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.

Mindful Tips to Clean & Maintain Your Marble Countertops

Maintaining and cleaning marble countertops should not be a difficult task. By learning the characteristics of marble, as well as the right way of it, you can maintain your marble countertops to sustain the life of your home.

Cleaning & Protecting Against Stains

A common misconception people have is that they believe marble to be a very porous, stain-sensitive natural stone. Although marble is indeed more porous than granite or quartz countertops, it's still rather resilient against staining.

That doesn't mean stains and water spots won't show up on a marble countertop from time to time. One of the best homemade marble cleaning solutions is to use an organic natural or liquid soap and hot water. Similarly, you can also grate a bar of natural soap if this option is more cost-efficient. There are also a number of marble cleaning products that are specifically designed to handle tough stains while still respecting the sensitivity of the stone.

A good approach to protect against staining is preventative marble maintenance. One of the best ways to ensure that your marble countertops do not stain easily is covering the surface with a marble sealer. A marble sealer offers lasting protection and can ward-off damaging stains.

Etching & Marble Restoration

Etching is not the same as staining. With etch marks, the marble’s surface is compromised by acidic substances which corrode marble and give it a dull appearance. The common culprits that cause etching on countertops are household cleaners that comprise of an array of harsh chemicals.

Although sealing a marble countertop can help to prevent staining, most marble sealers will not fully protect against etching, as these acidic substances can eat through the marble sealer. This why using marble for kitchen countertops (which may be regularly exposed to chemical cleaners) can be more vulnerable to etching as opposed to a marble bathroom or fireplace vanities.

Etch marks can be treated by homeowners using do-it-yourself marble restoration kits and buffing products. Most of these marble restoration kits cost a little over a $100, but are well worth the investment compared to professional marble restoration and refinishing services.

Polish & Protect Your Marble Countertops

Not only can regular marble polishing help protect your marble countertops from water, oil, and dirt penetration, but a marble polish can also enhance the color and luster of the stone's natural surface.

Keep in mind that marble polish is not a coating (like a marble sealer) and it does not contain any polymers. Professional-grade marble polish will not distort the color, clarity, or reflective capacity of natural stone - it only enhances these qualities. Such marble polishing should go hand-in-hand with marble cleaning to keep a lasting countertop surface. These products can cost anywhere from $10-30, depending on the quality.

Sustaining the life of your marble countertops takes conscious care and preventative maintenance. Simply knowing how to prevent certain risks, as well as how to handle them, is the best defense to protect and maintain your marble countertops.