One of earth’s natural wonders, marble is created when limestone breaks down and recrystallizes under intense heat and pressure. This process gives marble it’s unique and beautiful aesthetic. However, in order to keep your marble floors in pristine condition, they need a little extra love and attention when cleaning to keep up their shine and resilience. Let’s take a look at the best ways to keep your marble tiles sparkling.
THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENSE
One of the most successful ways to prevent damage to the porous nature of marble flooring is to halt dust, sand, and other gritty materials your family and visitors may bring into your home on their shoes. Encouraging everyone to remove their shoes before coming in will help to reduce these kinds of debris from damaging your flooring.
In many households, taking off your shoes at the front door is common practice, and you may want to provide slippers to your guests just for this purpose (especially if they are not prepared to go shoeless). Alternatively, you may want to place a rug or runner at least in the main entranceway. Either way, no cleats in the house!
It is also vital to clean up spills right when they occur. Marble is a soft, porous natural stone, which can absorb liquids quickly. Dark and/or acidic liquids like coffee or wine are especially prone to causing stains, so it’s important to have towels on hand to take care of any spills. Acidic liquids can eat away at your sealant and increase your maintenance needs.
CLEANING DIY
For a more extensive cleaning if your marble floors, let’s go over the steps, and how to make your own cleaning solution, since acidic cleaners are not appropriate for marble.
- Prep your floors
- Clean your marble surface daily, paying particular attention to doorways, corners, and other areas where dust and grime may accumulate.
- Even when using a dry mop, lightly brushing in one direction will help minimize any damage to your floor.
- Initial wet mop
- Use a wet mop and a bucket with plain tap water to clean any remaining dirt from the floors before adding a cleanser.
- You can also use a gentle cleaner designed for marble surfaces.
- Change the mop water as needed to stop any dirt from creating smears.
- DIY cleaner
- According to Prohousekeepers.com, you may use a solution of .5 cup of ammonia to 1 gallon of warm water.
- Don’t forget to use ammonia only in a well-ventilated area — allow the ammonia odor to dissipate before reentering the room.
- Make sure you wring-out your cloth or mop well before using it to clean the floor.
- Extra-strength cleaning
- If you need a stronger cleaner, you can create a paste by mixing baking soda with ammonia or hydrogen peroxide.
- Apply the solution gently (no scrubbing) so you don’t scratch the marble surface.
- Rinse the area thoroughly with warm water after 30 minutes to neutralize the pH and ensure all the cleaning solution is removed.
- Immediately after the cleaning, use a soft towel to dry the floor. This will prevent any hard water stains from forming and remove any residual cleaning solution.
ONWARD!
Now you can show off your clean marble floors (and your hard work) to your family and friends! There are no shortcuts to maintaining marble tiles, but they are worth the beauty they bring to your home.
If your flooring is not aging as well as you had hoped, it may be time to reseal your natural stone, and possibly bring in the professionals. Your floors are a well-used investment in your home and they are worth taking the time to maintain the best way possible.
If your floors aren’t as shiny as they used to be or are starting to wear poorly, please allow us to assist you in protecting your investment. Call us today for a free consultation and we will help restore your floors to their original glory.
