With the holiday season out of the way I though it would be a good time to post my top 10 tips on keeping a floor looking good. So, here it is, nice and simple, most of the tips are equally relevant to ceramics floors also. (Oh, and all the best for 2009 from Tile and Stone Blog):
1. Dust mats – Grit is the #1 enemy to any floor, even the most hard-wearing tiles and stone. Two diamonds will abrade each other, so quartz and other hard minerals carried in on the feet will quickly dull and scratch almost any type of flooring. Keeping a dust mat outside the door will help to eliminate this. Go a stage further and put another mat inside for added protection. These mats will collect much of the grit, so don’t forget to take them outside and shake/beat them clean every now and then.
2. Take your shoes off! – Think about it, if your floor was a plush carpet, or a polished wood, you would treat it with respect and wear slippers right? Well stone is no different, it needs respect too. Removing your out-door shoes further reduces the floor’s exposure to harmful grit.
3. Dry-Cleaning – Regular sweeping with a soft brush and/or vacuuming will also help keep grit off the floor (are you getting the message here?)
4. Spills and Accidents – Again, using a carpet/wood floor analogy, if you spill something like water or (let’s be seasonal) mulled wine or similar onto pretty-much another type of flooring, you mop it up right away right? – Why then do we not tend to react so quickly when we have a stone floor? Take the wine as an example, it is incredibly acidic and will quickly damage a marble, limestone, travertine, and even some ‘granite’ floors – so time is of the essence – pick up spills immediately with an absorbent cloth and wipe it clean with some clean water.
5. ‘Routine’ cleaning – Ok we have got to tip # 5 before we even mentioned washing the floor. The point is, apart from during the wettest of weather, if you observe the first 4 tips, then you may not have to ‘wet-clean’ the floor too often. When it does need a quick wash then no problem, just make sure to use a neutral cleaner such as Concentrated Stone and Tile Cleaner that will not harm either the stone, or any sealer or finish that has been applied to it. In case it is not obvious, by neutral, I mean not an ‘off the shelf’ branded wonder-cleaner from the supermarket – these are most likely high-alkaline degreasers, and certainly never use anything acidic.
6. Rinse, rinse, rinse – and dry – This is one of the most important, yet most overlooked tips. No matter how good the cleaning-chemical, nor how rigorous the effort applied, if you leave dirty water lying on the floor, when it dries, you will have residues. These residues will contain traces of dirt and also traces of the cleaning detergent you have used and if not rinsed off properly, will leave a dull coating. Over time this will build to a grubby patina and it will also attract more dirt. So, after washing, change the water, rinse the mop and go over the floor again with just clean water. Finally, after the rinse, why not dry the floor? Most floor surfaces are very smooth, some are highly polished, such surfaces are just like glass when it comes to cleaning and even plain tap water can leave water-marks, so I suggest (certainly on polished floors) that after washing (and rinsing) you take an old (but clean) white towel and dry the floor off.
7. Periodic ‘Deep-Clean’ – From time to time the floor will need a deeper clean. This is the time to use those high alkaline cleaners. Preferably one designed for the job like Heavy Duty Tile & Grout Cleaner. The same rules apply with regard to rinsing. Note, this type of cleaner may have an impact on any sealer used, so check first, you may need to top up the sealer afterwards
8. Little Stains – What happens when a spillage is not removed fast enough (tip # 4)? You can get a stain. For isolated small stains try a localized poultice such as Poultice Stain Remover by Aqua Mix.
9. Etch Marks – Acid sensitive floors, particularly polished marble, may become etched from time to time. Etching is what happens when something acidic erodes away the fine polished surface (that red wine again!). Small and localized etching can be quickly repaired with a hand applied re-polishing cream such as Renue.
10. The Seal – For some reason, many people seem to assume that once a floor is sealed, it is protected for life and is now magically indestructible – this is simply not the case. So, I suggest that you check the integrity of any sealer at regular intervals: I would say every 2 years for impregnating types and every 6 to 12 months for coating type sealers or ‘surface finishes’. I would also check them after a number of periodic deep cleans have been carried out. Just do a water-test; drop some water onto the floor and leave it for say 10 minutes. If it goes in quickly and darkens the stone, then when wiped away it leaves a wet patch, then it might be time to op up the sealer. If the water stays out, save for a feint surface shadow, it is probably fine for now.
Happy cleaning!
Copyright Ian Taylor and The Tile and Stone Blog.co.uk, 2013. See copyright notice above.
Hi
Can you please advise me we had a radiator leak on old teracotta floor tiles, we now have water stains, can you please tell me how I can get the water stains out of these tiles?
many thanks
Hi Carolyn,
I am assuming the tiles were sealed with wax or something? You may have to strip this back, just on those tiles in the process. Also, a ‘water-mark’ is a bit of a misnomer here; pure water would not leave a mark, the mark is a result of whatever impurities may be in the water. Given that the leak was from a radiator, there is a high likelihood that the mark is from the dark sludge that builds up in radiators or even rust. If the mark/stain is some kind of mineral like rust then you may need an acidic cleaner to stand any chance.
If the stain is not mineral based, then an alkaline cleaner may work. If the stain is deep but ‘mobile’ then it might be possible to use a poultice to ‘pull’ the stains out however, I suspect a mineral stain given the circumstances.
You will have to do some experimenting: First I would try an alkaline cleaner/degreaser detergent, this will cut through some of the wax at least and that may take with it some of the stain. Rinse and dry. If this does nothing except take back the sealer, then you could need an acid.
Try some phosphoric acid based cleaner, (Aqua Mix, or HG for example) dilute as directed and leave it dwell on the floor for a few minutes, then scrub with a pad or scrubbing brush, rinse and dry. If you can get hold of some Extreme by Aqua Mix this may be more effective, but it is in limited supply and only available in US gallon containers.
I would not recommend a brick acid or any cleaner based on hydrochloric acid – as this can be a dangerous chemical to use indoors.
let us know how you get on.
Ian
Hi
We have just had a beatifully limestone tile laid, our tiler has used a lithofin stain stop sealer & its left a greasy film over the whole floor.. The tiles look nothing like they did before this product was put on.. Can you help ??
Hi, This is quite common I’m afraid,
It is over applied and there is surplus sealer left on the surface. It should have been wiped/buffed away before it was allowed to dry. If you have some left try wetting a cotton or microfibre cloth with a little more of the stain stop and rub it on a small part of greasy film – you are trying to make use of the solvent that the sealer is dispersed in, iof it comes off great, now buff the test area with a clean dry cloth. let it dry and see if it is now matt and free from greasy film. If so then I suggest you use this process as it will remove the excess without removing sealer from the stone itself. IF however it has now dried to the point where wetting with more sealer will not remove it, then you will need a sealer stripper, consult Lithofin for their recommendations, but this may then necessitate re sealing afterwards.
Hope this helps
Ian