In our first episode, a random piece of calacatta seemed to best the Danby in the etching/staining department. Now our architect wants us to use calacatta oro (gold), so I did some tests to see how it held up.

The five-minute test went similarly to the other calacatta - no staining, slight etching removed by Comet. So I decided to get tough and applied red wine, olive oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, grapefruit juice and tomato sauce for three hours.

Here's the result. Note I held the camera and piece to maximize the look of the damage:

So back to the Comet. Final result:

Different light:

Note: I didn't reseal between Comet scouring, which I probably should have but I didn't feel like waiting another 24 hours. Also note many people don't recommend scouring marble with abrasives as it removes the finish - they are correct that there was a difference between the Comet-scrubbed side and the original finish. But I thought the difference was subtle and much less noticeable than the etching; it was hard to see in some lights and very tough to photograph.

The first calacatta did better, likely because it is a much greyer/darker, but I'm satisfied enough with the oro's performance to go with it. The staining that was left didn't bother me and the slab has a ton of veining which I think will make the inevitable wear less noticeable. The very flat finish on this slab meant I didn't get that splotchy etch effect that I got on the more satiny looking pieces of carrara; even before the comet the etching didn't strike me as terrible.

From what I can tell the way etching looks is affected by a lot of factors including:

* Marble used - coloring, veining

* How it was honed - the more matte the better

* What kind of light it is being subjected to - under some lights the etches "pop" while under others they were almost impossible to see. I noticed that they are a little more noticeable in direct sunlight (our countertops don't get any direct sunlight)

I thought the light was particularly influential. We're looking for our lights soon and I'm going to bring my stained and etched sample with me to see what kind of effect they have.

I must look nuts going through so much effort. But it does make me more comfortable with our decision. We have a fair amount of countertop in our kitchen and looks like we'll be doing all marble!