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Stone Care |
 Taking proper care of natural stone is not difficult, but there are some general rules that should be followed so that your stone floors & counters, vanities, shower walls & tub decks continue to look good.
Natural Stone DO'S AND DON'TS
• Do dust mop floors frequently. A daily dust mopping helps pull dirt, grit and sand off the floor, which can otherwise be ground into the face of your stone, leading to scratches and imbedded dirt that will be difficult to remove.
• Do clean surfaces with a pH neutral stone soap. It's best to find a local source for a good, pH neutral sotne soap instead of trying to use dishwashing liquid, hand soaps, or other cleaners not intentionally designed for stone. We carry AquaMix cleaners for our clients, and can drop off or direct ship to your door. Call us and we'll be happy to recommend an appropriate cleaner and get it out to you.
• Do thoroughly rinse and dry the surface after washing. This is becoming less of a necessity with the development of rinse-free daily cleaners. If a deep stone cleaning is required (this would be a more aggressive stone detergent, with a high pH number, making it more alkaline), then definitely rinse the floor after cleaning it. If you don't rinse after using a daily pH neutral cleaner and see streaks when the floor dries, you will need to go over the floor using a string mop and hot water to remove the streaks, which are visible evidence of soap left on the stone face. Reduce the amount of soap you are mixing with hot water to eliminate the problem.
• Do blot up spills immediately. Stone sealants are not bulletproof, and contaminants that are allowed to remain on the floor for extended periods of time can leave a stain behind. We use the best water and solvent-based sealants at our disposal, and while our manufacturers make bold claims concerning the longevity fo their products (some state thate their sealants can hold as long as 15 years!), we know that even the best sealants will succumb to acidic or oil-based spills if the spill is not cleaned up quickly. Sealants help give you more time to clean up a mess before it becomes a problem.
• Do protect floor surfaces with non-slip mats or area rugs and countertop surfaces with coasters, trivets or placemats. Walk-off mats, placed both outside and inside frequently used doorways, will help greatly in reducing the amount of dirt, sand and grit that is tracked onto a stone floor. Be careful to select a mat without a chemically treated back, which can itself damage a floor if left on the stone for extended periods of time.
• Don't use vinegar, lemon juice or other cleaners containing acids on marble, limestone, travertine or onyx surfaces. Using vinegar to clean marble, limestone, travertine or onyx is a no-no, despite what your mother or aunt swears to you. These stones are primarily composed of calcite, and vinegar or any other cleaner with an acid composition will cause them to etch.
• Don't use cleaners that contain acid such as bathroom cleaners, grout cleaners or tub & tile cleaners. Common culprits are toilet bowl cleaners, which will absolutely burn and etch polished calcite stones. We routinely sand and polish out these etch spots in baths with polished stone floors. Usually the etch is caused by drips from the container, or splashes when the cleaner is poured into a toilet bowl. If you are using these types of cleaners, be sure not to drip it on your polished stone floors, or you will be calling us for assistance.
• Don't use abrasive cleaners such as dry cleansers or soft cleansers. We recommend using a simple white nylon scrubbing pad or a VERY FINE steel wool (#00 or #000) pad to gently clean stone surfaces. Dry abrasive cleaners (like Comet and Ajax) have (1) an unwanted drying effect on the stone and (2) can scratch softer stone installations. Stay away from these kinds of cleaners for your natural stone.
Stone Maintenance 101
All natural stone requires a regular schedule of maintenance to keep it looking good. The following are some suggestions on keeping your stone looking new.
Polished Interior Stone
Polished stone has a glassy surface that reflects light clearly and emphasizes the color and marking of the material. Use the following suggestions to keep your polished stone floor looking new.
Polished stone should be dust mopped daily to pick up any sand and grit that may have accumulated on the floor. These particles can be picked up on the bottoms of shoes and dragged across a stone floor, possibly scratching it. Walk-off mats, placed inside and outside of each doorway, will also help to limit scratches on the floor.
Polished stone requires periodic washing with clean, potable water and a pH neutral (a pH of 7) stone soap. Nobody ever wants to hear this, but the proper equipment for stone floor cleaning is a quality rayon string mop and a wringer bucket. Try to use the mop exclusively for cleaning your stone floors. The floor should be first wetted with clean, hot (not boiling) water, then washed using the stone soap in the recommended dilution ratio in small overlapping sweeps. It's very important to keep the water clean. When you see your water start to darken from the dirt you're mopping off the floor - change the water! Not following this advise will result in you mopping dirt suspended in a soap solution all over your floor, and you won't like the result! Most stone soaps are rinse-free; make sure you don't use a stronger concentration of soap than is recommended and the floor should dry streak free.
Remember that any flooring surface, regardless of how it is finished, is slippery when wet.
Polished dimensional stone should receive the same care and consideration that is given a fine wood finish. Spills of any type should be immediately removed and water-rinsed. Coasters should be placed under all glasses, particularly those containing liquors or citrus juices. Hot-plates should be used under heated dishes, and place-mats or felt bottoms should be placed under china, ceramics, silver and bric-a-brac to prevent scratching of polished finishes.
HONED INTERIOR STONE
A honed finish is a satin smooth surface with relatively little light reflection.
Generally, a honed finish is preferred for floors, treads, thresholds and other pedestrian traffic locations where heavy traffic would wear off a polished finish.
As a rule, honed finishes are more susceptible to soiling then polished finishes, because a honed surface is slightly more porous and absorptive than a polished finish. However, the honed finish is easier to restore because it will sustain harsher cleaning efforts, and a honed floor, because of its reduced reflectivity, will help to hide small probelms that would become immediately apparent on a highly polished floor.
Normal "housekeeping" maintenance of a honed finish stone floor follows our recommendation for polished stone. You may want to slightly increase the concentration of soap in your cleaning water on a honed floor - the rougher surface tends to trap dirt and hold it in the small recesses of the tile faces. If you're cleaning the vertical surface of a honed dimensional stone, always work from bottom-to-top. A medium stiffness bristle brush can be used as an abrasive on tough stains or extremely dirty areas.
Excessive application of stone soap may result in streaking, which can be corrected by mopping the floor again with hot, clean water. To avoid streaking on veritical stone surfaces, wipe them dry with cotton, cotton flannel or chamois skin. Wipe well to avoid streaks.
Do not use soft-finish waxes, paste wax, or resins on your stone floors and dimensional stone. These coatings collect dirt and grit. Some acrylic base, liquid floor "waxes" advertised as "non-yellowing" can be used in place of "permanent" sealers, but may give limited life. See the section below on "Sealing Stone" for more information.
Exterior Stone
Exterior stone can be used in a honed, textured, or a polished finish in any mode in an exterior environment. The use of a polished finish marble or limestone is discouraged for exterior applications, however, due to susceptibility to damage by air-borne acids and wind-driven dust.
In accessible areas, routinely follow maintenance procedures as specified in the sections above for polished and honed stones.
Sealing Stone - Penetrating Sealers
The best way to improve a stone's stain resistance is to apply a penetrating sealer, also known as an impregnator. Unlike waxes or other coatings, these sealers go below the surface and protect the stone from within.
Impregnators penetrate into the substrate creating a barrier resistant to water penetration, oil penetration, stains, decrease surface absorption, reduce wear, allow 100% vapor transmission, increase static coefficient of friction, without altering the natural look.
The premium sealers available to The Stone Poets are fluro-alphatic, and repel both oil and water based stains. We use commercial grade, fluro-polymer sealants on all our work; these sealants ensure the best protection of your stone for the longest possible time.
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