Get the Best Marble Care

Marble care helps to keep your marble floor looking its best.  

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How to Clean Marble

Marble is a favorite stone for construction and decoration. It is a noble material that gives a distinguished touch to your environments and lasts for several generations. But for that, you must keep it clean with techniques to keep for years. As a porous material, marble easily absorbs stains. The good news is that these stains can be removed successfully if you act fast. The longer, more liquid is absorbed and the harder it is to remove from the stone.

Here are some tips on how to clean marble:   

The most widely used methods for cleaning the marble is very simple; simply must pass a sponge or cloth soaked in a mixture of soap and water. Of course, if the spots are deeper, you will have to apply other techniques.

If the marble has turned yellowish, apply with a soft brush a mixture of water and vinegar. If there is a mark of rust or rust on the floor from the action of some furniture, we recommend using water and lemon (juice). You can also add a little salt. When vinegar or lemon is used to remove a stain, keep in mind that are corrosive to the stone, so it should be used with care. Otherwise, you can ruin the marble permanently. To prevent this from happening, apply the mixture to the stain, rub gently for a few minutes and rinsed it with water and soap. If the stain persists, have to redo the operation, taking care not to act than a few minutes on the stone. 

Marble Care:  Don't Use Wax

Apply a stone sealing coat o prevent stains on marble. As marble is a very porous surface, quickly absorbs any liquid, so they usually apply a coat of stone sealer. This helps to fill the pores and the surface becomes smooth and easy to clean. Don't use wax, though.  What can happen is that after several coats of wax, marble becomes yellowish. In that case, to remove all the wax. There are products that are available in different specific trades for this task. Then you have to rinse and it can happen again a layer of wax again. 

When in doubt about what you can and can't do with your marble, make sure you call a marble cleaning service in Los Angeles to keep your stone safe, beautiful and protected. 

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com

Travertine Care: What You Should Know

Travertine care is all about knowing what to do as well as what to do.  Why?  Well, even though it is stone, travertine is surprisingly fragile...

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Travertine Cleaning:  The Ins and Outs of Commercial Stone Restoration

Travertine is a form of calcium-based stone such as marble and limestone.  While it is a fairly hard stone, it is susceptible to damage from anything acidic, and we're not just referring to bleach.  Travertine can be damaged from ordinary and non-toxic substances such as coffee, red wine, and even orange juice.  As for household cleaners, a great many of them contain bleach.  Even some municipal tap water also contains trace amounts of bleach.  That's why it's probably a good idea to call a commercial stone restoration service in to clean your stone.

A professional stone care service will not only safely clean your stone, they will take care not to use anything harsh on the surface and most importantly of all, do stone sealing after they are done cleaning it.  Stone sealing helps to protect your stone from any sort of spill damage, and in addition, can last as long as five years between applications, sometimes even longer.  A lot of people don't believe us when we tell them that acidic substances can literally dissolve stone.  And in the case of travertine, there is another problem. Travertine has natural gaps in it that are usually filled with resin and then sliced.  If anything damages these resin patches, it can cause the rest of the stone to crumble.  So instead of an elegant showpiece of a floor, you have a crumbled mess.

Final Thoughts on Travertine

Travertine, like all natural stone, has very specific care instructions.  For example, unlike marble, which does well with grinding and honing, travertine can be damaged if you try to clean it that way.  If you want to do travertine cleaning between visits, always damp mop, never wet mop.  You do not want to cause damage to your stone, and even wet mopping can do that, as it can leave trace amounts of bacteria behind that can be chemically reactive with your stone.

If you know a bit about stone, you may be able to work on your travertine, however, if you don't, just remember that new travertine floor is rather expensive.  It is easier to clean it, and take care of it then it is to replace it.  If you have any questions about travertine cleaning and commercial stone restoration, give us a call.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
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Commercial Stone Restoration: What You Should Know Part 3

Commercial stone restoration depends entirely on the stone in question as well as the sort of stains and damage involved.

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Restoring Damaged Stone

For example, let's take a look at a travertine floor.  Travertine is a very popular floor choice because of its distinctive appearance.  Travertine has natural holes and gaps in it.  Travertine usually forms around mineral springs and hot springs as well.  As carbon dioxide bubbles through the mineral deposits, after the deposits congeal into stone, there are trace gaps.  To give travertine a more uniform surface, these gaps are filled with resin.  While the resin is tough and fairly durable, the stone can be susceptible to damage from a lot of different sources.  For example, anything acidic used on travertine can can your stone to become etched or even burned.  What a lot of people don't know is that household bleach is 100% acid, but then other things that some so called travertine cleaning experts recommend are also bad for your floor, such as vinegar.

While vinegar works well for basic cleaning on something like a hardwood floor,  you should keep it as far away from your travertine as you can.   The same holds true for any other form of calcium based stone such as limestone and marble as well.  While acidic substances should be kept away from your travertine, you also want to make sure that you are not using any store bought chemicals or products on your stone, as it isn't just acids that can damage travertine, so can things such as ammonia or alkaline. You also want to make sure that you have things like entryway rugs to help prevent grit, sand, and dirt from scratching your travertine.

What Sort of Travertine Damage Can Be Repaired?

What sort of travertine damage can be repaired?  It depends on the type of damage.  Stone that is shattered or cracked is kind of iffy.  If all or a majority of the pieces are there, then it is much easier to restore them with little to no damage showing.  Too much damage, however, and you'll probably have to replace the tile.  Things such as etch marks or scratches are a lot easier to repair.

 This concludes part three of our series.  Be sure to read part one  and part two as well for more information on commercial stone restoring services, or read another of our articles here.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
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Commercial Stone Restoration: What You Should Know Part 2

Is there a need for commercial stone restoration? Of course there is.  Part two of our series focuses on the need in what can go wrong with trying to do it yourself.

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Commercial Stone Restoration in Sherman Oaks

If you own a business, why should you get a service to do commercial stone restoration?  Shouldn't you do it yourself? Well first off, let's ask you a few questions.  When is it okay to use vinegar or anything acidic on a marble, limestone, or travertine floor?  How do you clean stone properly?  Should you use floor wax on your marble floor?  If you have read any of our posts, you already know the answers but just in case, here they are

When is it okay to use vinegar or anything acidic on a marble, limestone, or travertine floor? Never, all of these stones are highly reactive to anything acidic.  How do you clean stone properly?  It depends on the stone.  Some stone needs more work than others.  Should you use floor wax on your marble floor? No, do not use wax on your marble floor as wax will leave behind residue that will ultimately cloud your floor's finish.  As for  doing commercial stone restoration on your own, what you don't know can hurt you, or more accurately, hurt  your floor.  

Knowing What to Do With Stone Restoration

If you do not know what you're doing, do not try to do stone restoration on your own.  First off, whatever business you're in, that should be your focus.  There is a bit of a learning curve where working with stone is concerned, as well as the requirement of having a lot of equipment and chemicals that you'll have to have around.  Granite however, can take a lot more than marble can, but marble can take a surprising amount of honing and polishing.  

So remember, you want to make sure that your business maintains a positive image.  We suggest that you start at the floor at work your way up.  So know what to do and what not to do.  And when you want to be sure, call in a service for commercial stone restoration in Sherman Oaks.  

This concludes part two of our series.  Be sure to read part one as well part three for more information on commercial stone restoring services, or read another of our articles here.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com

Commercial Stone Restoration: What You Should Know Part 1

Is there a need for commercial stone restoration? Of course there is.  Part one of our series focuses on the need in a high traffic area such as a hotel lobby.

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Who Can Benefit from Commercial Stone Restoration in L.A.?

The greater Los Angeles is home to a lot of high-priced real estate.  Multi-million dollar homes are one thing, however, there are a lot of high-end salons, restaurants, and hotels that all have stone.  Look at a hotel lobby for example.  That's where commercial stone restoration comes into play.

Some hotels see literally millions of guests come and go through their doors every years.  Every single one of them leaves behind some amount of damage even on something as hard as a stone floor.  A guy dragging his roller suitcase behind him, a woman with high heels walking by, and the floor gets a mark each time.  Someone spilling their orange juice from the grab and go breakfast bar.  All of these damages individually are nothing.  However, when you add them all up, that's when it is a good idea to get a hold of a commercial stone restoration service in Los Angeles.  But which one should  your business choose?

Finding an Expert in Stone Care

First off, look at stone care services.  Make sure that they have some experience with the type of stone that you have.  Something calcium based such as marble, limestone, or travertine will need much different care than a composite such as terrazzo or granite.  Read up on the company in question, call them and ask them a bunch of questions, and check out their online reviews.  As to why you should go for professional commercial stone restoration, online reviews are definitely a driving factor, but not for the stone service, for your business.

Using the hotel we mentioned above, you probably know that if you own or manage a hotel, hotels in the L.A. are very competitive.  If your guests go back home and leave a few bad reviews it can literally cost your business millions in lost revenue and hiring a professional marketing firm to do damage control.  So one reason is economics. Commercial stone care is far cheaper than having to deal with the impact of negative press and PR, as well as the tarnished image your hotel will now have.

If you have a commercial business, why would you even consider trying to do it yourself?  You want to hire someone who is an expert not just in stone, but in commercial stone restoration in Los Angeles.

This concludes part two of our series.  Be sure to read part one as well part three for more information on commercial stone restoring services, or read another of our articles here.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com

Natural Stone Care: The Avoid List

Natural stone care is necessary to keep your stone from being damaged.  And believe us, if you don't know what you're doing, it is very easy to damage stone.

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Stone Care 101:  Hold the Wine, Hold the Lemon

A lot of times when people think of red wine spill on a floor surface, they think it is on a white carpet, and call a carpet cleaning service. However, what a lot of people don't know is that something as simple as spilling a glass of wine, red or not can have a disastrous effect on a stone surface.  If your stone is calcium based such as travertine, limestone, or marble, not only can it stain your stone, it can also start to dissolve your stone, and it isn't just wine that can do this.

One of our clients was all about white vinegar.  She had hardwood floors in her living room, and a small combination of white vinegar and water is very effective for cleaning a hardwood floor between visits.  Well, she thought the same would hold true for cleaning stone tile.  If you're face-palming at this moment while saying "oh no," congratulations.  You have a firm grasp on the problem.  She found that in places where she sprayed her marble floor heavily, her stone was feeling rough.  This is because the vinegar was literally eating away at her stone.  She was lucky though.  Marble can be brought back if the surface isn't too far gone.

In fact, a bit of stone honing and marble polishing can bring up the polish in marble fairly quickly and easily.  After we cleaned it, and sealed it, we cautioned her never to use white vinegar or anything acidic on her floor again.  And a lot of people don't know how much is acidic.  Here's a short list of things never to put on any stone surface or spill: bleach, coffee, orange juice, lemonade, all forms of vinegar, wine, and you even have to be careful with tap water.

Natural Stone Care: Final Points to Consider

Tap water?  What's wrong with tap water?  Well for one thing, a lot of tap water has trace amounts of chlorine in it, essentially bleach.  In addition if you wet mop your stone and don't dry it properly, it can attract bacteria that can eat away at your marble.   Marble for all of it's beauty is one of the hardest stones to care for where natural stone care is concerned.

So, remember, knowledge is power.  Know what you can do with your natural stone as well as what you can't.  And when you want to be sure call a stone cleaning service in Los Angeles.

Read one of our previous articles on natural stone care here.

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1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
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Professional Tile Cleaning in Los Angeles: There is a Difference

There's a difference between cleaning your tile yourself and professional tile cleaning in Los Angeles.  It boils down to a few key things: knowledge, experience, and professionalism.

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Tile Cleaning:  Knowing the Tile

There are so many types of tiles out there it can be bewildering, and a great many of them require vastly different care techniques.  Vinyl tile is a simple cleaning process, while  travertine cleaning  and marble polishing both have  highly specialized instructions.  The real problem that we find when a customer calls us in is if they treat tile exactly the same way.  You never want to use harsh chemicals on natural stone, for example.  We had a customer pour some bleach in water and put it on his marble tile.

Even if you have your tile sealed, chemicals like this can easily dissolve something calcium-based like marble.  Why?  Well, bleach is essentially acid, and as such, anything acidic is extremely reactive with marble and limetsone, or even travertine.  As you see, knowledge is power, particularly where tile types is involved.  This is one of the main reasons you call in a professional.  Their knowledge base.  However, on top of what they know, it is how long they've been doing it.

Experienced, Professional Tile Cleaning

While hiring a tile cleaner who is just starting out may sound like a great idea particularly if you're quoted a very low price, the fact of the matter is without experience, you could find that he has damaged your tile or even your grout.  Both problems  can be extremely expensive.  Some natural stone tile can cost you hundreds if not thousands of dollars to replace.  Sometimes, it is a matter of rushing through a project too.  We once had to go in to clean up a mess that one of our competitors left behind.  A lot of times, what happens is the customer thinks they've gotten a bargain only to find out they've been ripped off.  So again, it's a combination of three things that makes for a good tle cleaning service.  

You want to make sure that whoever you're hiring knows what they're doing.  You also want to make sure that they have the experience necessary for your job, and that they're not charging you any hidden fees.  So remember: Knowledge, Experience, and Professionalism.  That way you know you've got the right tile cleaning service in Los Angeles.  

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1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
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Natural Stone Care Part 3: Limestone and Terrazzo

Part three of a series on natural stone care explores limestone and terrazzo.  Let's start with limestone first.

How to Clean Limestone

It is a good idea to have some basics on how to clean limestone. Limestone is  calcium carbonate (CaCO3),  smooth, with different levels of hardness depending on where it was quarried. Limestone, like all stones that are calcium-based, is highly reactive to anything acidic, including citrus cleaners.  If you use anything acidic on marble, it will react with the calcium carbonate and cause your stone to be damaged sometimes heavily.

It's also important to know the finishes that limestone comes in.  Limestone is either high gloss, semi-polished or honed, with high gloss having the biggest shine level.   Be aware that limestone while it can get a good polish level going, it will never be at the same level of marble tile. Cleaning limestone is easy.  Like travertine or slate, you want to use a bit of dish washing soap mixed with water.  Even if you've sealed your stone, never wet mop marble.  Use a dry mop, or at most damp mop it.  There's a good chance that if you're using tap water, there may be a bit of chlorine mixed into the water which is highly acidic.  In addition, bacteria can be present in the water that may also cause chemical reactions.  Now, let's cover terrazzo.

How To Clean Terrazzo

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First off, be aware that terrazzo is not technically a stone.  It is technically an agglomerate stone.   Agglomerate is a fancy word meaning stone chips supported in some sort of binding agent. At first glance, terrazzo can resemble granite, but the care for them is very different.  As to how to clean terrazzo, never scrub a terrazzo floor or wet mop.  Light sweeping with a dust mop or light broom works best.  If any spills happen, wipe them up quickly with a soft cloth.  Never use water or harsh chemicals like bleach.

So remember, the stone in your house is more than decoration.  It is an investment.  So take care of it.  Know what you can do and what you can't.  And if you need any stone care advice, call us.  

This concludes part three of our series. For more information, please be sure to read part one and part two as well.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com

Natural Stone Care Part 2: Granite and Slate

Part two of a series on natural stone care explores granite and slate.

What is Granite?

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Natural stone care always focuses on the type of stone first.  Granite requires different care than anything calcium based such as travertine, limestone or marble.  What is granite? According to this excerpt from WIKIPEDIA:

"Granite /ˈɡrænɨt/ is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock which is granular and phaneritic in texture. The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a holocrystalline rock. The term 'granite' also applies to a group of intrusive igneous rocks with similar textures and slight variations on composition and origin. These rocks mainly consist of feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole minerals. These form interlocking somewhat equigranular matrix of felddspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole (often hornblende) peppering the lighter color minerals. SOURCE ARTICLE

Granite, like all natural stone is very porous.  You may wish to seal your stone with an impregnating stone sealer to close up the pores, otherwise, you run the risks of staining your stone.  Regardless of whether your stone is sealed however, make sure you clean any spills immediately.  Granite is used around sinks, in kitchen islands, bathrooms, backsplashes, stone surrounds, and other areas of the home.  But what about slate?

Slate Cleaning Tips

Here are some tips on how to clean slate.  First off, regular cleaning. Remove any loose dirt first. The best ways? Use a duster, light broom, or dry mop. A few drops of a pH neutral dishwashing soap mixed with two cups of water makes an excellent cleaning solution because it is not chemically reactive. Don't use hard brushes though. Soft rags or mops work best. Towel dry when you're done.

So remember, know your stone. That way you the proper steps to take to keep your stone surround, backsplash or tile looking it's very best. This is the proper way of natural stone care.

This concludes part two of our series. For more information, please be sure to read part one and part three as well.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com

Natural Stone Care Part 1: Marble and Travertine

Part one of a series on natural stone care explores travertine and marble.

What is Travertine?

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What is travertine?  From Wikipedia: Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. In the latter, it can form stalactites, stalagmites, and other speleothems. It is frequently used in Italy and elsewhere as a building material. Travertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from solution in ground and surface waters, and/or geothermally heated hot-springs." SOURCE ARTICLE

Travertine has a tendency to be a softer stone, so you don't want to grind it.  One key part of care for travertine is to get professional stone sealing done.  Stone sealing helps to impregnate the stone with a liquid proof seal that helps to repel stains and protect your floor against damage.  But what about Marble

Natural Stone Care and Marble

Marble is a harder stone, and you actually can grind it and do stone honing, and polish it with coarse grit buffers, however there is a bit of a warning where marble's concerned.  Don't spill anything acidic on it, even something fairly innocuous like coffee or orange juice, or it will literally eat away at your stone.  Like travertine, you can seal marble to protect it from both stains and damage, which considering how much fine marble can cost, is probably a good idea.

So remember, knowing what you can and can't do with your stone will save you a lot of trouble as well as a lot of money.  When in doubt call in a stone care service.

This concludes part one of our series.  For more information, please be sure to read part two and part three as well.

Morris Cleaning & Restoration
1007 N.Sepulveda Blvd. #1204
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
(310) 545-8750
http://www.morriscarpetcleaning.com