Stone cleaning

Natural stone surfaces need special attention. Travertine, marble, saltillo, soap stone, mexican tile, and other natural stone surfaces require training and understanding to obtain a beautiful clean without damaging the stone. Technicians need to be trained in the specific floor type in order to insure the stone is not damaged by high pressure or incorrect chemical selection. Hiring a carpet cleaner to clean these surfaces could be the equivalent of hiring a lawn mower technician to work on your mercedes. He has similar tools, but that does not mean he has the training and knowledge to properly approch the situation.

Always be certain that the person you chose to do the work understands the density of the stone and the acid reactivity. These are paramount in selecting the proper cleaning method and pressures as well as understaning if a certain sealer will help or hinder the surface. I recently did a job for a customer that has about 2000 sf of dense travertine (beautiful floor). A carpet cleaning company came in to clean the carpets and in their normal upsell furver, talked the customer into cleaning and sealing the travertine "while they were there." They applied a sealer of some sort to the surface. About 6 months later the floor was 10 times more dirty than before the cleaning. The customer had no idea what had happened. By applying a sealer to the surface that was too dense to absorb it and not removing the excess sealer (all of it) from the surface, a film was left behind that attracted and trapped the dirt to the tile like glue. Of course they offered to come back and clean and seal it again!!!!!! And at the same price as before! What a deal.

Our solution was to clean and strip the floor of all the topical sealer and return the tile to its natural state. We then instructed the customer of how to properly clean the surface. Thus vastly increasing the time the floor remained clean before the next maintenance cleaning.

If you want it done right, contact www.hssflorida.com