victoria and South Australia ask for a test first. Then South Australia names a pH-neutral soap for heavy soiling, Victoria a bristle or bronze brush, and New South Wales low-pressure water for State Heritage Register items.

General information from Australian heritage and geological sources, much of it written for old and heritage stone, not trade advice.

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The test the guides ask for first

Heritage Victoria’s code asks for small areas to be tested before the full job, and the South Australian guidelines ask for the test to be made on a small, hidden part of the stone.

The code adds where that test belongs: a section of the surface that represents the whole, kept discrete, and standing next to an identical uncleaned area so the two can be compared.

The test is asked for even where the advice is mild: the South Australian guidelines say a neutral soap may help where soiling is heavy, with a test first.

What the guides name for the stone

The treatments below are the gentle end of the guides’ advice, and each one belongs to the state whose guide gives it.

  • SA: a pH-neutral soap or a non-ionic detergent may help where soiling is heavy, after a test on a hidden part of the stone.
  • VIC: a mild abrasive method, by hand or machine, with a brush of bristle or bronze and never steel, or with water jets; bird droppings usually come away this way.
  • NSW: low-pressure water and neutral detergents, for items listed on the State Heritage Register, under the exemption’s standard and the general conditions that go with it.

What the guides rule out

Each guide rules out harsher methods for its own stone.

  • SA: no wire brushes or metal tools on a headstone, and no cleaning at all on stone that is cracking, splitting, flaking or scaling, or whose surface is grainy.
  • VIC: grit blasting, which the code says the mortar of old sandstone walls is usually too soft to withstand, and which erodes the protective surface from sandstock bricks.
  • NSW, for State Heritage Register items: the exemption covers only low-pressure water, and nothing that would alter, damage or remove significant fabric.

The order one state’s guidelines give

The South Australian guidelines give a working order for a headstone, and it starts before any water: decide whether the stone should be cleaned at all, then work gently.

  1. Weigh the look of a ‘new’ surface against the care the headstone actually needs.
  2. Leave a brittle or fragile stone alone: if it is cracking, splitting, flaking or scaling, or its surface is grainy, the guidelines say not to attempt it.
  3. Work from the base upwards, keep the whole of the headstone to a single method, and use no wire brush or metal tool.
  4. Where the stone is already damaged, look past the surface: spalling, fretting and delamination are traced to rising damp, corrosive salts or rainwater, so drainage and run-off at the grave are put right.

Old stone, not a benchtop

The cleaning guidance cited on this page was written for old and heritage stone: exterior masonry in one code, historic graves and monuments in another, and one exemption written for items on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.

None of it is written for a new kitchen surface. Heritage Victoria’s code says carelessness or the wrong method can lead to irreversible damage, and gives one good reason to leave cleaning operations to the experts.

Where this question goes next

Two guides sit beside this one: Why does acid damage marble?, and Can marble be sandblasted or pressure-cleaned?

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Thank you. We’ve emailed you to confirm it, with what happens next.

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Dotto runs this form, not the business this site is about. Once we’ve checked your request, we pass it to this site’s owner or to a business that provides this service. Please leave out health or financial details. How we handle your details, including access and complaints: lead terms · privacy policy

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