How can I remove or stain white spots on travertine?

Travertine is marble and it’s porous as well as soft. I had a black custom marble shower with a shampoo-conditioner bottle ledge where the shampoo residue pulled the color out of the marble.

So, I took artists markers and hand colored in the light areas & the veins, then I sealed it with marble sealer.

It was a never-ending maintenance chore, about every 4 months. Re-color & re-seal.

If your travertine is “filled”, the filler will have a different discoloration rate.

It might be efflorescence, which is where moisture is coming up underneath and through the mortar or thinset and leaching minerals into the tile.

There is a treatment for that, that I can get you the name of the products, but the moisture source must be stopped.

This site may be helpful:

https://www.travertinemart.com/travertine-tiles/how-to-remove-stains-on-travertine

Depending on the type of stain and depending on whether or not your travertine had been sealed and polished prior to receiving the stain, stains can be difficult to almost impossible to remove from travertine. The problem is that travertine is a very porous stone. It soaks up stains like a sponge and the stains can go relatively deep down into the stone--depending on whether the stone has been sealed or not. This means that for some stains the only way to get them out is to "sand" down the stone until you have removed the stained portions of stone. This is often done using an abrasive polishing compound or steel wool. For some stains, however, there is a simpler solution.

Pour hydrogen peroxide onto the stain and cover it with a piece of plastic wrap. Tape the edges of the plastic wrap with duct tape to keep the hydrogen peroxide in place. Allow the hydrogen peroxide to work on the stain for half an hour. Remove the tape and plastic wrap and sponge off the hydrogen peroxide with plain water. Blot the stain with a clean dry cotton cloth, putting pressure on the stain so that it will soak into the cloth.

Use 00-grit steel wool if the stain still remains. This is going to take time. Be patient and just keep rubbing the stain with the steel wool. The idea is to take off tiny layers of stone until you have remove the last stained layer.

Pour a half-dollar-sized dollop of stone polish onto the stained area and use a car buffer running at low speed to buff the area. Again, the idea is to remove layers of stone until the final stained layer is removed. Use only moderate pressure on the buffer and be patient. Depending on how deep the stain is, this could take some time.

Travertine is porous. It may have been etched. Best solution would be to use craft or oils paints to color the spots.

Hopefully this link will help you with your travertine tile:

https://www.hunker.com/12422878/how-to-remove-a-stain-from-travertine-tile

Hello you can use craft paints to custom tint your travertine. I would suggest putting a sealer on top of the travertine with the sheen of your choice whether it is a matte satin or glossy seal coating. A spray sealer might be the most discreet choice.

If you just want to make it a little darker, try tea. It will darken the stone and dye it at the same time.

Hi,

Maybe try Permanent markers craft pens............Hope that helps!

What caused those stains? Travertine is really good to clean with any chemicals

Here's some good info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkdggjDxV2U

I found that Efflorescence Cleaner, it’s by Custom Building Products. You want the non-acid version.