How to Clean Your Natural Stone Tile and Floor

Having natural stone tile and flooring in your home can give it a feeling of luxury, but you still have to keep the floor clean to maintain these appearances, so regular upkeep is necessary.

Be careful with your stone floors, especially marble, as they are very susceptible to scratches. Most sharp items should be kept away from the floor, and furniture legs should be protected with cloth or soft coasters. Pet nails are very harmful to these types of floor, so it's also important to keep your pets nails trimmed. If you do get a few scratches it's important to keep the floor clean, as dirt will fill the crevices and make it appear dirty.

Marble and other stone floors should be cleaned regularly with hot water, mild detergent, and a micro-fiber mop. Be careful adding ammonia to your cleaning mixture, because using too much can impact the stones natural shine.

Granite floors stain very easily, so it's important to clean up spills and messes as soon as they happen to extend the life of your floor. If something does happen to your granite then you can use bleach, mineral, spirits, or acetone to help get stains out.

Natural stone floors are not the easiest flooring to maintain, but the look and feel is worth the upkeep if you choose to add it to your home or business.

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Cleaning Your Kitchen

The kitchen is one of the most popular and used rooms in a house, it is said to be the heart of the family. If you are building or redecorating your house, consider putting tile down as the floor and the counter surface, as tile is very durable, since it is not easily damaged by moisture, heat, and sharp or heavy objects. Don't worry if you don't have tile, other surfaces work just as well. Since the kitchen is such a high activity and traffic area it is important to keep the counters, floors, and cabinets clean.

Daily spot cleaning will help with the overall look, feel, and cleanliness of the kitchen. It's important to keep the counters clean, as they will most likely come into contact with food at some part in the day. Mold and bacteria can grow on the counters and in the grout of tile, so it's important to keep the counters disinfected. Floors also need to be maintained and kept clean as well.

Cleaning the floor is the easy part; all you need to do is sweep everyday and mop with warm water and disinfectant at least once a week. It will keep your floors looking good and feeling clean. Countertops, cabinets and walls take a little more time and effort to clean. Make sure you use a cleaning agent that will help get the grime and dirt off; you don't want to be scrubbing forever.  It's important to take special care in highly used prep and cook areas, as these will be the places with the most germs and bacteria. If you do have tile make sure to get in between the tiles and into the grout, as harmful bacteria can grow here. Take a toothbrush and cleaner (an oxidized bleach mixture is very effective against stains and mildew) to make sure you get them good and clean.

Make sure to ventilate the room you are cleaning in, as the fumes of the cleaning products can be difficult to breathe with. If you can, open the windows and doors to let the kitchen air dry. Cleaning you floors and counters isn't hard; you just have to come up with a routine that works best for you and your home.