Having the best hard surfaces in your home requires special care to maintain and preserve those natural surfaces. Though not very difficult it is important to use the right cleaning agents and procedures. Natural stones-especially calcite-based stones such as marble, travertine, and limestone have a delicate chemical balance. This can be trouble if you are using products that are not specifically designed for the task. Lets cover some points dealing with natural stone maintenance.

Spills
When something is spilled onto the surface different reactions can occur. Lemonade, orange juice, wine, vinegar, tomato juice, yogurt, liquors, salad dressing, perfumes, wrong cleaning solutions etc. will ETCH polished marble, travertine, limestone, onyx, and alabaster. These products most likely will not damage granite. Pick up the spill immediately. Do not rub the spill, only blot it.

Floors
When cleaning floors the cleaning tool itself can be as important as the cleaning agent. On any type of hard surface floor I recommend the Hoover Floormate. This works well on marble, granite, ceramic and even wood floors. It has a water tank, vacuum and scrubbing brushes to help remove stubborn soil. This machine will leave the surface dry and streak free when using the correct cleaning agent. The Floormate keeps the water and soils from pooling in the grout lines. All of my Client’s that use this machine love it! If you are not in the market for this I recommend a loop-end cotton mop for marble with small grout lines. You may want to follow up with a clean towel to dry the floor quicker. For ceramic tile or natural stone with larger grout lines I would use a sponge mop followed up with a dry towel on a doodle pad or swifter pole/pad holder. Using a Hoover Floormate will eliminate the need for mops and toweling the floor dry. Our neutral cleaner product works well for marble and other natural stone.