Best Practices for Removing Stains From Your Marble Floors
Marble is a beautiful stone that brings in that luxurious touch to your home. However, any homeowner will know that it’s not easy taking care of marble flooring or removing stains from it. Most homeowners also turn to professional Orlando marble restoration.
Marble is a porous material, which makes it susceptible to stains. It’s worth noting that improperly cleaning marble floors can cause a lot of damage so let’s take a look at some best practices for removing stains from your marble floors.
Best Practices for Removing Stains From Your Marble Floors
Prevent Scratches
Marble isn’t as tough as other materials, such as granite. As a result, it’s more prone to scratching. Naturally, this means you need to use only soft cloths and tools to clean your floors – and avoid using a vacuum. Beyond the tools you use, you also need to make sure you’re not using abrasive cleaning agents. These are grittier, tougher solutions, and often mention scouring on their labels.
Use the Right Products
As we mentioned, the right products are key to removing stains from your marble floors. It’s best to use cleaners that are specifically designed for marble and porous stone. If the products you intend to use mention cleaning grout, tile, or general bathroom cleaning, chances are you shouldn’t use them on marble.
Keep in mind that cleaners designed for granite countertops also aren’t suitable for marble floors.
Avoid Anything Acidic
This best practice goes hand in hand with using the right products. Something you should know about marble is that it’s especially susceptible to damage from solutions that are even the slightest bit acidic.
Always look for pH neutral products (ideally a pH level of 7) to avoid damage.
Learn to Use a Poultice
The idea is to put deep cleaning agents on a soft material and allow the cleaners to soak into your porous marble floor. Most of the cleaners in a marble poultice are made of hydrogen peroxide, mineral spirits, baking soda, etc. Mix your solution and allow it to soak into the soft materials you’re using in the poultice.
Then, prepare the stained area you need to clean. Wipe down the marble and leave it slightly damp. Next, simply put the poultice over the area with the stain and cover it to prevent it from drying out. Then you only need to give it a day or two to work before you remove it and wipe any residue from your marble.
Act Quickly When You See Stains
If we haven’t emphasized it enough: marble is porous. As a result, it can absorb a lot more than you might expect. If you spill something, clean it up immediately.
The longer you wait, the deeper the stain will soak into your marble. Even if it’s an older looking stain that you’re just noticing, act quickly to minimize the damage.
Maintain Your Marble
Making sure you have sealed marble can help reduce stains should you have some spills. Beyond that, maintaining your marble floors is one of your best bets for preventing stains or removing them before they’re too set in.
Conclusion
Marble floors might have a reputation for being difficult to maintain, but if you take care of them properly, enjoying their elegance makes it all worth it. Keep these best practices in mind when you try to remove stains. However, it’s important to remember that if you can’t remove a deep stain, it’s time to give us a call for some professional help.