5 Ways to Make Stone Floors Shine

6/4/2018 (Permalink)

Stone Floor ‘Shining' Techniques

Large office and warehouse buildings often have stone flooring that needs special attention while cleaning.

1. Add a coating or finish - Although coatings or finishes add gloss to stone floors, this is not a recommended way to add shine to granite or marble floors. Natural stone needs to breathe, and adding coatings or finishes blocks the floor from breathing. Travertine or Terazzo floors are better suited to adding a coating or finish.
2. Polishing - Polishing stone floors using diamond pads on your slow speed floor machine will add a highly reflective gloss to stone floors.
3. Honing - Honing is a more aggressive procedure that smoothes the stone by using a more abrasive diamond disk that grinds imperfections on the floor surface.
4. Grinding - Grinding is the most aggressive way to add shine to stone floors. This procedure will take care of lippage (uneven tiles). Grinding should only be done by experienced stone floor technicians.
5. Crystallization - Crystallization is a chemical polishing process that is used in heavy traffic areas. In this situation you would use a crystallizer polish to add shine to the floor.

What to AVOID when it comes to stone floor care

• Avoid using cleaners containing acids on marble, onyx, travertine, or limestone. The cleaners used to clean grout, bathrooms, or tube/tile usually contain harmful acids that can damage the stone floor
• Avoid vinegar, bleach or lemon juice
• Avoid abrasive cleaners or ammonia based products