Caring For Your Natural Stone Floors

Stone floors adorn some of the most beautiful homes in Arizona. Their appeal lies not only in their beauty but because the floor are easy to clean. Stone floor care is easier than caring for carpet or hardwood floors. If your lucky enough to have Stone floors, your biggest challenge may be stone cleaning. While it may not seem likely, your floors can be damaged. Foot traffic can create abrasions and dirty feet can stain the finish. Other damages include:

• Using an abrasive cleanser: You may feel the need to scrub that grime on your stone floor with a harsh detergent. But acids damage stone, especially marble, limestone and travertine. This could lead to a milky appearance.

• You always told your children not to spill drinks on the carpet but acidic foods and drinks can leave marks and rings on stone as well. Soda, fruit juices, tomato sauces and liquors can be damaging.

• Sealing your stone floors sounds like a good idea but if used incorrectly, the floors could scuff and peel. Be careful when stone sealing but don’t forgo it altogether. If the floors are unsealed they can absorb stains and begin to smell.

• When you were having your floors installed, you likely had other construction work going on as well. The floors could be damaged during this process.

If your floors have survived so far without any damage, the good news is they can continue to look great with proper stone floor care. Here are some tips as to how to preserve your stone floors.

• While you should use a dust mop on them often, you don’t have to mop with a wet mop as often.

• Avoid harsh and abrasive cleaners.

• Put mats at all major entrances to keep people from tracking in dirt. Dirt and grit cause most of the wear and tear on your floors.

• Treat the head of your dust mop with a non-oily residue treatment to hold more dust when stone cleaning.

• The grout can become soiled: Purchase a cleaner and conditioner made especially for stone floors and scrub the grout and tile with a soft brush. Use a mop to soak up the extra water.

• If you move your furniture often, put leather on the legs and other areas that touch the floor to prevent scuffing.

To keep your floors in the best condition, you need to hire an expert in stone floor cleaning. This is not different than hiring a carpet cleaner. Professional cleaners will be able to tell you more about stone floor care and will be able to help clean up any damage that is already there. If your floors are not sealed, you will want to leave it to these professionals. As mentioned earlier, stone floor that are not sealed properly can cause problems. Preserving your stone floors now will prevent you from having to spend excess funds towards repairing extensive damages in the future. A professional who specializes in stone floor care will make sure your floors are protected and stay beautiful for many years.