What drink has done this to my fireplace?

[TreesWelliesKnees]

Adult DS had a small gathering of his usually thoughtful, lovely friends last night. This morning I have discovered this on my dark marble mantelpiece. It looks bleached! Any ideas on what might have caused it? As far as I can tell from the recycling bin they were drinking Pepsi, vodka, wine...

What are my options for dealing with it? I'm frankly not attached to the dark marble so if I find out what it is I'm tempted to do it all over!

Loved watching this transformation

Not rude at all - I agree with you! I kept it for years because I thought I was preserving an original feature and that it would be a crime to get rid of marble! This is definitely a happy accident. Though a tiring one!

@TreesWelliesKnees how satisfied do you feel having done such an excellent job? That is an amazing transformation 👍

Looks amazing, well done!

Maybe... or paint them black to match with a fine brush?

yes, gold wouldn't be right.

@TreesWelliesKnees I think maybe take a close up photo and then paintshop it using the photo app features? You print them out A4 size and blu tack them in place and see which one you are drawn too?

Oh WOW that looks good. Thanks for the update!

It’s a bit late to be wondering this, but I am now wondering, what would have happened if lemonade instead of nitromors was poured over the whole thing - if anyone finds a way to use lemonade as a paint stripper I would love to know. I have a cast iron fireplace that needs stripping and a bit scared of nitromors.

Wow. That is a fabulous job, you should be really pleased with that.

ps, don’t add gold, it will be tacky looking.

👏 agree black not gold for the lines, I’d try just removing any paint first and wd40-ing.

I have a cast iron fireplace that needs stripping and a bit scared of nitromors.

@Renamed You could try Coke. Its main ingredient is phosphoric acid - it cleans up old copper coins a treat.

I would get a brown Sharpie and put some on my finger and rub it on. See what happens and take it from there. Or some heavy duty furniture restoring polish.

Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I didn't see the update.

I've been watching this thread to see the final result. It's stunning! Clearly lots of elbow grease so a big well done. 👏

@TreesWelliesKnees thank you for the update. I love a happy ending!

If you decide to try the initial accidental method I tried, it's 1) Aldi San Pelligrino dupe lemonade. Leave overnight. Then 2) cover with a paste of bicarb of soda, wrap with clingfilm and leave overnight.

God WHY did anyone do that awful fake marble on such a lovely fireplace!?! It looks gorgeous!