Stone Honing & Polishing
Marble is softer and more porous than most stone; it not only scratches easily, but also etches easily. Marble is sensitive to acids in many different food items (including citrus products, sodas, etc.) and the chelating agents in household cleaners.
Just like ceramic tile, natural stone is one of the most abused and overlooked floor and wall surfaces in the home simply because of the care involved in cleaning it. An etch mark in a polished marble or travertine floor can be a constant reminder that grandmother wasn’t always right about the merits of cleaning with a solution of vinegar and water.
The good news is Clean Crew Cleaning can make short work of this task. Whether you have natural stone in your kitchen, bathroom, or some other area of your home, those stubborn stains and etch marks don’t stand a chance. Your natural stone will look very much as it did the day it was installed.
At Clean Crew Cleaners we are dedicated to helping you keep your home healthy, clean, and always looking its best. The solution to difficult natural stone polishing, cleaning & sealing is just a phone call away.
Trust Clean Crew Cleaners for all those difficult and unpopular projects. You really will be glad you did.
Maintenance
General cleaners not specifically formulated for natural stone or tile are never recommended. These can breakdown the sealer, thereby removing its protective properties and making the stone and tile grout susceptible to stains. Worse yet, many cleaning products, including those that contain lemon, vinegar, bleach or ammonia can etch away the polish, discolor the surface, or even scratch your stone.
Many cleaners have what is called a chelating agent in them. This agent breaks down and dissolves minerals in hard water. Since all stone is made up of minerals, these types of cleaners will dissolve and cause streaks over prolonged use. The Clean Crew offers the complete line of Spinergy Professional Products.
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock containing calcium carbonate. It is similar to marble in that it is sensitive to acids and household cleaners containing chelating agents. It varies in hardness and sometimes will have fossil imprints. The Clean Crew offers cleaning, polishing, and sealing of limestone. For best results, have your limestone sealed and use a neutral stone cleaner such as Spinergy Professional stone and tile cleaner available through The Clean Crew Cleaners.
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic stone that contains calcium carbonate. It can often be identified by veins of colour running through the stone. Marble is softer and more porous than most stone; it not only scratches easily, but also etches easily. Marble is sensitive to acids in many different food items (including citrus products, sodas, etc.) and the chelating agents in household cleaners. See the section marked maintenance for more on chelating agents. The Clean Crew offers stain removal as well as cleaning, polishing, and sealing of marble floors and countertops. For best results, have your marble sealed and use a neutral stone cleaner such as Spinergy Professional stone and tile cleaner available through The Full Service Clean Crew.
Travertine
Travertine is similar to limestone in that it is sedimentary and is largely calcium, it has been formed by hot springs. Water movement caused erosion of the stone creating numerous holes of varying sizes. However these voids in the surface may be filled by plastic resins or grout. Over time such fillers may come out allowing the voids to be filled with soil. Travertine is similar to marble in that it can be polished, and is sensitive to acids and household cleaners with chelating agents. The Clean Crew offers cleaning, polishing, sealing and enhancement sealers for Travertine. For best results, have your travertine sealed and use a neutral stone cleaner such as Spinergy Professional stone and tile cleaner available through The Clean Crew.
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained colorful metamorphic stone showing fine grained structure containing tiny crystals, it is usually black, gray or green. Slate has a sheet-like or layered appearance know as foliated. Slate is not acid sensitive but prolonged use of household cleaners with chelating agents can cause streaking and dullness. The Clean Crew offers slate cleaning, sealing or enhancers that bring out the deep rich natural color of slate. For best results, have your slate sealed and use a neutral stone cleaner such as Spinergy Professional stone and tile cleaner available through Clean Crew.
Granite
Granite is an igneous stone and the hardest commonly used stone for flooring and is also popular for countertops. This extremely hard natural stone and is not as porous as other natural stones. Though not acid sensitive, prolonged use of household cleaners with chelating agents will cause streaking and can be a homeowner’s nightmare. The Clean Crew offers cleaning and sealing of granite countertops and floors. For best results, have your granite sealed and use Spinergy Professional tile and stone cleaner, which is available through Clean Crew.
Terrazzo
Terrazzo appears more uniform than most natural stones and is available in tile form or by a pouring application on the slab. Terrazzo is a mixture of Portland cement and marble chips; these chips can range in size from a fraction of an inch to as large as several inches. The Clean Crew offers Terrazzo cleaning, polishing and sealing. For best results, have your terrazzo sealed and use a neutral stone cleaner such as Spinergy Professional stone and tile cleaner available through Clean Crew.
Natural Stone Cleaning Process
1. Pre-Inspection
All Natural Stone cleaning and restoration as well as sealing jobs must be preceded by a thorough pre-inspection. Here we determine a customized care plan to meet your specific needs for your specific floor.
2. Area Preparation
Because your home is important to you it is important to us; we will take the necessary precautions to protect all areas surrounding your floors with plastic sheets and blue tape.
3. Cleaning
Cleaning Processes vary from floor to floor, many variables include make-up, maintenance, soiling conditions, traffic, use, etc… When cleaning any stone floor we use the most scientifically advanced cleaning products and the floor is then machine or hand scrubbed and brushed. Finally the Gekko floor cleaning tool, connected to a Nautilus hot water extraction system is used, achieving maximum soil removal and best overall cleaning results.
4. Diamond Grinding
Stone that is etched, scuffed and scratched can be restored only by the use of mechanical abrasives underneath a rotary machine. Diamond abrasives resurface/remove a slight amount of stone (just enough to get below the etch marks and scratches). All diamond grinding is performed with the use of water to contain dust. The surfacing procedures that follow will determine the desired surface sheen.
5. Polishing
Stone is mechanically finished to produce a high gloss shine. Very light etches, scuffs and scratches may be removed with the polishing process, but diamond grinding is needed if the stone surface has medium deep etches, scuffs and scratches.