August 22, 2017, 10:22 PM
ChicagoSigManMarble cleaning question
I have an area of the floor that is a white marble tile. It's a high traffic area and also where the dogs love to sleep. Once a year, I have it professionally cleaned but in between, it just looks terrible. I mop it occasionally but it feels like it need something more.
IS there anything I can do to give it a periodic deeper cleaning? It is a honed rather than a polished finish if that matters.
August 23, 2017, 02:14 AM
sjtillIt should be sealed. Marble is really difficult to keep looking good. And it will absorb urine and maybe doggie smells.
August 23, 2017, 07:07 AM
ChicagoSigManIt is sealed. The dogs don't pee on it but they like to sleep on it, so all the dirt and oils from their coats end up on the floor.
August 23, 2017, 09:21 AM
redleg2/9Clean it with Ivory soap and water - only!
Do not use any commercial type of cleaner, even those that are labeled for marble.
You do not need a professional cleaner - especially if they are the ones that recommended the sealing of the honed marble floor. You do need to seal granite and marble counter tops.
Honed marble will patina beautifully if not sealed.
In case of dog accidents, use "Pee Pee" cleaner to neutralize the odor.
This is from 45+ years of working in marble:
http://poundsstudio.com/ and having a lot of stone floors and counter tops for many years.
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August 23, 2017, 11:21 AM
bald1redleg2/9,
What about cleaning marble shower walls and floors. We have a hell of a time with ours.
August 23, 2017, 03:43 PM
redleg2/9bald1, showers are the one place I have avoided using marble. But since you have already probably tried a few items to clean the marble, I would: Walls only: first kill any mildew, scrub with soap and water, let completely dry, then apply pure Carnauba wax to seal the walls (Ace Hardware carries this.)
For the floor, do the same but definitely omit the wax.
The first home we built had 70%+ marble floors. They had started a beautiful patina, which my wife did not like because marble is shiny - right?
I came home one rainy day and almost killed myself in the first four steps. Wifie had used a can of my Italian Pamir polish that, at that time, was available only from a couple of marble supply houses that sold to the trade. I had made the exact polish myself using a 19th century description to use in Scagliola restoration. When it became available commercially, I purchased the imported cans of Pamir.
I showed her the commercial can which had an inch high warning not to use on floors. My next words were that if she used any kind of polish on my patina floors, I would sand every square inch of marble in the house! That warning lasted only about 10 years - but, I have repeated it a couple of times.
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