Natural stone floors
We get asked this question a LOT! along with how to clean uneven stone floors. As the experts in natural and engineered stone floor cleaning, people often turn to us to better understand how to care for their natural stone floors.
How to clean natural stone
So many potential buyers are turned off from purchasing a natural stone floor because, not understanding natural stone cleaning, they think that they are difficult to look after. They are under the impression that stone floors are easily ruined and that a lot of heavy cleaning and maintenance is required to keep them looking the part. This is simply not the case with stone surfaces!
Sure, some of that is true and you do need to care for your stone floors more than you would others, but it’s nowhere near as much work as you might think, especially with the help of KleanSTONE’s Floor Cleaning Machines. When cared for and looked after properly, natural stone tiles and other stone surfaces are a thing of beauty and should be relatively easy to clean and maintain.
Sealing Your Natural Stone Floor
The best long-term solution to protecting and cleaning your natural stone floor is to seal it.
We recommend sealing your stone floor twice during installation, once before grouting and once after grouting. What this serves to do is ensure that your entire floor is protected, including your grout lines and ensures that they don’t get grubby.
Sealing your natural stone floor protects is from permanent staining. It acts a chemical and physical barrier to prevent liquid being absorbed into the surface of the stone meaning spills can be easily wiped with a soft cloth and mopped up without leaving any marks on the clean stone. Protect your natural stone by sealing it correctly right from the start.
Our range of sealers for natural and engineered stone are Italian made and have been extensively tested to ensure they are always up to the task and expertly protect your floors. Remember to seal your floor every 2-3 years to ensure it’s extensively protected!
If you’re unsure about sealing your floor or don’t know how to protect them this way – read the KleanSTONE Blog or check out our Cleaning Guides for more help.
Everyday Stone Floor Cleaning
When it comes to how to clean stone floors, nothing beats a KleanSTONE machine for performance.
Make sure to start by vacuuming your stone floor to remove any dust or debris and use a neutral ph stone cleaning solution (avoid using anything with acid in) – our range of stone cleaners have been developed to not interfere with, or damage the stone’s sealer – to break down grease and dirt on the surface of the stone.
Our Deepclean natural stone floor cleaning solution can be used neat, or in a strong solution, in a spray bottle for deep cleaning purposes in high-traffic areas. Combined with a mop, you can use this solution to perform an everyday clean of your floor.
However, for simple and effective everyday cleaning, ditch the mop and mix your desired ratio of Deepclean straight into your KleanSTONE machine and the rotary brushes will work this into the floor for effective scrubbing.
“My Floor Isn’t Sealed! HELP!”
If your stone floor hasn’t been sealed, it’s not the end of the world!
Simply follow our deep cleaning guide using our stone floor cleaner liquid Deepclean, or our degreasing cleaning concentrate, to clean the floor thoroughly. Using your KleanSTONE machine, work the stone to effectively remove dirt and potential staining – it may take a few goes over but you will see visible results using the machine.
Once cleaned, you must wait for your floor to dry before attempting to seal it. Once your floor is dry, apply one of our stone sealers following the instructions on the bottle.
Once sealed, you will see a notable difference in how easy your floor is to care for and it’s resistance to staining. You still need to clean it with a KleanSTONE machine but it will be much easier, require fewer passes and stay cleaner for much longer. It really is that simple.
As you can see, caring for a natural stone floor is not as scary as you might have first thought. With just a little care and attention, your floor really is an investment in your home and caring for that investment will make a huge difference.
Following our simple steps of effective cleaning with a KleanSTONE stone floor cleaning machine, using a powerful, neutral floor cleaner to remove dirt and sealing regularly will keep your clean stone floor looking like new for years!
FAQ’s on Cleaning Natural Stone Surfaces
What is the best natural stone cleaner?
We may be a tad biased here but the best natural stone cleaner is a Kleanstone floor cleaning machine. Our machines offer an unmatched level of performance when it comes to cleaning stone surfaces and when matched with our purpose-made cleaning products deliver stone floor care and maintenance you will simply not find anywhere else.
How do you remove hard water stains from natural stone?
As stone is naturally porous, over time water will begin to seep into the tiny holes on the surface. Eventually, this water will build up and form a hard water stain. Whilst these stains can be avoided in most cases with daily cleaning, not everyone has the time to clean their stone on a daily basis!
Removing hard water stains from natural stone surfaces can be easily accomplished if you use a speciality cleaner. You can use a non-scratch pad or a soft cloth, combined with a fair amount of elbow grease, to scrub clean the affected area in a few minutes. If the stain is located on the floor, you can use one of our stone floor cleaning machines to remove the stain in a single pass.
How do you get stains out of natural stone surfaces?
There are many different types of stains that can affect natural stone. The key to removing them is first to identify what type of stain it is.
- Oil-based stain: Grease, tar, milk, cooking oil – This stain will present itself by darkening the surface of the stone. To remove, in most cases you will need to chemically dissolve the source of the stain. Clean with a soft liquid cleanser that contains a small amount of bleach or a few drops of ammonia.
- Organic-based stain: Coffee, Tea, Paper, Food, Tobacco – This stain will present itself with a pinkish-brown mark. To remove, clean with a 12% hydrogen peroxide cleaner combined with a few drops of ammonia.
- Metal-based stain: Rust, Copper, Bronze, Iron – This stain will present itself usually with a brown colour but will largely depend on the type of metal involved. To eliminate metal stains, poultice must be used. A Poultice is a liquid cleaner or some form of chemical that is mixed together with an absorbent material to form a paste. This paste is then spread over the stain and left for about 24 hours to work its magic.
These are the 3 main types of stains that can affect your natural stone. It’s worth mentioning that with a Kleanstone cleaning machine, you will save time and effort when it comes to stain cleaning (as well as the care and maintenance of your stone) as the machine will handle all of the heavy lifting for you!
Can you use CLR on natural stone?
CLR stands for Calcium Lime & Rust Remover. This cleaner is great for removing stains from your toilet or sink, but we would not recommend using it to clean your natural stone whether that be granite, limestone, marble, travertine or any other type of stone.
Can you steam clean natural stone floor tiles?
So, steam cleaner for stone floors. Being specialists in natural stone flooring and how to care for them, we would not recommend steam cleaning your natural stone floor tiles. The primary reason for this is that the hot steam has the potential to remove the stone sealer. With your sealer removed, there is a higher chance of mould and mildew growth within your stone floor and with no sealer, there is little to prevent stains from occurring.
Another reason for not steam cleaning your limestone, granite, marble, travertine, or whatever type of stone floor you have is that with repeated steaming, there is a high chance your floor with ‘spall’. Spalling is when water enters the stone and forces the surface to peel, pop out or flake off entirely. In limestone, spalling is known as flaking. To conclude, the best steam cleaner for stone floors is not to use one.
Can you use vinegar to clean natural stone?
It’s important not to use vinegar, lemon juice or any other cleaners that are acidic or contain some form of acid on stones such as marble, limestone, travertine, slate.
Effortlessly Beautiful Floors with KleanSTONE
Gleaming floors inspire confidence and style in any setting, whether domestic or commercial. Here at KleanSTONE, we supply advanced floor cleaning solutions to help you achieve a spotlessly clean, perfectly finished floor without the elbow grease. Our stone floor cleaners tackle spills, stains and everyday grime with ease for a healthier, happier home or work environment.
Our products extend the lifespan of your flooring with powerful, effective cleaning that is gentle enough to use every day and perfect for floors in your home or business, inside and out.
Aside from offering a range of products for stone floor cleaning, we love to share our knowledge and experience from our years helping customers succeed at extending the lifespan of your floors. Read more on the KleanSTONE Blog, explore our Help & Guides or download our range of Cleaning Guides and learn more about how to care for your natural and engineered stone floors so that they last a lifetime!
Further Reading on the KleanSTONE Blog:
- A KleanSTONE Guide To Stone Flooring
- Should I Seal My Outside Patio?
- Floor Sealing: The Most Important Thing You Are Not Doing
- Cleaning Quarry Tile Floors
- How To Seal Your Stone Floors
- Is My Mop And Bucket Damaging My Stone Floor?