How to remove deodorant marks from marble

What you will need

• Soft cloths Nothing abrasive, and no scouring side of a sponge.
• Washing up liquid A few drops in warm water. It is close to neutral, which is what marble needs.

Helpful but not essential

• Kitchen roll or white paper towel For the poultice.
• Cling film and tape To keep the poultice damp overnight.
• A soft plastic scraper For lifting a solid deposit off without scratching.

What not to use on marble

• The tumble dryer or an iron before the mark has gone

  Heat and the aluminium compound together set the residue into the fibre and accelerate the yellowing reaction. Textile guidance is explicit that heat applied to a deodorant stain ruins most fabrics, and a mark that has been through a hot dryer is far harder to shift.

• White vinegar, lemon juice, limescale remover and acidic bathroom sprays

  Marble is calcium carbonate and acid dissolves it. The result is an etched patch, dull and slightly rough, which is a change in the stone rather than a mark on it and does not clean off. This excludes the household method most often recommended for deodorant marks.

• Scouring cream, scouring powder, the abrasive side of a sponge and melamine foam pads

  Polished marble scratches easily and a scratched or dulled area cannot be buffed back at home. Everything on this page is deliberately soft.

• Bleach and general purpose bathroom cleaners

  Many bathroom cleaners are acidic, and bleach does nothing useful to a waxy residue while risking the finish on some stones. Neutral detergent is the correct cleaner for marble.

• Wiping and reassessing while the stone is wet

  Marble looks clean when it is damp and the shadow reappears as it dries. Judging it wet is how people conclude a mark has gone and then find it has not.

White compared with coloured marble

Marble varies enormously. Polished white marble shows an etch mark as a dull patch immediately, honed marble shows it less, and dark marble shows oily shadows more than pale marble does. What none of them tolerate is acid, regardless of colour or finish. Test any method on a hidden area, the underside of a hearth or inside a cupboard, and look at it dry and at a low angle to the light.

If the mark is still there

If a shadow remains once the surface is dry, it is oil that has gone into the stone rather than residue on it, and wiping will not reach it. Marble is porous, so an oily component drawn into the pores has to be drawn back out, which is what a poultice does over several hours.

One poultice application often lightens a mark substantially and a second finishes it. Beyond two, the remaining discolouration is usually permanent, particularly if the stone was unsealed.

What cannot be fixed at home is etching. If the surface has gone dull and slightly rough where something acidic touched it, that is the marble itself dissolved away, not a stain sitting on it, and no cleaning changes it. Re polishing is a stone specialist's job and a routine one for them.

It is worth having the stone sealed once it is clean. An impregnating sealer does not stop marks landing but it buys time before an oily one soaks in.

Why deodorant behaves this way on marble

Deodorant reaches marble as overspray onto a bathroom worktop, a windowsill or a vanity top, or as a stick set down on the surface. Two things then happen, and only one of them is a stain.

The waxy carrier and the aluminium salt sit on the surface and come off with warm water and a little detergent. That part is easy, and on a sealed surface it is the whole job.

The oily component can be drawn into the stone, because marble is porous. Once it is in the pores, nothing applied to the surface reaches it, and the only method that works is a poultice: a damp absorbent material left in contact for hours so that as it dries it pulls the oil back out of the stone. That is slow, it is the standard trade approach for organic marks on stone, and there is no faster equivalent.

The hard constraint is acid. Marble is calcium carbonate, and acid dissolves it. Vinegar, lemon juice, limescale remover and most acidic bathroom sprays all etch the surface, leaving a dull patch that is a change in the stone itself rather than a mark on it. That excludes the household method most commonly recommended for deodorant stains, which is precisely why it needs saying on this page.

Abrasives are excluded for the same reason: a polished marble surface scratches easily and the scratched area cannot be buffed back at home.

Do the usual suggestions work?

• Warm water with a few drops of washing up liquid Yes, it works

  Neutral at this dilution and the correct routine cleaner for marble. Enough for the surface part of the mark.

• A kitchen roll poultice left overnight Yes, it works

  The standard approach for an oily mark drawn into porous stone, and the only thing that reaches below the surface.

• Bicarbonate of soda paste Only with caution

  Alkaline rather than acid, so it will not etch, but it is mildly abrasive and can dull a polish. Not needed if a poultice is available.

• White vinegar or lemon juice No, it is risky

  Etches marble on contact. The most damaging thing commonly suggested for this stain.

• A limescale remover or a bathroom spray No, it is risky

  Most are acidic, and the ones that work well on limescale are the ones that damage marble fastest.

• A melamine foam pad No, it is risky

  A fine abrasive. It dulls polished marble and the patch cannot be restored at home.

Common questions

There is a dull patch now. Is that the stain?

Probably not. A dull, slightly rough patch is an etch, meaning something acidic dissolved a little of the surface. It cannot be cleaned off. A stone restoration specialist can re polish it, which is routine work for them.

Should I seal the marble afterwards?

Once it is clean and completely dry, yes. An impregnating sealer does not stop marks landing on the surface but it slows an oily one soaking in, which is the difference between a wipe and an overnight poultice next time.

Is the same true of limestone and travertine?

Yes. They are also calcium carbonate and they etch the same way. Everything on this page applies, and travertine has open pits that hold residue as well, so the poultice step matters more.

Related pages

Background: Deodorant stains and Marble.