How To Polish Marble Floors?

 

I bet you have the same issue as thousands of other Irish people that have invested thousands of euros, in some cases tens of thousands of euros in marble floors, only to end up with a dull and tired floor. Whatever you do and whatever type of general floor cleaner you use, your floor does not seem to ever look right. So what is going on?

 

Well, not a lot, the only issue is incorrect maintenance. Marble floors are manufactured from one of the most compact types of natural stone. In most cases, when the floor is installed, it is already fully polished by the factory. This natural and very durable gloss will last for a long time but over time it will wear off and dullen in the areas with a lot of traffic or in the kitchen areas where grease and food spillages happen regularly. In an ideal world, a marble floor should be buffed regularly but most commercial and domestic marble floor owners never buff the floor. As a natural stone, marble floor breathes. Its pores open and it absorbs dirt and chemical residue. A quick regular buffing will close off these pores and will prevent dirt penetrating and staining your floors. But it is unlikely that you will do that so what options do you have?

 

How To Polish Marble Floors?

 

You can seal your marble floors with a professional marble floor sealant. A “proper” marble floor sealant or polish is not cheap but it can penetrate deep into the marble and can provide a very durable protective coat. Faber Hidro Fab is the ideal marble sealant. One of the very few if not the only marble polish that is fully absorbed by the stone. This product can be applied on marble, travertine, ceramic and limestone floors. You can buy it in matt & glossy finishes.

 

Universal floor sealants are pretty useless on marble floors. You can apply it of course but it will glaze the floor and it will create an artificial finish on your floors. The polish will scratch easily and will react with most marble cleaning products.  But how do you do it?

 

How To Polish Marble Floors?

 

First of all you need to empty the room and you need to make sure that you are able to polish the whole floor in one go. Your marble floor is likely to be covered in grease, fats, oils and enzymes. This dirt will penetrate the top of the stone and it will make it look tired. You need to use proper marble floor cleaning products to make sure that you fully remove the dirt but you do not burn the floor itself. We recommend Faber 30 Floor Cleaner, a powerful floor cleaner and heavy duty degreaser specially designed for natural stone cleaning. Dilute the product 1 to 20 and wet the floor well. Use warm water to dilute the product. Wet the floor well and wait

5 min. In this time the cleaning product will relax the stone and it will lift up the dirt from the grout. 5 min later you can start scrubbing the floor and the grout. If there are pre-existing finishes make sure to strip the floor and remove the sealant in full. Faber Dec21 is a great solvent sealant remover.

Now that the floor is nice and clean, you need to prepare for polishing. You will need 1 flat mop, 1 short hair microfiber flat mop and enough sealant to cover the whole floor x 2 coats. 1 L of Faber Hidro Fab will cover around 25 sq meter x 1 coat. So if you have 40 sq meter of marble floor to seal, you will need to around 4 L of polish.

 

First of all the floor has to be 100% dry. Wait about 1 hour before polishing after cleaning. Pour a bit of marble floor polish on the floor and soak the microfiber pad in it. Then, in the same way as you clean the floor, apply 1 thin coat of polish all over the surface. Do not over polish the floor. The whole area has to be patch free and have a wet look. A perfect even surface. Apply more marble floor polish on the floor as you move along. Wait about 1 hour for the sealant to dry and then apply 1 more coat of polish. It would be great if you had a high speed floor buffer and a white floor pad to buff the floor after the last coat has dried. The heat from the white pad will enhance the finish and it will make the sealant more durable.

 

How To Polish Marble Floors?

 

Now that your floor is sealed and waterproofed, you need to make sure that you maintain it properly. There are hundreds of universal floor cleaners out there from low cost to crazy expensive but most of them are pretty useless on marble or natural sealed floors. Even if it is recommended for “marble & natural stones”, stay away from it. Remember, you own very expensive floors and you want it to look expensive. You want the dirt to be removed and the floor to be un-damaged by high PH or acidic cleaning products. Many grocery shop marble cleaners will also leave a residue on the floor. This residue will trap dirt under it and it will create a patchy looking surface over time. The best marble floor cleaners, daily maintainers and heavy duty cleaners are from Faber.

 

Faber Neugel

Faber 30 Heavy Duty Marble & Natural Stone Cleaner

 

Faber Neugel is neutral marble floor cleaner & natural stone cleaner suitable for deep cleaning and regular maintenance of sealed and unsealed marble floors. The product is highly concentrated and highly effective. It will remove dirt with ease and it will not affect the texture of the stone. Faber Neugel is by far the most popular marble floor cleaning product in Europe. It can be used with all known marble floor cleaning techniques and is suitable for commercial and domestic floors. Floors that are cleaned with Faber Neugel look glossy for longer.

 

Faber 30 is a heavy duty floor cleaner and degreaser highly recommended for deep marble cleaning services. The product works fast and it melts grease and dirt deposits on impact. Outstanding efficiency and very gentle on the marble itself. Faber 30 is very popular with the marble cleaning industry. Most major contractors are recommending or using it.

 

How To Polish Marble Floors?

 

You can use a cotton or a microfiber mop to deep clean and maintain your marble floor but we recommend that you use flat mops. A professional flat mop is the ideal way of cleaning marble and natural stone floors. You can use a more abrasive flat mop head for scrubbing and a soft microfiber flat mop for gentle cleaning and maintenance. Puddles of water on your marble floors are not recommended at all. A flat mop will ensure perfect even water distribution and a streak free finish.

 

You marble floor has to be polished and buffed regularly. Even if you manage to achieve great results with sealants, once in a while your marble floor will require a scratch removing operation and a diamond polishing service which are best left to the professionals.

 

How To Polish Marble Floors?