Natural Stone Care Guide

This natural stone care guide is designed to help you learn some general insights on how to best clean and maintain certain areas of you natural stone surfaces.

Below we address specific tasks or areas that are common culprits for homeowners. Keep in mind that certain types of natural stone (e.g. marble being more sensitive) are unique and different, requiring a different approach to cleaning and care.

General Natural Stone Cleaning

Clean the stone surfaces with the cleaner that is safe for a natural stone. When cleaning floors, use a tidy mob and for the other surfaces use a soft cloth. Do not use more than the suggested quantity of any cleaning agent. If you use excess, it might leave out a spot resulting to streaks. Make sure you change the rinsing water from time to time.

Desist from using products that have vinegar, lemon or other acidic substances on marble limestone or travertine since these can etch the stone’s surface. Also, do not clean using creams or scouring powders as these products have abrasives that may scratch the surface.

Caring for Natural Stone Flooring 

You should regularly dust mop interior floors with a clean non-treated mop. Dirt, sand and grit do a lot of damage to the surfaces of natural stones because of their abrasiveness. Area rags or mats in and out of the entrance will help in minimizing the sand, grit and dirt that may scratch the stone floor.

Make sure the underside of your mat or rag is a surface that does not slip. Also, do not use worn out vacuum cleaners. This is because their plastic or metal attachments may scratch the precious surface.

Cleaning & Caring for Bathrooms

You can minimize soap scum in the bathroom or other wet places by use of a squeegee after every use. To effectively get out soap scum from the shower, do not use acidic cleaners as they may destroy the floor. On the contrary, use professional shower cleaners and let them to do the rest of hard work for you. Finally, you can then utilize the soft scrub brush to eliminate the soap scum from every area of the shower surface.

Professional shower cleaners will be able to dissolve any soap scum hence you will not be required to use other abrasive scrub pads for scrubbing it away. The abrasive scrub pads may destroy the finish of soft stone tiles like marble, limestone and travertine. Therefore, cleaning of any soft stone tiles should be carried out using professional grade cleaners.

Cleaning Stone Vanity and Counter Top Surfaces

Clean natural stone countertops every day day using a paper towel or soft cloth, as well as a residue cleaner that is safe for the natural stone you have. If you encounter minor etch marks on your counter tops, consider restoring the original appearance by investing in some polishing and restoration products  If streaking takes place, use a clean terry cloth to buff the counter top. If you want more luster especially on special occasions, use a good stone polish to clean up the counter top surfaces.

Seal Natural Stone Where Possible

Countertops and flooring may require the application of a penetrating sealer to help protect the natural stone surface. This care measure can go a long way in retaining the quality finish and appearance of your natural stone. If you use a sealer on counters, ensure it is not harmful for use on surfaces that are used for food preparation. For these applications a water based sealer might be the best option. You can also contact professionals to do the sealing process for you.

Remember, get to know what type of natural stone you have. If it's marble care, the processes mentioned above may require a unique approach, for marble is a softer stone that's more prone to scratching and staining.

Debunking 5 Myths About Marble

Many people arrive at the wrong conclusions as to why marble stains, discolors, cracks, and fades. Some of these myths surrounding marble are just false and need to be clarified by explaining the real reasons for common issues experienced when owning marble.

Below are some common myths about marble and the underlying truth to set things straight.

Marble Myth #1: Warping from Water

Some people believe that living plant material inside green marble tiles is what makes them warp during installation. They explain this further by saying that when water is added to green marble, the living organisms inside start to grow making it warp. Well, this is not the case because warping is caused by a condition known as hysteresis. Green marble is highly sensitive to water. When the water enters the stone, the marble will release some internal stress causing warping.

Marble Myth #2: "Effervescence" Problems?

Other contractors believe that marble experiences effervescence problems. Well this is just plain wrong since effervescence is fizzing which does not occur anywhere during marble installation. The right word is efflorescence, which occurs when water is deposited on the surface of the stone and appears with a white powdered residue due to the soluble salts that are carried from the setting bed. When efflorescence occurs, you should not seal the stone as this does not help. What happens after sealing is that more problems are created in the sense that, the pore size of the stone is reduced creating more efflorescence and possible spalling.

Marble Myth #3: Cracking due to Fissures

The other myth that needs to be broken is that misconception that all cracks that occur during stone installations are as a result of natural fissures in stone. The distinction is this, cracks are ideally caused by external forces which is why they are considered as breaks. For instance, if someone stands or sits on the stone then it would break. Unfortunately, most breaks occur on natural fissures if the stone is not handled carefully. Remember that this fissure is just a slight crack that emanated during the formation of the stone. Hence, there is a great difference between the naturally occurring fissures and the breaks or cracks formed by external forces.

Marble Myth #4: Vinegar Water is the Best Marble Cleaner

Vinegar and water is not always ideal in cleaning marble or limestone. This is because vinegar, which is an acid, can etch stone surfaces with calcium. To avoid this kind of damage, you should avoid using vinegar on limestone, marble and even granite. You must be very careful when using the vinegar and water combination for marble cleaning. In short, it's a myth to believe that this homemade solution is better than most marble cleaner products. Oil stains are very common in stone and some people recommend soaking the entire stone in water to remove them. Well, this does not work. To start with, the oil is not just on the surface but it is trapped inside the pores of the stone. Instead of water, you should use a poultice and a de-greasing material to eliminate oil spots from marble.

Marble Myth #5: The Darker the Stone the Softer it is

Do not be fooled by the misconception that the darker the marble stone the softer it is. This is not true since you can find dark granite which are much harder than the lighter ones. This same case applies to marble and limestone. Bear in mind that granite is not unsafe as many may presume. It explains why it is used in cutting boards, food laboratories among other applications.

Well those five marble myths that we've debunked for your enlightenment. To learn more about marble care and maintenance, visit www.marble-cleaning-products.com.

Do you have any marble-related myths or questions that you want answers to? Let us know in the comments section below.