Now that you went through the process of deciding on your favourite marble stone, with its elegant appearance, would have transformed the look and feel of you home, which can only be achieved with natural marble stones. You would now need to make sure they are well maintained to ensure that the fantastic natural look of your tiles are preserved for as long as possible. This is achieved by not only being careful with them but more so with regular cleaning and maintenance of your new and beloved floor or wall marble tiles.
Tile cleaning for some may sound an easy process, just splash on a bit of detergent and mop things up however, with natural marble stones it is not that simple or straight forward, marble being a natural stone that has a porous nature, is very easy to damage, this beautiful stone should be maintained and looked after using the correct materials and methods.
How marble forms
Let’s first understand how marble is formed, marble is a metamorphic rock, this means that it is transformed into marble from stones like limestones or other sedimentary rock types through process of heating and pressure, the process causes re-crystallization of the limestone to form a denser rock, the marble stone.
Use of Marble stones
So how marble has been used so far throughout time? Over the century’s marble has been used for various purposes, initial uses more commonly involved the creation of sculptures due to natural marble being easier to carve during the ancient Greek period therefore being the preferred stone to use for this purpose.
Marble however now is more commonly used in homes or commercial buildings as floor or wall tiles. With the vast ranges of colours like black, white, cream, green and many many more, having this many options means there is always a marble range suitable for any purpose or environment.
Sealing marble
Most unaware customers tend to not realize the importance of sealing natural marble, marble is not the most porous stone out there but, like with any natural stone, marble tiles also need to be sealed multiple times before and after installation to help preserve their amazing appearance during the course of its lifetime in the environment they helped change. We recommend minimum of 2 coats of sealing process, once before grouting and once after grouting stage of the installation, on some occasions customers/tilers even prefer a sealing process pre-installation. The protection of your marble tiles by sealing is an ongoing process and although the regularity depends on the heavy traffic or light traffic use which is determined in where they are installed, kitchen or hallway or bathroom or bedroom or work office environment, it is commonly done at least once a year after deep cleaning in most cases.
How to clean marble
Now that we understand the properties and the characteristics of natural marble, how do we clean them? The cleaning and maintenance of your tiles need to be well managed as not to damage your stones.
Pre-cleaning stage: This would be when you might want to remove any dust, crumbs etc. off your tiles before wet cleaning them. We recommend dust mops as vacuum cleaners sometimes can scratch the surface of marble when hoovering.
Wet cleaning
For regular cleaning of your tiles, mix a little dish soap with some warm water, it is always best to make sure that you do not use cleaning solutions that are bleach, vinegar or lemon based as these will damage your tiles, don’t use any all-purpose cleaners unless it clearly states that it can be used on natural marble.
You can use our specially formulated LTP Waxwash for your honed tiles cleaning or our LTP Floorshine for your polished tiles or you can use your mop to gently clean your tiles using your soap and water mix for general quick surface cleaning.
Rinse the cleaned tile using a soft cloth dipped in warm water and remove any access water as soon as you can then use a soft dry cloth to dry your tiles, this process should also be done quickly so that you can avoid any water damage to your tiles.
Any spillages should be wiped away as soon as possible as they have the potential to embed into your tiles causing it to be stained if left on the tile surface long enough.
Deep cleaning
For removing more stubborn stains you can use specifically manufactured tile cleaners such as our LTP Grimex Multi-purpose Intensive cleaner or for day to day quick spillage removal that hasn't been given any time to embed itself into your stone, you can again use warm water mix with small amount of dish soap as a quick quickly response cleaning to the spills of such things as fruit juices, alcoholic drinks, food etc.
So quick bullet points of marble cleaning:
• Seal your marble tiles at least twice before use.
• Do NOT use vacuums machines as to avoid any scratching of the tile surface.
• Do NOT use any bleach, vinegar or lemon based cleaning solutions and always read the instruction on any bottles being used.
• Always use specially formulated cleaners or warm water with a dish soap mix.
• Do NOT leave spillages on your tile surface for too long as this will give them time to embed into your beautiful tiles making them harder or sometimes impossible to clean.
• Rinse and dry your tiles as quickly as possible after you clean them to avoid water damage.
• Always re-seal your tiles periodically to protect and maintain their natural beauty for a much longer period during their lifetime.
We hope this blog will help you in looking after your beautiful marble tiles during the course of their lifetime.
