Stone Cleaning Tips

Why do you want to hire a professional stone cleaning service in San Antonio? Because they know a lot of things.

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San Antonio Stone Cleaning Tips

A professional stone cleaning service knows a lot about stone. For example, they know that anything acidic can damage marble, travertine and limestone. They also know about stains and how to get them out. How do you get stains out of marble? It depends entirely on the stain. Here is a handy guide from the Marble Institute:

"What Type of Stain is It?
The following sections describe the types of stains you may have to deal with and the appropriate household chemicals to use and how to prepare and apply a poultice to remove the stain.
Oil-based
(grease, plumbers' putty, tar, cooking oil, milk, cosmetics)
An oil-based stain will darken the stone and normally must be chemically dissolved so the source of the stain can be flushed or rinsed away. Clean gently with a soft, liquid cleanser with one of the following: household detergent, mineral spirits, or acetone.
Organic
(coffee, tea, wine, fruit, tobacco, paper, food, urine, leaves, bark, bird droppings)
May cause a pinkish-brown stain and may disappear after the source of the stain has been removed. Outdoors, with the sources removed, sun and rain action will generally bleach out the stains. Indoors, clean with 12% hydrogen peroxide (hair bleaching strength) and a few drops of ammonia.
Metal
(iron, rust, copper, bronze)
Iron or rust stains are orange to brown in color and follow the shape of the staining object such as nails, bolts, screws, cans, flower pots, metal furniture. Copper and bronze stains appear as green or muddy-brown and result from the action of moisture on nearby or embedded bronze, copper or brass items. Metal stains must be removed with a poultice. (See website on Using a Poultice – www.marble-institute.com/consumers/poultices/. Deep-seated, rusty stains are extremely difficult to remove and the stone may be permanently stained.
Biological
(algae, mildew, lichens, moss, fungi)
Clean with diluted cleaning solution. Use a 1/2 cup of any of the following: ammonia, bleach, or hydrogen peroxide and a gallon of water. Reminder: do not mix bleach and ammonia."
SOURCE

Why Professional Stone Cleaning Matters

In addition to marble cleaning or any other type of natural stone care, your professional stone cleaning service will recommend something like stone sealing.
Stone sealing will help to fill in the pores of your stone, and protect it from stains and spills. In the case of marble, this can quite literally save your stone. Simply spilling some red wine on a marble floor can not only stain your floor, it can start to dissolve it.

So remember, there is a big difference between do it yourself stone care and professional stone cleaning in San Antonio.

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4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
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Natural Stone Care in New Braunfels - Final Thoughts

Natural stone care in New Braunfels is all about knowledge.

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Professional Stone Cleaning in New Braunfels: Don't Damage Your Stone

As we covered previously, if you have granite, you want to get it professionally cleaned rather than take a chance. If you don't, you run the risk of damaging your granite. This holds true for other types of natural stone, especially calcium based stone such as marble, limestone, and travertine.

Travertine is elegant, but also surprisingly fragile. It forms near mineral springs from deposits left behind by bubbles. Since bubbles form it, travertine is rarely a solid piece of stone. As a result, the gaps are filled in with a resin that matches the color and texture of the stone. This resin is vulnerable to damage from harsh chemicals, but the stone itself is vulnerable to anything acidic.

Clean Your Stone Yourself? Don't

Do you want to clean your travertine yourself? Don't. Or at the very least, know what you're doing. As we covered above, if you put anything acidic on travertine, it can dissolve the resin as well as the stone itself. And by anything acidic, we really mean anything. Here's a short list of things that can harm your stone: bleach, red wine, coffee, orange juice, lemonade, and vinegar. Adding to this, there is a lot of misinformation out there. One 'stone care expert' for example advises you to use white vinegar to clean your travertine. While white vinegar works well on hardwood floors, if you put it on your travertine, suffice it to say, you'll have to replace your stone.

How do you know the product you're going to use is safe? Even tap water contains trace amounts of chlorine. It isn't just acid that's a problem. Ammonia is a common ingredient in cleaning products, and it isn't an acid, it's a solvent. If you use ammonia to clean your travertine, it will more than likely react chemically, and either start dissolving the stone, or discoloring it severely.

Remember, it is a lot cheaper to take care of your stone the right way, than to have to replace it all.
So follow the care instructions for your stone. Next, use the right way to clean it. And most important of all? Make sure that you call a professional stone cleaning service in San Antonio.

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4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
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Natural Stone Care in New Braunfels (Conclusion)

Do you know how to clean a granite countertop?

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Granite Cleaning Should Involve a Professional Stone Cleaning Service in New Braunfels

How bad could it be? Stone is hard. However, as your professional stone cleaning service in New Braunfels, we thought it might be a good idea to warn you. Or as this article excerpt from CNET clearly shows:

"No two granite countertops are the same. Some come from the factory with a resin treatment. Others require a sealant to be applied from every year to every few years. You should consult the manufacturer of your countertop for the recommended treatment.
Since granite is porous, a sealer is there to protect the granite from potentially harmful materials that can affect the appearance and lifespan of the granite.
Regardless of the type of granite or seal, what doesn't vary is what you should not be cleaning your granite countertops with. You should avoid using acid-based cleaners -- lemon, orange, vinegar or bleach-based -- on granite. The acids contained in these cleaners will degrade the sealant and can leave unsightly stains on the countertop.
That means those Clorox disinfecting wipes (which contain citric acid) that make cleanup so easy are actually quite bad for your granite's seal.
How to deep clean granite
Daily cleaning of granite is actually quite simple. All you need is a wash cloth, warm water, a small amount of dish soap and a hand towel for drying.
Use the warm, soapy dish cloth to wipe up spills or other grime immediately. Follow up with a quick towel dry to get rid of excess water and avoid streaks.
It's also good practice to do this any time your cook in your kitchen, if not daily.
If you want to disinfect your granite, simply mix equal parts isopropyl alcohol and distilled water in a spray bottle. Thoroughly spray the countertop and allow the solution to sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Wipe down with a wash cloth. This should also restore your granite's brilliant shine.
If you have a particularly stubborn stain, such as spilled cooking oil, baking soda may be all you need.
Maid Brigade suggests creating a paste with baking soda and water for oil-based stains or baking soda and hydrogen peroxide for water-based stains. Slather the paste over the stain and allow it to sit on the surface for several hours, covered.
When you're ready to clean it up, wipe away the paste, and clean with a warm wash cloth and a small amount of dish soap. [SOURCE

Get Professional Granite Cleaning and Take Out the Guesswork

If you have granite, you want to get it professionally cleaned rather than take a chance. If you don't, you run the risk of damaging your granite.

The best company to call? Call a professional granite cleaning service in New Braunfels.
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Lone Star Tile and Grout Cleaning
4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
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Natural Stone Care in New Braunfels (Contd.)

Natural stone care in New Braunfels is all about knowledge as well as the right techniques.

As we covered previously, A professional stone cleaning service knows a lot about stone. For example, they know that anything acidic can damage marble, travertine and limestone. They also know about marble stains and how to get them out.

Get Marble Cleaning in San Antonio | (210) 637-5050

Marble Cleaning Tips: What To Do, What to Avoid

When you are looking to clean your marble floor yourself, you want be extremely careful.  It isn't just because we do this for a living that we say this, but you should really call a stone cleaning service in New Braunfels instead.

Why?  Well, because what you don't know can severely damage your marble floor.

From the site Maid Brigade:

"Marble is a beautiful stone and a luxurious and wonderful addition to a home. However, marble is also a delicate stone and homeowners with marble know that great care is required to maintain your floor’s shine and prevent scratching. Cleaning marble floors starts with preventative care and regular maintenance. Sweeping or dusting and mopping on a daily basis will remove any dirt or surface debris that could scratch or otherwise harm your marble. It’s also important to take care of spills as soon as they occur so that water or other liquids aren’t allowed to stain your floor.
How to clean marble floors? It is important that the cleaning solution used on marble be pH neutral. Do not use acidic cleaners on your marble or it will scratch and lose shine. This means no vinegar! You can clean your marble floors with a highly diluted mixture of ammonia and water or with a highly diluted mixture of dish soap and water. (No more than 1/2 cup per bucket of water). Once you are finished mopping it is recommended that you dry the floor using a soft, fluffy towel. Because marble is such a porous stone sitting water can seep into the stone and cause stains."SOURCE

But what if the worst happens? What do you do if you damage your marble floor?

Stone Restoration in New Braunfels

Simple you call a service that does stone restoration in New Braunfels. The right service can help to restore your marble, travertine, limestone, or other stone type back to its former level. As to why you would want to go for restoration rather than replacement, have you priced marble tile lately?

So remember, make the right decisions. One of them? Call a stone cleaning service in New Braunfels.

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Lone Star Tile and Grout Cleaning
4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
More Info

Natural Stone Care in New Braunfels

Why do you want to hire a professional stone cleaning service in New Braunfels? Because they know a lot of things.

New Braunfels Stone Cleaning

Get Professional Stone Cleaning in New Braunfels | Call Us Today (210) 637-5050

A professional stone cleaning service knows a lot about stone. For example, they know that anything acidic can damage marble, travertine and limestone. They also know about marble stains and how to get them out. Look at stains such as ink and paint.  Impossible?  Not for us, or any tile cleaning service that knows what they're doing.  They know tricks like these, from the Marble Institute's web page:

"Ink
(magic marker, pen, ink)
On light colored stones, clean with bleach or hydrogen peroxide. On dark colored stones, clean with lacquer thinner or acetone.
Paint
Small amounts can be removed with lacquer thinner or scraped off carefully with a razor blade. Heavy paint coverage should be removed only with a commercial "heavy liquid" paint stripper available from hardware stores and paint centers. These strippers normally contain caustic soda or lye. Do not use acids or flame tools to strip paint from stone. Paint strippers can etch the surface of the stone; repolishing may be necessary. Follow the manufacturer's directions for use of these products, and flush the area thoroughly with clean water. Protect yourself with rubber gloves and eye protection, and work in a well-ventilated area. Use only wood or plastic scrapers for removing the sludge and curdled paint. Normally, latex and acrylic paints will not cause staining. Oil-based paints, linseed oil, putty, caulks and sealants may cause oily stains. Refer to the section on oil-based stains.
Water Spots and Rings
(surface accumulation of hard water)
Buff with dry 0000 steel wool.
Fire and Smoke Damage
Older stones and smoke or firestained fireplaces may require a thorough cleaning. When the smoke is removed, there may also be some etching (due to carbonic & other acids in smoke). Commercially available "smoke removers" may save time and effort.
Etch Marks
(caused by acids left on the surface of the stone)
Some materials will etch the finish but not leave a stain. Others will both etch and stain. Contact your stone dealer or call a professional stone restorer for refinishing or repolishing etched areas."
SOURCE

Why Tile Cleaning Services Can Help

Why would a tile cleaning service in New Braunfels be able to help? Because they know a lot about flooring including how to remove stains from stone such as marble, travertine, limestone, and others.

They also know techniques to repel stains and keep your floor looking sharp between visits.
So what are you waiting for? Call your New Braunfels tile cleaning service today.

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Lone Star Tile and Grout Cleaning
4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
More Info