Polished Marble Pets & Garden Soil - A Recipie For Disaster

This post is about a marble polishing and restoration job from Sherbourne, Warwickshire. The customer called us because her kitchen/dining floors were dull and dirty.

We could see that the floor was in good physical condition, but over time:

• the original deep shine had worn away, leaving the tiles looking dull.


• Ingrained soil made the floor look soiled and difficult to clean


• The cream grout looked dark and ugly.

The dull, grimy finish frustrated the customer. She had three different marble cleaning and polishing chemicals, mops and even a steam mop, but none of them worked.  She could not understand why it still looked dirty.

I could understand her frustrations with her floor. But the problems was quite simple, ingrained soil and grit.

Marble Floors Pets And Garden Soil – A Recipe For Disaster

Their dog was bringing sand and soil into the kitchen. He could come and go into the garden through a dog flap in the back door. The soil in his paws was grinding minute scratches on the surface. Soil and grit were also falling off his coat,  just waiting to be walked on.

Soil And Grit Will Damage Your Precious Marble

As soon as you walk over soil and grit, it grinds into your floor, making, even more, scratches. Over time the scratches will ruin the shine, trap dirt and made the tiles difficult to clean.

The soil had created these problems.

• The shine had gone, leaving it looking dull.


• The minute particles of soil trapped in the scratches made the it look dirty

Maintenance Is The Key To Keeping The Shine On Marble

I explained that there was no problem cleaning, polishing and sealing, to give a beautiful shiny floor. But, to keep a shine, they would need to change the way they cared for their floor.

The first thing they need to do is dry sweep more often.

Where there are pets, I recommend dry sweeping the floor, at least, two times a day.

A sweeping mop will do the job in minutes. You can also use a vacuum cleaner, but you will find a dry mop easier and quicker.

You should mop at least once a day using a damp microfiber mop and a marble cleaning chemical. The mop will remove dried in soil left by the dry mop, and the cleaner will nourish the stone

Important: Marble cleaners are not made to put a shine on marble. Their job is to remove dried in soil and feed the stone without causing damage.

They were happy to follow my cleaning recommendations, but they still wanted to give their dog access to the garden.

This amount of cleaning is a challenge. My main worry was that if they didn’t keep it up, any investment in restoration would be short-lived.

There Are Different Marble Polishing Solutions

A full restoration of this floor would cost around £50.00 per square metre and would give an impeccable lustrous mirror-like finish.

However, with the size of the area and worry that they may not keep up the cleaning schedule, I recommended they consider a lower marble polishing cost.

For around £25.00 per square metre, we could clean, lightly hone and polish the marble.  The result would be a “softer” shine,  but the marble would still be clean, with a high polish and easy to look after.

We did a sample area to show the finish I was proposing.

As you can see,  the marble and grout in the centre of the sample area are clean and there is a high shine. It isn’t crystal clear, but it is a significant improvement.

Our customer was really happy with the sample and the lower cost.

The Marble Honing Process Cleans The Floor

We started by protecting the walls, kitchen cupboards, from splashes. This work took nearly 2 hours, but it is essential. Uneven tiles will cause splashes, and strong cleaning chemicals can damage furnishings and paintwork.

Next we used honing tools starting at 100 grit through to 800 grit. This stage removes medium and light scratches and gives a lovely smooth finish.

The image below shows the smooth finish. The “shiny” tile border is called,  “picture framing” and caused by uneven tiles. The honing process will remove them.

Grout Cleaning Using Honing Powder

Now we needed to clean the grout. We used a rotating scrubbing machine and 800 grit honing powder. This work is just like brushing your teeth with toothpaste. The brush rolls the honing powder into the grout lines to release ingrained soil without damaging the grout.

We then used our pressurised hot water clean and capture equipment to remove the slurry, cleaning out the grout. The floor is now clean with a smooth sheen finish.

Get A Deep Shine With Marble Polishing Powder

The last stage in polishing a marble floor uses a marble polishing compound that contains fine abrasives and chemicals that react with the marble to give a “wet look” shine.

Polished Marble Deserves A High-Quality Sealer

The final part of our marble polishing kit is the high-quality impregnating sealer. The sealer protects the tiles and grout lines from staining and makes them easier to clean. We explained that the chemistry of impregnating sealers meant that they can not stop acid spills etching marble. So it is important to take care when using vinegar, lemon juice, colas, etc., as they all contain strong acids.

Are You Looking For Marble Polishing?

We restore floors in Warwickshire, The West Midlands and throughout the UK. If you  have a marble floor that needs polishing, please call 0800 695 0810 for a free marble polishing quotation, or click here to contact us by email.

Learn more here http://www.abbeyfloorcare.co.uk/marble/polishing-warwickshire-cv35/