Natural Stone Care in New Braunfels: Info From Your Pro

If you want to clean your marble tile yourself, be aware that there is a lot of misinformation out there.

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Professional Marble Cleaning Protects Your Stone

If you hire a professional marble cleaning service in New Braunfels, you not only will be cleaning your stone surfaces, you will be protecting them from any unintentional damage.

Natural stone care isn't as easy as you might think it is.  For example, if you use any harsh chemicals such as ammonia or bleach on your marble, you run the risk of damaging or even dissolving it.  Why?  Well, all stone within the calcium carbonate family which includes travertine, marble, and limestone are deceptive in a way.  They're stone, they are hard, but they have a critical weakness. They are chemically reactive to anything acidic.  

Something as simple as spilling red wine, coffee, or even orange juice on a marble surface may be enough to start eating away at your stone.  Bleach is an acid.  Most people don't realize that.  As for ammonia, it is a solvent, however, there is one problem.  Some stone has resin fillers to fill any gaps in the stone surface.  The  chemical bonds of these resin fillers start to break down the moment anything like ammonia is applied.  We have had more than a few customers buy a store bought product designed for cleaning marble.  At least, that's what the label reads.  Then we usually get a call from a frantic homeowner who is watching their stone foam up and start to dissolve.

Stone Cleaning in New Braunfels

So what went wrong? Well, the customers in many cases didn't read the warning label or, even more importantly,  the list of ingredients. One of the ingredients in the solution was either ammonia, bleach, or something else corrosive.  That's why it is a better idea to call a professional service to clean your stone.  

First off, they're not going to use just any old product or guaranteed remedy to clean your marble.  They're going to use professional grade products to not only clean your stone, but seal it to protect it from damage.  

There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding stone cleaning.  For example, one "cleaning expert" states to clean your marble, use lemon juice and tap water.  Slight problem.  Lemon juice is acidic, and tap water contains trace amounts of chlorine.  

So be smart.  Hire a stone cleaning service instead.  

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4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
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Natural Stone Care: Tips, Tricks, and What to Avoid

Natural stone care is all about knowledge.  How much should you know before you do any work on your floor?  Well, how much do you want to keep your floor?

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Natural Stone Care Tips

What type of stone do you have? Getting to know the geological classification and composition of your stone is one of the most important steps when taking care of your tiles. This type of information may be considered irrelevant by many homeowners but it is actually very important as it assists one in choosing the best cleaning products and methods to use in taking care of the natural stone. Natural stones are categorized into three depending on the process of formation it undertook. Metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary types of stones sum up the formation category with each of them either being calcareous or siliceous. Calcareous stone is made up of calcium carbonate which reacts with acid and therefore one is highly recommended to use non-acidic cleaners. Siliceous stone on the hand comprises of silicates that are resistant to acid solutions but one is still advised to be keen when using acidic cleaners as the stone might contain minerals that are sensitive to the acid. This entire process of knowing your stone and choosing the right cleaning products may be too much for you to handle so in order to avoid making a mess no your tiles you are highly advised to hire a tile cleaning service to do the job for you.

For you to achieve a long lasting and preserved beauty of your natural stone you need to make sure that you use coasters with those that contain citrus juices or alcohol being the most recommended. Despite the fact that almost all stones withstand heat, you are highly advised to make use of trivets and mats.

Weekly Stone Care

Make sure that you use a non-treated dry dust mop to regularly clean the interior floors while also ensuring that you place a rug at the entrance of your house to prevent sand or rather any dirt that may cause scratches on the floor. A vacuum cleaner is another important part of natural stone care that one should use but with a lot of keenness because the moment the metal or plastic that is attached to the wheel of the cleaner gets worn out it can cause scratches to some stone surfaces when being used. In case of a spill, you are not supposed to wipe the area immediately but rather take a paper towel and blot the spill to prevent it from spreading after which you will be required to wash the area with a mild soap and a soft cloth.

When you have questions, make sure you ask. You can call a tile store, or visit a home improvement center. And don't forget another good source of information: your local stone cleaning service.

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Lone Star Tile and Grout Cleaning
4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
http://www.lonestartileandgroutcleaning.com

Professional Stone Cleaning and Your Floor Part 2

Part two of our series on stone cleaning explores travertine.

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How to Clean Travertine: An Insider's Guide

If you would like to know how to clean travertine, here is some information for you.  First off, know that travertine is a lot more sensitive than a stone such as granite, particularly to anything acidic.  To avoid etching your floor, make sure that you blot up spills immediately.  Even tap water may have trace amounts of chlorine in it, which is very bad.  Make sure that you blot, don't wipe.  A lot of people instinctively wipe a spill instead of blotting it.  Wiping the spill simply spreads it around.  

When you're blotting, make sure that you use either a soft cloth or a sponge.  Use hot water and a stone cleaner and stone sealer that is specifically designed for travertine.  You may also want to keep your travertine products separate from other cleaning products to avoid any mishaps, and make sure you clearly label them with something as simple as TRAVERTINE CLEANING ONLY.  While it is possible to use a pH neutral soap such as dishwashing detergent periodically, be aware that while it won't damage your stone, it will dull its finish.  

Another thing that you can do with your travertine is to use a dust mop on it at least once a week.  Make sure that your dustmop gets replaced when it starts to get worn, or you could end up scratching your stone.  Door mats, like with hardwood floors, are a good idea as they help to trap grit, dirt, and sand.  

What to Avoid When You Want to Clean Your Stone

Knowing what to avoid can also save you a lot of trouble where travertine cleaning is concerned.  First off, don't ever  use any store bought or generic products as these produces often contain acids, ammonia, or alkali, with can not only etch your stone, it can strip away any protective coatings and make your stone susceptible  to staining and damage.  You also don't want to use anything citrus based or anything like vinegar.  You also don't want use anything abrasive either as these will dull the finish of your travertine.  

So remember, taking care of your travertine is all about not only knowing what to do, but what not to do as well.  And when in doubt, call a travertine cleaning service.

Travertine is only type of stone that needs specialized care, another one is marble...

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Lone Star Tile and Grout Cleaning
4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
http://www.lonestartileandgroutcleaning.com

Professional Stone Cleaning and Your Floor Part 1

Before you try to do any sort of stone cleaning, there are several things you need to know.  Let's look at travertine for example.  

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Travertine Cleaning and Hiring a Pro

Travertine should always be done by a professional stone cleaning service, unless you are 100% sure that you know how to handle travertine.  The reason is that travertine is a surprisingly fragile stone particularly were exposure to certain things is concerned. Travertine is a calcium-based natural stone in the same family as marble and limestone. It is formed when deposits of calcium carbonate congeal. One of the traits of travertine are the many holes and gaps in the stone which form when carbon dioxide escapes during the formation process. Travertine is graded based on the amount of holes in the stone. The more holes there are, the lower the grade of travertine you have. However, whether low-grade travertine or high grade, these holes give travertine its distinctive texture but they also make travertine more porous. These pores make travertine also more prone to staining. Some stains are worse than others however.

For example if you spill anything acidic on travertine such as coffee, orange juice, red wine, or vinegar for a few examples, you also have a good chance of damaging your stone. And if you think this problem is confined to what you spill, sometimes the wrong cleaning solution can damage your travertine as well. To make matters worse, wet mopping your floor may also cause long term damage as well.

Travertine Care and Cleaning

A stone cleaning service knows how to clean travertine, however. They also know what not to do as well. First off the stone is gently cleaned and then it is sealed.  Stone sealer seeps into all the pores and helps to protect your stone from further stains as well as damage.  Stone sealer is a relatively modern invention that works very well and lasts at least five years, sometimes as more as a decade.  Another reason to contact a professional for your travertine cleaning is that he can give you some tips to help keep your travertine looking its best between visits.

Travertine is a beautiful addition to any home, but if you're not careful, you could end up damaging your stone...

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Lone Star Tile and Grout Cleaning
4019 Stahl Rd, Suite 202
San Antonio TX 78217
(210) 637-5050
http://www.lonestartileandgroutcleaning.com