Natural stone floors tend to be quite shiny and attractive compared to other floors. Also, its surface is susceptible, which should be taken care of while cleaning. Many homeowners don’t know the right method to clean a natural stone floor. So, in this article, I am going to discuss how to clean natural stone floors.
Start the natural stone floor cleaning process by sweeping and vacuuming the floor, which will help to remove the dirt. Then wipe the floor thoroughly using a microfiber mop dish with warm soapy water and repeat the process if necessary. Finally, rinse the floor with clean water, and drying it will complete your task.
Since the surface of natural stones is not very strong, it needs to be cleaned carefully. Here I will present to you this kind of floor cleaning process in just a few steps. You will also find ideas on maintaining a natural stone floor that will allow you to keep your floor clean.
7 Easy Steps To Clean Natural Stone Floor:
Cleaning natural stone floors is a bit different than other floors. If you do not clean these floors properly, your floor may be damaged, so natural stone floors should be cleaned carefully. Here I recommend using specific materials for cleaning natural stone floors, as some cleaning elements damage this type of floor.
Step-1: Assemble Necessary Equipment
The same materials you can use to clean other floors cannot be used on natural stone floors. Here I am sharing a list of specific ingredients for cleaning natural stone floors. You must use these materials when cleaning this type of floor. However, if there is an alternative to these elements, I will let you know in the middle of the discussion.
- Neutral pH Dish Soap;
- Microfiber mop:
- Broom;
- Vacuum;
- Bucket;
- Ammonia;
- Warm water.
Step-2: Sweep The Floor
The first step in cleaning the floor is sweeping, which we do every day. Sweeping can easily remove debris and dust from the floor. When cleaning a natural stone floor, you must sweep it well, which will make cleaning your floor much easier.
Step-3: Vacuum The Floor
Although most of the dirt on the floor can be removed by sweeping, a vacuum can clean the floor better. It easily removes dirt from the floor. To do this, clean your floor with a vacuum, however, you can skip this if you don’t have a vacuum.
Step-4: Remove Stain
If there is any stain on the floor, clean it thoroughly. You may need to use different ingredients depending on the stain. Use a small amount of bleach or a few drops of ammonia with a soft liquid cleanser to remove oil-based stains. If the stain is an Organic-based stain, use a hydrogen peroxide cleaner with a few drops of ammonia. However, if the stains are metal-based, make a solution by mixing the liquid cleaner absorbent, applying it on the stain, and leaving it for about 24 hours.
Step-5: Wipe Using A Microfiber mop
Now you have to wipe the floor well. To do this, make a solution of neutral all-purpose cleaner or dish soap with a small amount of warm water in a bucket. Dip a microfiber mop into the solution and wipe the floor thoroughly when the water becomes dirty. Change the solution and repeat the process.
Step-6: Wash The Floors
Once the floor is wiped with a dish soap solution, wipe the floor again with clean water and repeat the process several times to clean the soapy water thoroughly. However, every time you repeat the process, you must change the water and use clean water.
Step-7: Air Dry The Floor
Once the soapy water is clear, turn on the room fan to dry the floor well. Do not walk on the floor until the floor is completely dry. Keep the room door and window open for quick drying and absorb excess water with a dry rag if possible.
6 Tips To Clean Natural Stone Floor: Clean It Quickly
Natural stones are very sensitive and can be damaged by a small stroke. Therefore, such floors have to be cleaned very carefully so that they do not get scratched or the stone’s surface is impermeable.
Although it is a very difficult task, if you remember a few tips, the task will be much easier for you. Here I am sharing some tips that you can follow to clean natural stone floors without any damage quickly.
Tips-1: Never use a cleaner that contains lemon juice, vinegar, or acid to clean natural stone floors. If you use these types of products on natural stone floors, they will damage your floor surface.
Tips-2: Use a microfiber mop to clean nature floors. However, never use steel wool, microfiber scrub pads, scrapers on natural stone floors. Because these materials will scratch the stone’s surface, and the stone will erode.
Tips-3: You can use a small amount of ammonia with other ingredients to remove stone floor stains. However, please refrain from using ammonia-based cleaners to clean the entire floor as they dull the stone’s surface.
Tips-4: Dish soap works well for cleaning natural stones, so use liquid dish soap. However, laundry detergent or shampoo should not be used on stone floors. It is because laundry detergent and shampoo are very slippery and take a long time to clean.
Tips-5: Natural stone floors are quite smooth, making them more slippery when wet. So be careful when cleaning the floor and do not walk on the wet floor unnecessarily. Also, if you walk on a wet floor, your footprints can get stuck on the floor that looks bad.
Tips-6: Be sure to use the indicated material to remove floor stains. Because if you do not use the right material, stains will remain on the floor. Also, applying the wrong material can damage your floor.
How To Protect Your Natural Stone Floors?
Natural stone flooring cannot be maintained properly just by the proper cleaning process; for this, you need to maintain it properly. You can easily protect your natural stone floor from damage if you pay attention to a few things. Below I discuss a few things that will protect your floor from corrosion and help keep it clean as well.
- Apply Sealer
Apply sealer on top of the natural stone floor after installation to protect it from corrosion. It will protect your floor from various types of corrosion and keep it shiny for a long time. Also, if you apply a sealer to the floor, you can re-seal the floor if it is damaged.
- Sweep Or Vacuum Regularly
Sweep or vacuum the floor regularly, but make sure that the vacuum wheels do not leave metal scratches on the floor. Also, use a soft-bristle broom to wipe the surface and wipe the floor with a microfiber mop using warm water if necessary.
- Avoid Metal Soles Shoes
Do not walk on the natural stone floor wearing shoes with metal soles. This is because the heels of such shoes can scratch the floor, which will cause the floor to erode, and the stains will go away. It is not possible to repair such wounds, which may require replacement.
- Do Not Use Outside Shoes
You must take off your outer shoes when entering the house. Because the dirt, sand, and small stones attached to the outer shoes make the floor dirty. If you walk on a natural stone floor with this type of material, they can scratch and crush the surface of your floor.
- Use Mats Each Entry Point
It is often not possible to ask the guest to enter, leaving his shoes outside. So, keep mats with non-stick backing at each entry point of the house. Wipe the shoe soles well before each entering the house. In this case, your floor will be clean, but the mats need to be cleaned frequently.
Frequently Asked Question:
What Is The Best Natural Stone Cleaner?
You can use a neutral cleaner with warm water, stone soap, or mild liquid dishwashing detergent to clean a natural stone floor. However, if the concentration of soapy water is too high, it can cause stains on the floor. So, make a solution with a small amount of soap.
Also, if you are looking for the best natural stone floor cleaner, you can use the Kleanstone floor cleaning machine. It works great with stone floor cleaning. If you can use it properly, floor cleaning will be the best product.
How Do You Remove Hard Water Stains From Natural Stone?
Natural stones are perforated, and over time water enters small holes in the surface that create hard water stains. Many of us do not have time to clean the floor every day, so we clean the floor thoroughly after a certain time.
You can remove hard water stains from natural stone surfaces using a good quality cleaner. Apply the cleaner to the floor using a non-scratch pad or soft cloth to clean the affected area in just a few minutes. If water stains remain on the floor, you can use a stone floor cleaning machine to clean the stains.
How Do You Get Stains Out Of Natural Stone Surfaces?
Natural stone floors can have several stains that require different steps to clean. If your floor is stained with grease, tar, milk, and cooking oil, you need to use a liquid cleanser containing bleach with a few drops of ammonia. However, if the stains are from organic products such as coffee, tea, paper, food, tobacco, you need to use a hydrogen peroxide cleaner with ammonia to remove them.
Natural stone floors often have rust, copper, bronze, iron, and metal-based stains, usually brown. You must use a poultice to remove such metal stains. It is a liquid cleaner made by mixing a few chemicals, which effectively removes metal stains from the floor. To remove metal stains, spread this chemical cleaner on the stains and leave it for about 24 hours to wash the floor.
Can You Use CLR On Natural Stone?
CLR is a rust remover used to remove stains from toilets or sinks. Many also recommend using it on natural stone floors, which should never be done. Natural stone and granite, limestone, marble, and travertine are not suitable for use in any stone.
CLR is a corrosive substance that can engrave your natural floor. I recommend not using it on any natural stone or marble, terracotta, colored grout, or such glossy surface.
Can You Steam Clean Natural Stone Floor Tiles?
Cleaning a natural stone floor steam can cause it to ‘spall,’ so I don’t recommend doing it. The sealer is applied as a protective layer on most stone floors; the sealer may rise if you clean the steam on the sealed floor. This is because hot steam can remove seals from natural stone.
Also, steam cleaning has a high probability of mold and soft growth on the stone floor. If your floor is not sealed, it can cause stains on the stone’s surface, which cannot be easily removed. Steam Cleaning can cause water to enter the rock and pop out or flake the surface completely.
Can You Use Vinegar To Clean Natural Stone?
You may hear that vinegar works quite well for stain removal, but it is not suitable for natural floors. Using vinegar, lemon juice, or acidic cleaners on marble, limestone, or travertine surfaces is harmful to floor surfaces. So I do not recommend using an acid cleaner on the natural stone floor.
Vinegar contains acids that help erode the stone’s surface which can cause stains on your floor. However, you can use vinegar as your bathroom, grout, and tile cleaner. Vinegar and cleansers that need to be rubbed, such as dry cleansers or soft cleansers, are not suitable for cleaning natural stone floors.
Conclusion
I hope you have learned from this article how to clean natural stone floors. Since the surface of natural stone is smooth, you need to choose a proper cleanser to clean it. Cleaning this type of floor with any cleaner or detergent like a normal tile floor can damage your floor.
Many people use vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice to remove floor stains which can cause erosion of natural stones. So refrain from using acidic cleaners to protect natural stone floors and visit this site to learn more about floor cleaning.