How to clean marble floors and maintain their shine?
Flooring adds a lot of aesthetics to the house and is selected with passion and concern. Criteria's like cost, maintenance and durability are the basic considerations while selecting.
Flooring choices...
The choice of flooring ranges from carpet flooring, tile flooring, laminated flooring, hardwood flooring, vinyl flooring to the versatile natural floorings, granite and marble. Though there are quite a few flooring choices selecting marble or granite reflects your luxurious and royal living when compared to others. And you also convey that you are a person who takes good care of the house, as maintaining marble floors need regular attention.
Marble is unique
There is something fascinating about marble; no two slabs of marble are similar. You can compare it to fingerprints or to the stripes on Zebras. Marble slabs may seem to have similar color, but their veins may differ or can have similar veins but will have color variation, so you should be guided well while choosing.
What is marble made up of?
Marble is a metamorphic rock, when limestone is exposed to high temperature and pressure it forms into marble which is a denser rock. It is usually found in mountainous regions. By nature, marble is porous and so stains seep in and get lodged if not taken care of immediately.
Another important fact to be taken note of is that, when marble is continuously exposed to sunlight it loses its shine and dulls down. Its good to avoid laying marble in such areas.
Now that we know marble needs a lot of care to be kept in pristine condition lets see what are the usual ways followed to clean marble.
Fearing dust accumulation, using a vacuum cleaner is commonly practised, another method commonly followed is moping with just water, in an attempt to avoid chemicals.
We would say both the methods of cleaning are not recommended. Vacuum cleaner attachments are made of metal and the edges or wheels of the cleaner itself tends to cause scratches which needs to be avoided. Though cleaning with just water removes dust it does not help to retain the shine nor to remove lodged dust.
Common mistakes done when attempting to clean marble.
It's a big NO to using acidic cleaners, don’t go for DIY cleaners with vinegar or citric acid they may be suitable for tiles or even granite as it is a harder stone when compared to marble. The same applies to alkaline cleaners like baking soda, Epsom salt, borax etc. At the instance they may look to have cleaned the spot but would have eaten up the surface which leads to etching & will show up subsequently as a patch when dirt or dust accumulates.
All conventional cleaners bring down the shine of marble when used on a regular basis. So, it's a clear no for acidic and alkaline cleaners. Remember once your marble is etched it's not reversible unless and until you go for polishing, so it's best to avoid than trying to reverse it. A few polishing powders are available in the market, but we keep our fingers crossed. There is also a tendency to use scrubbing pads to clear the stain, but it actually scrubs past the polish and then removes the stain leaving the spot exposed to easy dirt accumulation.
Managing spills on marble floors
Spills are unavoidable and especially when you have kids around, you really have to be on your feet to attend to spills. If spilt wine or sauce is let to stand for some time on the marble floor it slowly seeps in and holds the colour even when the spill is wiped off. All what helps is attending to it immediately. Never leave any cleaning solution bottles as such on marble floors or counter top as they may leave a mark. Soaps are recommended to clean as they don’t harm the marble but it leaves a film on the surface which has the tendency to attract dust and eventually appear dull.This again would become difficult to handle and defeats the purpose
Marble floor cleaning tips
- The first tip and also the best tip is preventing spills and following a regular maintenance regime.
- Wipe the surface with a soft cloth as soon as there is a spill.
- Use a cleaning solution which is pH neutral.
- Do not use acidic cleaners which conveys that vinegar cannot be used.
- Highly diluted ammonia (which we do not recommend) with highly diluted dish soap that’s no more than 1/2 cup in 8 Lts of water.
- Does this seem scary(confusing) keep reading we have a safe and easy recommendation below.
- After mopping the marble floor make sure you dry the surface using a fluffy towel as stagnant water may seep raising a stain.
Warning!
Do not use any cleaning product that does not have a special recommendation for marble floors else the damage would be permanent. Always prefer floor cleaners which have neutral pH,when cleaners recommended for marble flooring have an acidic pH, with time they cause etching.On the other hand, alkaline cleaners, though they do not cause etching it dull down the colour of the marble fast. If all what you have read so far has thrown some light on caring for marble flooring, we are happy but we are here to make you happier.
You can leave behind your worries on correct dilution and selecting a safe cleaning product for maintaining marble floors when you choose VOOKI floor cleaner. With bio-based actives VOOKI Floor cleaners are pH neutral, with non-toxic ingredients derived from natural surfactants. It is skin safe, pet safe and dermatologically tested. Holding the globally recognized Green Pro certification vooki floor cleaner retains the shine of marble and removes stain gently. If you find it hard to get rid of tough stains, try vooki Hard Stain remover. In addition to maintaining marble floors vooki floor cleaner also disinfects marble floors protecting you from harmful germs.
Leave the job of maintaining your costly Italian marble flooring to the expert and stay relaxed.