Did you use any chemicals to remove stains on marble? If not used, try to use the hard water soap scum remover. It is specially formulated for use on marble and natural stone and also excellent for removing soap scum in showers and baths too. It's easiest to clean the hard water stains and/or soap scum if you spray on and let sit for 5-10 minutes and then scrub with a soft-bristle brush after this i hope you will make them look like new.

Wow, if I had a marble tub I would certainly try everything to be able to renew it (if it looks really bad) and keep it! have you talked to any stone fabricator companies about doing an in-place repolishing or re-honing? (Is it honed or polished?) Do you have a photo? I'm curious what it looks like!

I'll try to take a picture today--it doesn't look bad, just looks like it's had 27 years of use, and has had more than its share of hard water (we have a water softener, but still plenty of hard water has come through over time).

We had a guy come do an estimate yesterday and he immediately said to get rid of it because "he couldn't warranty the work around it." Before then we hadn't planned to replace it, but he kind of panicked me.

I'll use the hard water scum remover this weekend again; I've done it before, but not for awhile. So are there in-place refurbishers? (Sorry if I sound ignorant.) That might be a good option.

You might try also asking at the link below.

I have a 22 year old cultured marble shower surround, and have been thinking of maybe trying to clean the hard water deposits off with some sort of polishing compound and buffer. I've tried 'about' everything else.

The other 22 year old surround that was wiped down (dried) after each shower still looks like new...sigh.

We had a guy come do an estimate yesterday and he immediately said to get rid of it because "he couldn't warranty the work around it."
Was he wanting to sell you a new tub? I wonder if he just meant that it would, in time, get build-up again....I'm just thinking out loud.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Forum.

carmensnana, are you talking about a cultured marble tub or a true stone marble tub?

It's cultured marble. Does that make it less worth trying to save?

Do you have a pic?

I'd work on saving the tub and seeking out other contractors. If you don't have any water damage after 27 years, then there's nothing wrong with the tub, structurally. Maybe this contractor was aftraid he'd damage the tub.

I thought you meant real marble!! Ha ha... I was trying to picture how it had been made out of slabs of marble or carved out of a big ol' hunk of stone :)
Yes, that's a WHOLE different story...

cultured marble is subject to crazing, which is those tiny hairline type cracks...i had a bunch around one of the drains of one of my old sinks...which is caused by very hot water...i don't know if there's really a way to get rid of those if that's what you have. i know that cleaning chemicals won't remove them...i don't think structurally they're an issue, but it does look bad.

If you like the tub just fine, and don't welcome the time/trouble and expense of a new tub, I'd suggest trying to just restore it, if you can.

As I suspected earlier, it can be restored with just automotive finishing compound and a high speed buffer with a wool pad.

From the link below:
Q: I have a cultured marble vanity top that is severely scratched and has no shine. Is there anything I can do to restore the finish?
Gayle Crawford, Rio Rancho, N. Mex.

A: Kevin O'Connor replies: Dan Maki, who has been making, installing, and refinishing cultured marble for nearly 30 years at Cultured Marble Products Ltd., Sacramento, Calif., tells me that the sheen of this material comes from a layer of clear polyester-resin gel coat applied to an opaque layer of fiberglass-reinforced polyester mixed with limestone dust. In his experience, the most common cause of scratched, dull gel coat is cleaners like Ajax or Comet. Cultured marble should only be cleaned with liquids that have no abrasives.

Maki says it's fairly easy to bring back the shine and remove shallow scratches using an automotive finishing compound and a high-speed, 1,500- to 2,500-rpm buffer fitted with a wool pad. Rub it in by hand, wait until a haze forms, then buff it off. For deep scratches that don't go all the way through to the fiberglass, wet-sand with the compound and an 800- or 1,000-grit wet-and-dry paper. After sanding, give these spots a good buffing.

Once your countertop is back in shape, he recommends shining it occasionally with liquid Gel-Gloss, a polishing wax developed just for cultured marble.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It has no major problems, but has quite a bit of etching and some staining from our hard water that is impossible to remove.

Once you have it restored, I'd suggest either cleaning or at least drying the tub after each use, or as often as is possible.

Now I'm looking forward to restoring the shower walls to their original sheen.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: This Old House -- Restoring Cultured Marble

Thanks for the great advice, Sue. Now I have to answer this hard question: Do I do this and feel great about saving money (but have to live with a less than great tub for another 30 years), or do I want to get a new bathtub to go with new walls (but fret about spending $ and being wasteful)?

(I've taken some pics but am having technical trouble. I'll get them up if I can work those out.)

Do I do this and feel great about saving money (but have to live with a less than great tub for another 30 years)
Maybe it will look great and you can find some nice tile to coordinate well with it and splurge on other things...ie tile, flooring, fixtures. Why not just try restoring it and see how well it comes out.

Would replacing the tub, even be very feasible?...getting new tub into the bath and set?

(I've taken some pics but am having technical trouble. I'll get them up if I can work those out.)

I use free photobucket (free) for posting pics here. Once you have your pics uploaded to photobucket, it is just a matter of copying the HTML code from below the pic. If you don't see the HTML code below the pic, you will need to either hover cursor over the pic to see it, or else adjust your Photobucket account settings.

Holler if you need help.

Sue

I think if you are doing other bathroom work, in this case I'd try to get someone to do the tub restoration first and see how it comes out. If it's lacking in any way, then you get to decide to pull it out... BEFORE all the other work goes into the bathroom that it would interrupt. (On the other hand, I have to have an old cast iron tub reglazed and that, they've convinced me, needs to happen at the end. If it was just buffing and all that like you've got, I'd have that done first and then make sure the tub is taped off/protected and maybe even lined with thick cotton batting or something while the other work is done.)

If it's etched and stained then I think replacing it would be best.

Let's see if this works. You can see the end here which has etching that no amount of scrubbing (with gentle cleansers) can get rid of.

Here is a link that might be useful:

And here is a view of the whole tub, including some of the tile that very much needs replacing.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I think it looks like it would look nice once it was restored. Are you or someone you know a do-it-yourselfer?

I'm going to tackle mine myself, since I happen to have everything on hand for it, including the wool pad/bonnet for the buffer.

Once you get that done to your liking, you can move on to the tile choices.