You can use a hot pad underneath your styling tools if that is a concern. Like a silicon pad or a kitchen trivet (A cork or wood trivet might be nice and light and easy to move around the bathroom)

heat won't hurt the marble, but it might mar the quartz.

as for stains/etching, if you did a honed marble, you won't see the etching as much as you would w/a polished marble. Use a good sealer and just be prompt while wiping up your makeup.

You can also lay down a little hand towel while doing your make-up.

This was hotly debated in my remodel but I went with quartz, my makeup is always all over the counters and I don’t want to have to deal with that! As for heat, I have a silicone mat to put down when I use my hot tools.

Diana Bier, what happened with the marble shower floor? We are thinking about using a piece of the countertop to finish off the top of a bench in the shower.

Thanks for the inputs! I am very familiar with the silicone pads for the heat tools. Currently having to use one of those pads while we temporarily live in an upstairs bed/bath with heat-sensitive countertops during the remodel. The part I don’t like is that those pads end up sitting out on the counter most of the time for me. (While in use or while cooling down.) And it’s just one more thing that clutters up the look of the counter or for me to put away everyday. Im also worried about whether the silicone will diffuse enough heat if I accidentally leave my flat iron on for an entire day or something. A more decorative piece like the cork mat someone suggested might be a thought, but it’d really have to be the right color/wood tone to look good with the rest of the room. We used to have Dark Emperador marble countertops and had no issues with staining and only small etching in 10 years of use. Wondering if the Calacatta would be similar in performance or more sensitive.

i use glass trivets on my quartz kitchen counters, they visually disappear with a light counter, like marble patterns. that might make you less annoyed to have it always be there.

Nini show me a picture if you have one, that’s interesting. I bet there are decorative trays that would work too.

Something like this would work too, and it’s sorta pretty. Target

I use a washcloth under my heated styling tool on my bathroom quartz (MSI) counter. I could probably put it right on the counter, but it is not that big of a burden.

Karen, thanks but that’s definitely too bulky for my taste. I completely understand that I need to protect quartz from the hot tools. What I’d like to know is has anyone ever had issues with for example, a hairdryer discoloring their quartz if the hot air stream accidentally ended up aimed at the countertop for a few minutes or if the hot end of the dryer or iron made contact with the countertop? I can use mats and trivets, but there’s going to be some accidental contact with hot items on the countertop from time to time and I’d like to know what has happened to other owners of white quarters in those instances. I’d also like to hear from honed marble owners on what their experience has been with staining/etching - is it a problem?

You can put the thing that Karen sent you (or something similar) inside of a drawer...then you just leave everything plugged in inside the drawer and pull it open when you want to do your hair. Our cabinetmaker is building custom slots in our drawer to hold my hairdryer and whatnot

Hi Elena, the problem with marble in the shower, especially on the floor where you need small tiles with a lot of grout, is that hard water, soap, shampoo, etc. erode and etch the stone to the point that it discolors and starts to break down. The grout is VERY difficult to get clean. I was told to use a special marble cleaner, but quickly realized that it wasn't working well. If I had to do it over, I'd never put marble in the shower. I'm very glad that the shower walls are porcelain tiles, which are very easy to clean.

Yup that’s what I was thinking, inside a bottom drawer.

I previously thought about doing a pullout just for hot tools, but I don’t like the idea of having to have a drawer open while I am working and it basically blocking my use of that section of the vanity while it is open. The hot tools will absolutely be on top of the counter while I am using them. Just trying to gauge how likely I am to end up damaging a quartz countertop if I inadvertently leave my flat iron on all day (even on a mat) or sit/drop a hot hair dryer or curling iron on the countertop instead of on the mat/trivet/etc. Any owners out there know if light colored Silestone is generally sensitive to high heat or more tolerant?

My flat iron shuts off after an hour. I dont like the idea of leaving tools plugged in all the time in a drawer, but lots of folks do that in their bathrooms. Different strokes, etc.

I have three types of quartz, including Silestone. I treat them all the same. I dont know why one would be more/less tolerant of heat than the other.

Elena, I have carrara tile floors in the bathroom. honed. and yes, they etch. no staining, but water spots left to dry, overspray from bathroom products, hairspray, etc, do etch. that's why I said do honed because it's less noticeable.

I have black marble on my shower floor w/black grout. I wish I'd have done porcelain. Cleaning the grout in the shower takes a lot of elbow grease because I can't use harsh products. And hard water turns the dark grout gray/white.

Marble can be resurfaced, polished or honed, so if it gets too bad, call in a marble/stone guy. I've had that done on my shower floor when I mistakenly used what I thought was a 'marble-safe cleaner'. Talk about etching.

We’ve been in our new home almost 6 months. I have marble counters (honed Bianco Avion) and I lay my flat irons down on the counters all the time with zero problem. No etching or staining has occurred either (they’ve been well sealed). We also have a marble shower (walls and floor...floor is tumbled marble) and so far, so good....we’ll see how the floor holds up. Everything has been sealed in there as well.

I have an insert inside my cabinet that holds the flat irons, hair dryer etc. Everything stays plugged in (outlets in the back of the cabinet), and the inserts for the hot irons are lined with thick stainless.

nidnay, what's the name of the marble in your shower and on the floor? is that Avion as well? what are you using to clean it?

Beth....here is what I have in the master...

Actually, as far as cleaning goes, as crazy as this sounds, I have not had to clean the shower with any chemicals...at all. No joke. It gets squeegeed (walls and floor) after every use (takes about 2 minutes) and because the shower is large enough, there is not a lot of shower water or soap that actually hits the shower walls...just condensation mostly (except for a few spots). The shower is almost completely dry when I get out. The squeegeeing has simply become part of my showering routine and like anything else, becomes a habit. I did purchase the Stone Pro cleaners, but have not used them yet :)

I love that drawer! It’s perfect. I have another thought, did you order or bring home any quartz samples? You can use those as testers, test your hot tools on them.