Nina, As a conservator (and member of AIC) I have some experience with marble cleaning. To remove wax, surface dirt and grime from the surface of the marble I would try either of the following recipes: 1. an emulsion of de-ionized water, mineral spirit and a drop of non-ionic detergent - it is important that you don't just use 'any' detergent if you want to prevent damage - applied with cotton wool/swabs, and subsequently rinsed well with clean de-ionized water; 2. a solution of de-ionized water and citric acid (try 100 ml water & 1 g citric acid) - adjust the pH to around 7.5 with Ammonium hydroxide - and, again, rinsed with clean de-ionized water. If you have problems in finding these supplies, then distilled water and mineral spirit, either on their own or mixed, may work. I recommend that you do not use any acid which would etch the surface of the marble. Also, commercial cleaning agents should be avoided as they would cause, in the long run, pitting and degradation of the marble, not to mention faster and worst re-deposition of soil. After cleaning you may want to apply some microcrystalline wax for protection. Please let me know if you need suppliers' names etc. Flavia Perugini, conservator George Washington's Mount Vernon P.O. Box 110 Mount Vernon, VA 22121-0110 Tel. (703) 799-8632 Fax (703) 799 8698 [log in to unmask] www.mountvernon.org -----Original Message----- From: Nina Fairles [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 2:13 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Cleaning Marble Hello We are preparing exhibit space in a historic house museum and need to clean the marble fireplace. Any quick, safe and inexpensive suggestions on how to clean it or suggested resources? Thank you, Nina Fairles, Art Technician Marin History Museum _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).